The Puffer Forum

Yesterday I done a 25% water change in a 55 gallon. Waited 24 hours and done a water test. I usually get my favorite pet store to do it but they are closed on Sundays.. My readings are as fallows

Nitrate-20
Nitrite-.5
Ph 8.4 -mine stays kind of high since my water is so hard.

This was the second water change this week. The first taking place on Wensday. I added some new fake plants that I washed well with very hot water only. This tank has been up and running for over a year. I have one young Nile puffer in the tank.

Should I do another water change? Any help would be great!

Yes, you do need to be worried about that! Did you test for ammonia? Both should be zero. Do about an 80-90% water change, right now.

How big is that puffer? Any tankmates? He's probably due for an upgrade.

Welcome to the forum, by the way!

The test kit i have doesn't have an ammonia strip, he is about 3'' long right now. I've only had him for two weeks. He has no other tank mates...should I upgrade now? or wait until he is bigger. He doesn't seem to us the tank that much he has certain spots he likes to stay unless it's feeding time. I'm going to do a water change now. A friend of mine has been helping me with him but couldn't confirm anything I'd read online. I used the tank for some smaller fish before I got this one and never had a problem. I guess it's where they are a little bit messier than the others.Thanks for your help i'm going to do another water change right now.

Will changing the water too often cause the good bacteria to die?

How long was the tank empty since the last fish were in there? How big is the tank? Look under all decor for rotting food.

Pufferpunk wrote:How long was the tank empty since the last fish were in there? How big is the tank? Look under all decor for rotting food.

Yes, also completely agree with checking with rotting food. I had some dead chaeto algae in my tank that was rotted in my filter, and it caused my nitrites to automatically shoot up from 0 to 5.0 over night. Terrible experience

I also don't give much credence to test strips. Get some good liquid test kits.

huggyface wrote:Will changing the water too often cause the good bacteria to die?

Not at all, unless you don't dechlorinate or use 300-degree water or something. Also, it will not remove the bacteria - nearly all of the bacteria lives on surfaces, like in the filter and substrate and on decorations.

Pufferpunk wrote:I also don't give much credence to test strips. Get some good liquid test kits.

+1. Here's a good brand. http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... catid=4454

Test strips are okay for an established tank where all inhabitants seem healthy and you just want to check whether nitrates are highish (emphasis on the ISH), or for similar situations. But for accurate results, you need liquid tests.

I have an API liquid test kit for saltwater aquariums. I got it for 22 bucks, which is a steal when considering that I bought it at a LFS. I'm not gonna lie though, it bugs the heck out of me. Sometimes, I find it near impossible to differentiate the colors. For example, the nitrite showed a purplish color, but both 1.0 and 5.0 were a purplish color. I just assumed there was no way my nitrites would be at 5.0 until I went to a LFS and had it tested. My nitrites were roughly 4+, so my estimation was clearly wrong.

Does anyone know a good brand of liquid test kits that have obvious differentiations in the color indicators?

Maybe you are slightly colorblind? I have no problems with the API nitrite test colors, even the ammonia one.

Pufferpunk wrote:How long was the tank empty since the last fish were in there? How big is the tank? Look under all decor for rotting food.

I took out the other fish about a week before I got the puffer fish, the tank is a 55 gallon. When I done the water change yesterday I took out some of the decor and replaced it (I washed the new stuff in hot water only) I took the vaccum thing and sucked up the sand and swirled it around to get the settled in dirt out. I didn't check the filter though!

Did you "feed" the tank at all while it was empty to keep it cycled? If not, then all or most of the beneficial bacteria has starved within 1 week & your puffer is basically living in an uncycled tank. I bet there's ammonia too. I'd see if you could get some Dr Tim's to cycle that tank. DON'T LET THE SHOPS TALK YOU INTO ANY OTHER PRODUCT!!! Otherwise, do you have other established tanks around you could borrow some media from?

We have a good article about emergency cycling, in our Library.

I'm finished doing the water change. How long should I wait until I test it again? Like I said I usually take the water to the pet store and they check it for me. They said it was fine the other day, but I wanted to check again after I did the second water change but they weren't open today. When I researched it online people seemed to think that .5 Nitrites wasn't bad but on the color chart it said "caution" My puffer seems fine but I wanted to make sure. Thank you all for your help you've been great!

Did you see my post above yours? I think you might have been typing when I posted that.

Pufferpunk wrote:Did you "feed" the tank at all while it was empty to keep it cycled? If not, then all or most of the beneficial bacteria has starved within 1 week & your puffer is basically living in an uncycled tank. I bet there's ammonia too. I'd see if you could get some Dr Tim's to cycle that tank. DON'T LET THE SHOPS TALK YOU INTO ANY OTHER PRODUCT!!! Otherwise, do you have other established tanks around you could borrow some media from?

We have a good article about emergency cycling, in our Library.

No I don't think I fed the tank...honestly I'm not sure what that means I can get some older filters from my friend that's been helping me, he offered one to me before but I didn't think I needed it. I'll head to the pet store in the morning and get them to test my water again and have them write down the readings for me. Will also see if they have the good test kits.