The Puffer Forum

well i just got a call from my friend that says his filter broke what should he do? i think he has a saltwater tank he has a Porcupine puffer

his ph is 7.2
ammonia is 20
nitrite is light purple
and nitrite is 20~40

his bio system is messed up he told me

Oh ouch...

Water changes, as much as he can handle. Make sure there isn't something decaying in the tank. He'll need some sort of water movement, a powerhead if nothing else.

Prime or Amquel will help detoxify it a bit, and if he can get his hands on some of the saltwater Biospira (I'm sorry I haven't kept up to date on it and I'm not sure what the saltwater version is called now, "Dr Tims" or something?) that will boost his bio cycle back up. No other product works though, he has to get the right stuff and it is expensive.

If its been more than a few hours since his filter quit, don't restart it, it will just pump all kinds of dead gunk back into the tank.

Does he have live rock? I find it hard to believe a tank with life rock would suffer that much of a cycle just from a filter shutting down.. if there's no live rock though, I suppose that would make sense.

o nvm he said his other tank the Freshwater one he did 40% water change
he used API-stress coat with it

Edit; he just told me he founded a 2 year old bottom of aqua safe+R.B aqyarium series? should he use that?


i dont know how can he have all 3 at the same time

Ammonia was 20? Are you sure? Most tests don't measure that high.

well if its not 20 then its .20

not sure he got the test from the LFS i go to but the lfs told him that the ammonia is bad

Could be 2.0. That sounds more likely.

Yeah, ammonia is bad! How much do you know about the nitrogen cycle?

well its not my tank

but i do know that ammonia should be low then SPike they lower then nirtite or nightra sorry bad spelling XD
but yeah everything should spike then lower. but i dont know why his tank has a little of everything

No, ammonia and nitrites should be zero at all times. Try this article. library/water-filtration/fishless-cycling/

well when u first cycle the tank it needs to Spike up then lower down to 0
it doesnt SPike then becomes nothing

Edit:btw his tank is older then my tank im sure he knows more about this then u do
but im helping him look for answers not to make me look stupid by reading info that we dont need

Did his filter physically break, ie: quit working, or did his bio filter crash for some reason?

Either way, he needs to do something sooner than later, like buy a new filter and do an emergency cycle or just do an emergency cycle (this article is in detail of what to do) library/water-filtration/emergencycycle/. He also really needs to do a huge water change ASAP, and large daily water changes, to get and keep his ammonia down.

The API Stress Coat along with most other products on the market do not contain live bacteria and as you know, bacteria is what converts ammonia to nitrate to nitrite, and there for will not work to speed the cycle process. The only product on the market that contains live bacteria for fresh water is Tetra Safe Start, and that is even questionable in it effectiveness. One thing that does work very well is getting used filter media from an established tank to add to the filter, either the new one or old one (provided it's working).

thanks alot but what if the bottle is 2 years old +

The Aqua Safe does not contain any bacterial source and will not work for cycling (which is what he needs) and it is only a water conditioner/dechlorniator. Anything that is two years old and claims to have live bacteria will not work because, up until late last year, all bacterial products needed to be refrigerated. Bio-Spira (it's name then) was the only real live bacterial source available at that time.

o ok thanks cause he added this weird RRB aquamarine liquard
i will tell him to do 75%+ water changes then
but wont that stun his fish or shock it

No, the large water change won't harm the fish, it will actually do a lot of good with that high of an ammonia reading. The ammonia is doing damage, need to get rid of it.

thanks i just heard from him and his water lvl now is
1.0 ammonia
doubled his Nitrite 40 i think it was
and lowered his Nitrate so 10~30

i told him to use Ammonia Lock+the other bottle not sure the name
that should help him but i am pretty sure his tank is cycling again