The Puffer Forum

I didn't know I had to cycle my tank (amateur), and added way too many fish at once. My ammonia levels are off the chart and I have no Nitrates. How do I help my poor fish. I was sucked into the whole "freshwater puffers" thing, and I bought 4 for my 29 gal tank. Wal Mart said that was plenty of room :0( How do I get my ammonia levels down and nitrates to a healthy level? I am thinking 50 percent water changes every day. Is that too much? Will it lower the ph levels too much? I have had the tank for about a month now, and have the salinity at 1.013 now, but the puffers are starting to get black around their eyes and one has a really light black spot forming on it's belly. HELP!!!

Read more....shook the Nitrate test bottle #2 for 2 minutes, and multiplied my answer by 4. It says now that I have a nitrate level of 20ppm. That is supposed to be good. Did I do the test right? My ammonia levels are between 4 and 8ppm. I have been using Slime. Is this why my ammonia levels are so high and I shouldn't worry (cause I'm still worried)? Is it true that when I do my water changes that I'm not supposed to vacuum the gravel (or it makes the ammonia levels skyrocket)? If that's true, how do I clean my gravel?

What happened to your account? Try to open another account & spell your name Pufferidiot or use a different name. Then I can move this to the corect forum.

Stop using any chemicals in your tank, other than Prime to dechlorinate the water & detoxify ammonia. If you need to, 90% daily water changes can be done to keep the toxic ammonia/nitrite from poisoning your fish.

Are these GSPs? Your tank is only large enough to possibly support one adult (55g is best). You'll either need to upgrade to a minimum of 120g (for adult GSPs) or reduce the population by 3 puffers.

I tried to register after I already used Pufferidiot as a username for a guest. Will that mess things up? I don't have the email I need yet. It has been quite a while since I registered. Yes they are GSP. I can't take them back to the store, and nobody wants them. What should I do with the other 3 GSP?

Are there no mom & pop stores around? You're going to have to upgrade your tank then.
Open a new email account, it's easy.

I live in a little podunk town. The only place that has any fish or supplies is Wal Mart. I already asked them to take them back (out of kindness for the puffer fish, ha ha, like they take care of them) and they said they already have too many. They don't even have any bigger tanks for me to upgrade. I will have to have one shipped in, if they live that long (have to wait for payday). I tried to register again under a different name and email, and I still don't have the email I need :0(

I recent the email, have you checked your spam folder?

I just received it. Thank you :0)

Ok, great, I'll move this to the Hospital for you.

For now, +1 to PP's post.
Don't push for Walmart to take them back, they tend to just flush them.

If you follow the advice, you should be able to keep them alive until you can get a bigger tank.

Should I re post using above list to give all details, or do I just know I'm in trouble cause my tank is too small? I have 4 GSP that are about 1 1/2" long. Can they not even live for a month in that small of a tank when they are that size?

I have been doing 50 percent water changes about every 3 days since I got them. Ammonia levels are 8ppm when I start, and an hour after the water change it is at 2ppm. I have been adding slime with every water change.

Ok, so, to make sure my puffies have a fighting chance, I am going to do 50 percent water changes every day. I just read my bottle and I don't have Slime, I have Prime from Seachem. Do I want to use this? Should I use Prime and AquaSafe, or just Prime (I have been using both)? And finally, do I want to clean out the gravel or just take the water out from about half the tank (I have read so many conflicting things :0(?

I thought Slime was a typo

Prime is excellent, it's what most of use use. Excellent stuff and since you use so little it's cheaper in the long run. You can use it alone, without the Aquasafe.

You may vacuum the gravel, that's a good idea as it will remove wastes.

You need to do whatever it takes to keep the ammonia/nitrite at 0, even if you have to do 80% WC, 2x/day.