The Puffer Forum

Hi all ahain,

After several weeks i still have nitrite in the tank.

Nitrite - .3
ammonia - .6
nitrate - 7

sg @ 1.010

I have nothing in the tank apart from my little topaz who is only around 25mm, tank size 15 gal.

Puffer is very happy and eating,

I have been doing 20% changes every day with the odd 80% every other day.

I found a product at the shop today called weekly cleaner, it states it helps remove nitrit's from the tank?
http://www.wilkinsonplus.com/Domestic-B ... vt/0149227

Please do not use chemicals to remove nitrite/ammonia. Something is rotting in your tank & you have to find it.

Well, You are not completely cycled. I know you have been posting about this in another thread but I'll throw my two cents worth in in this one. PP is 100% correct, no chemicals, that can send you on a roller coaster and harm the puffer.

From what I can gather from the two threads you have running here is that you have a very messy puffer, albeit a small one, in too small of a tank without enough filtration, and minimal bio filtration developed. You need to finish the cycle, preferably without the fish in the tank. Find someone who has a tank that can support the Cyelon for a while. You can then do one of two things, 1) continue the cycle process you have going or 2) find a bigger tank and start the cycle process over with FW. Once you get the tank cycled, fishlessly, with FW you can then bring the SG up to where you have it.

I would go route #2 if it were my fish. Cycling with method #2 has a good chance of getting your fish back to you quicker and in good health. The SG you are currently at in that tank is a very touchy are for development of bacteria, it's kind of like a gray area between FW and SW bacterias and the cycle process is super slow in this range. At FW you can do a fishless cycle in as little at 10-14 days whereas in a tank with SG 1.010 you can take up to 30 days just to see nitrites start to fall off not to mention totally disappear. By that time you could potentially be up to 1.006 if you started FW and in another two weeks be up to 1.010. After 1.010 start raising .001 every week because, like I said, this is touchy area....

If you don't get a bigger tank and continue to cycle with the fish in the current tank you will almost surely do irreparable damage to the puffer. At this point in the life cycle they are like human toddlers, chemicals can do massive damage that may not show up for years, shorten it's life span, or outright kill it. Yo may get lucky and it may not die but damage is occurring.

i have to agree with the above post, if you have a cmbination of both No2 and Am, you are still cycling, me myself, i would be changing water every day as much as it would take to get that am down to 0, i would be willing to bet you have harmed your fish already, the gills are so delicate it does not take much at all.

If there is something rotting then you need to find that asap, but from what has been descirbed in this and other threads...... to much fish not enough water and not cycled...
that would be my thought, especially if you are trying to cycle a BW tank,

if in doubt change the water, change the water change the water...

HTH

RESULT!!!!!

I just got hold of a 27 us gal tank for my little topaz, what the hell do i do now. i collect it in the morning, as you know he currently lives at 1.010.

whats the best thing to do?

Thanks again

oh and should i fill this new one at 1.024?

Fill it at 1.010 & move everything from the tank he's in now to the larger one.

but the tank wont be cycled? or do i use my filter from the smaler tank?

You need to move everything the filter and gravel especially. Your still going to have to keep up on your water changes untill your tank cycles though. It will act like the smaller one but hopefully allow you to keep up with the ammonia produced and keep it at lower levels preferably 0.

If you have a new filter for the bigger tank put some of the filter media from the old filter in it, and run both filters. and follow the emergency tank cycling procedure that is in the puffer library. as well as moving all gravel etc..