The Puffer Forum

Okay...let me start from the beginning and I promise I will try not to make this too long.

Last Saturday I purchased a gsp (Hootie). Prior to purchasing Hootie I cycled my tank for 7 days with a cycling agent and 4 zebra tetras. I also used aquarium salt to create a brackish water condition (2 tbsp per 5 gal.) During my cycling faze I had my water checked by my lps on a regular basis.

On the day that I purchased Hootie my water checked out fine. I took him home and added him to his new tank (which I had also stocked with a nylon breeder full of snails in order to meet his need for snails). Later that evening I noticed that Hootie's eye was lined on the bottom with some blood and that his eye appeared to be getting cloudy.

On Monday I noticed that there was now a cottony substance growing on his eye so I did my own research and decided to do a 20% water change with a vacuum and added Melafix (5ml for the first dose and then half of that thereafter) with an additional tbsp of aquarium salt.

By Friday night I had not seen any improvement so I tried dissolving some aquarium salt in water with a tad of the melafix and gently rubbed this over his eye with a cotton swab.

Today, Saturday and 7 days later I made another decision. I did a 50% water change with a vacuum, removed the carbon filter and started him on maracyn.

Hootie has consistently maintained his color elsewhere and has continued to eat just fine (frozen blood worms and snails). He also continues to swim around the tank very well.

Is what I am doing okay?? Is there anymore that I can do for him?

Please help!

Your GSP will need marine salt. What tank size is he/she in?

Wow, fast response. Thanks!

Okay...marine salt. If you don't mind...what is the differnce? I am a newbie.

My tank is 10 gal.

I appreciate your assistance.

Btw...ho long have you had your gsp?

I'm not 100% sure about the difference but I know that it's not suitable for a GSP. I think it's something along the lines of that the aquarium salt will make it salted FW and the marine salt will make it marine. Your GSP will need 30 gallons as an adult. I don't have a GSP, my avatar is a figure 8.

Read here: http://www.thepufferforum.com/articles/ ... togsp.html

After reading that, post back with any questions.
Also, read through the library articles on salt, and fishless cycling.

I would stop medicating. Puffers are VERY sensitive to medication, and his eye problem is likely an environmental/water quality problem, that will improve, when proper conditions are reached.

Okay...since I have been using aquarium salt how do I safely switch to marine? Do I just add the appropriate amounts of the marine salt instead of the aquarium salt on my future water changes?

Also, I noticed that it is suggested that you use 1 cup of marine salt per 5 gal. of water. This is a lot more than I am using now of the aquarium salt and my gsp is only about 1". Would this still be considered brackish water and is this safe for my little Hootie?

1 cup water/5g, is only a rough estimate of how much to use the raise the SG .005. You can only raise your SG as much as.002/weekly water change, so you have to do some math.

There is an article in The Library on the differences in salts.

Do you have a hydrometer/refractometer?

good lord i think you got more then you bargained for you need something or other to monitor the level of salt and soon you will need a 30-40 gallon just for that one GSP I'm not sure if you could have other fish because i do DPs and never do anything marine as of yet

Thank you all for your responses, I desperately need them.

Raphael - to answer your question, no I do not have a hydrometer. I figured I could just maintain a consist ant amount of salt with each water change. But after reading Pufferpunk's response I am not sure how I am going to go about slowly raising the salinity as of right now. I think that she is right, I am going to have to use this brain of mine and do some math.

Thebuddy229 - How are your dps doing? Out of curiosity, what do you feed them and do you feed them snails? I ask because I have been asked before on how to feed a dp snails. I would assume that you would have to smash them.

I recommend buying a refractometer/hydrometer. It will simplify things.

Not only a recommendation, as necessity to know what the SG of your water is. Dry estimates are inconsistent at best.

You really need a 30 gallon for him. Marine salt has the trace elements that are in the ocean, while aquarium salt does not. be very careful with medicine, just use melafix. Give him time to adjust, and for the melafix to work. Really dont trust dry amounts, I just accidently raised mine too much at once because of it, so i really have to watch my params.

I will have to look into getting a hydrometer.

I was treating with Melafix but saw no change what so ever. I started using Maracyn yesterday and already I can see part of his eye so I think that he his getting better. My only concern is that the tank is now getting cloudy due to not having the carbon filter in while treating.

So....new question. Should I continue to leave The carbon filter out while using Maracyn?

I never use carbon in my BW/FW tanks. Carbon will remove the med. Your tank is getting cloudy because it wasn't cycled properly & now any good bacteria that was in there, is getting killed off. That's why you need to continue w/50% daily water changes & have Bio-Spira ready to add to your filter, when the treatments are done. Glad you have found something that is working.