The Puffer Forum

Okay my reading on the tank are/..

nitrate 0
nitrite o
ammonia 0
GH 300
kh 120
ph 8.4

I have a hydrometer and I dont know If I am doing it right but the little lever goes up when I fill it full of water but then it goes back down for no reading which might be a good thing cause the store they came from they were in freshwater and he said they had aquaruim salt in there for them and they were platys so you see why I just had to rescue them I was not quite ready for my puffer just yet but it still seems I hope I can still get all the info I can by searching and searching online. belive me I would rather know about the fish before I buy and feel confident it wont die before I get it. I belive they would of died in there already the was a platy in there was being eaten to by the puffers and all the other ones had fin rot so I just got the ones the didnt have fin rot and looked healthy for the most part. so ya I had to take them sweet babys home..
I have 2 new cute green spotted puffers in there as of today they are in a 30 gallon tank. I used two cups for every 10 gallons . I would like to get a bigger tank for them in the furture like I said I was not totally prepared but I am not a deer in headlights eiether .I have done quite a bit searching but still would like to know more...

please if my readings are wrong let me know what I can do to fix it.
I wont to see these guys live a full life.
I went to 2 different stores today to buy snails and there were both out of them. so I have 1 store left .
if not snails I can get some ghost shrimp from the last store I have to go to.
I have brine shrimp bloodworms, shrimp pelets I would like to get some meal worms.
There are still little babys can they eat stuff with shells already.
well anyways please help me and these cute babys
O h and is a current a issue with them I have bubble ring in there to.
and...
I have thought of buying some crushed coral is this a must or does it depend on my water.
whew okay thats enough for now!!

The big question is how did you cycle the tank? Your readings indicate a tank that has not had a chance to develop any fish waste eating bacteria at all.

Make sure you using marine salt for them. Dont acclimitize them to fast to brackish. It should be done slowly. You can feed them brine shrimp sparingly, fat ghost shrimp, mussles or clams on the halfshell and related food. read the articles in the pufferpedia. Good luck withy your new puffers! How big are they now?

It is a brand new tanks but before the reading get any where near the ammonia level They can come out of there and it to there new home. The other tanks is almost done cycling I have been putting lots of food in that tank to help speed up the process. Would you like to know the readings of the pther tank and you can tell me if it almost done or might take a little longer till then I plain on dragging out the tank the puffers are in and doing water changes when ever is needed to make sure when they get in there new tank it is completely cycled
like I said before I didnt quite plain on bringing my puffer home I just have never saw them in any stores cause they never seem to have themI thought I would have to order them. so.

I have done this before and it worked fine but not with a brackish but a tropical and everybody was fine as long as I did lots of water changes to stall the cycle for a little while.

You guys are good.. Whoever read the reading of a new tank . all I have to say is " Your good "
You sure do know your sh**..

The problem with rushing things with puffers is that they don't have scales, which means they are VERY susceptible to toxins (ammonia and nitrite). Other species of fish are considerably hardier (such as Bettas), and although the ammonia and nitrite bothers them, they won't die from small amounts of it.

Light brackish tanks are very similar to freshwater tropical tanks. It's only when your salinity (salt level) reaches an SG of around 1.016 - 1.018 does it start to become a different "style" (as you've basically entered into the marine end of it).

Keep us posted on your progress.

But there is now sign of nitrite or ammonia in there tank right now and I will catch it before the ammonia even sligthly starts to rise and put them eiether in the tank that is almost done cycling thats if it is done cycling or I will just do another water change and stall the cycle some more.

What SG are you cycling the larger tank at? What test kits are you using? What kind of salt? IMO, you have added way too much salt to that tank.

What do you mean by sg?like how much salt am I using to cycle the big tank is that what you mean?
I am using instant ocean.

If the salt content is to high should I just do a 20% water change and dont put no more salt in there so it evens out.
Please help I am new to the bracksish tanks. I want to learn but I also want to learn the right way to
thanks

I apologize, as I didn't see the part where you added 2 cups per 10 gallons of water. If they are currently in Freshwater, then you don't want to SG to be too high in the tank you're going to switch them to.

SG is short for Specific Gravity, which is a reading you should see on your Hydrometer (the other set of numbers is PPM - Parts Per Million). My guess is that your Hydrometer only measures between 1.015 SG and 1.032 SG (or some where in there). For Brackish tanks (which is what you're trying to set up right now) ranges from 1.000 SG (water with no salt) to 1.015 SG. This is why you weren't getting a reading on your Hydrometer. Instant Ocean makes a Hydrometer (I believe it is in a green package) that will read these lower levels. I, too, purchased the wrong Hydrometer at first and had to get a new one.

(Please DO NOT change your amount of salt too rapidly, as you will cause some MAJOR problems! There are exceptions, but these can be discussed later!)

When I was making my brackish tank at 1.008 SG (which is a good level to start at), I was adding 1/4 cup per 2 gallons of water. Extrapolating that, I would be adding 1 and 1/4 cup of salt per 10 gallons of water. Thus, you probably have a salt content closer to 1.014 SG, which is a bit too high for young puffers, especially when they're coming from a Freshwater tank.

As such, I would go pick up a better Hydrometer and test what your salinity is. If your salinity is higher than 1.008 SG, you're going to follow a VERY SLOW regime to bring it down over the course of a couple months. Going too quickly will screw everything up, so take it slow (ie. don't do a 20% water change without salt).

Also, when you're going to transfer your fish over, you can't just drop them into the new tank! You have to DRIP them (I'll post up the drip-method later today).

Post up the readings from the tank that is cycling, please, and we'll let you know how it's going.

Thank you for all your info So no matter what I need to slowly let them get used to everything like making the sg go back down slowly it wont be until later I transfer them into the other tank I belive it is almost done it is not reading no more nitrite but it is still cloudy I think I am just going to wait until the water is completely clear that tank reading is at 1.010 that will be there home tank but I think becuase they need to get used to the salt I will keep them in the tank there are in and slowly work them up to the level of sg in there other tank.

do you think that would be fine or no

OKay the readings of the tank for there future home is

nitrate 0
nitrite 0
Gh it just red
kh 120
ph just a tad over 7.8
now it has been cycling for 3 1/2 weeks

the sg level is at 1.010

it is not fully cycled until you have a strong nitrate reading.. that is how you know the correct bacteria has built up.

I'm confused here, did you add something to kick start the ammonia? Like a bit of fish food, or a defrosted prawn...?


you really should have an nitrate reading after three weeks if you have cycled properly...

what test are yoiu using...

Thats what I have been waiting for it to see the nitrate but nothing I have put lots of food in it. I think what it was it while I cycling the tank half way threw I decided to start it has a brackish tank so I think it threw it off guard and now it is still taking a while. even before I had the filter on there I had water in it for about a week until I got the filter I just didnt expect it to take so long. I just dont know I really think thought adding the salt during the nitrite cycle threw it off. what do you think?

Or would it not affect it at all.

if that was true then you should have had a big ammonia spike.. or even a nitrite spike...

are your test kits ok? How old are they?

I'd throw some more food in and test after a day or two, see if you get an ammonia reading...




Adding more than 0.002 slat a week will wipe out all of your good bacteria, so if you raised it too fast, then yes, you would kill off your cycle and you'll need to start again...