The Puffer Forum

Hi: all i am just finishing cycling my tank and want to put puff's in and i have 4-A little about my tank=46=gallon and how many can i safely put in at once? approx;1-1-1/2 inches each and the tank they are in now is too small for them; That is why the hurry. I have the sand substate it is the new kind that keeps the nitrate's low, and i have the Eheium filter and a power head for movement and i cycled it with ammonia and seeding from the tank they are in now, So any help would be very much appreciated.-Thank -You to all that respond-Bella

Can you give us the water parameters of the new tank?

A 46gal is suitable for 4 SAPs even at adult size so you don't need to worry about that part. As long as the cycle is complete they can go in at any time.

What is this sand that lowers nitrates? I wouldn't trust it at all and still do 50% water changes as you'll need to reduce the hormone in the water. Nitrates are just an indicator.

Yes, the parameters are=ammonia-o nitrite-o and nitrate 5.0 and i haven't done a water change on this tank yet-sorry the sand is a natural that helps keep the nitrates low-i threw out the bag otherwise i could give you the name of it. BA's has started carrying it-I thought you could only put 1-fish per week in at a time-Thanks Bella

you could put in more fish at a time.. you have a mini cycle, but as long as it is not over stocked it will balance itself out. Just keep up with the water changes and watch those numbers daily for the first little while.

I have a feeling the substrate is a clay composite.. I have heard of those before being used in delicate FW tanks. I have no experience with them so can't say "yay" or "nay". The down side is that SAPS like planted tanks, and plants like Nitrates. If you go all fake then it eliminates that problem, but O2 levels may be a problem in the summer along with other things.

It is a toss up and ultimately your decision.

Nitrate removal is fine, but all it does is remove one single pollutant of the many dozens to hundreds which are developed in mature tanks. That means that you have lost the only convenient measure of pollution (nitrate). Replenishing used ions and removing others in excess is just as important to keeping a tank healthy as is removing excess nitrate. Nitrate is just one ion among hundreds, but it is an easy and useful indicator of general pollution, except in planted tanks. The only way to maintain a healthy tank long-term is to do regular water changes at a significant percentage of the total volume of the tank. Nitrate removal is just kidding yourself - it say nothing about how healthy or polluted the water is for the fish.

hi: On the bag it just said helps to control nitrate's-boy at times like this, I sure wish i had kept the bag lol-but i have enough junk here already- and i will be using fresh plants for them will be going to buy them this week-And the tank is heavally planted-with fake and i will have a lot of real plants-Thanks soo much to all-J-P- I do have a power head and 2-bubbler's in the tank-So will that take care of the O-2 in the tank? Bella

it sounds fine ... with the bubbler and surface movement you should have good O2 levels.

Can't wait to see the pics

J-P; I will be adding them after i p/up more plants, and after they repair my window in apartment-in which i will have to cover all tanks as they will be doing work on that tomorrow.And i don't want to be adding puff's with taht going on-And i will be sure to post pic's for all of you to see once they are in-Thanks Bella