Guilt ridden, first death!!
Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 9:30 am
After months of research, planning and preparation I finally bought my first f8 puffer on Saturday morning. Unfortunately he passed away on Sunday evening and I am now guilt ridden and unsure whether his death was caused by something I did or didn't do or whether it was just a case of bad luck. I will describe what I carried out during the days leading up to this event. I am a novice to fish keeping so any advice would be most gratefully received.
I have a 60 litre tank which is well planted with Java fern and has slate rock work to provide hiding places and areas to explore and gravel substrate. I am aware of the use of aragonite to buffer Ph but chose not to use this because the PH of my tap water is high at 8.0. I am aware of the fact that F8's require light brackish water conditions but most LFS keep them in freshwater conditions. For this reason My tank was set-up for freshwater with the intention to increase the salinity over a period of months.
About a month ago I carried out a fishless cycle on the tank by adding ammonia solution and waited for an Ammonia spike followed by a Nitrite Spike. This occurred and after about 2 weeks the Ammonia and Nitrite readings fell back to 0ppm. I continued to add ammonia solution to the tank on a daily basis to feed the bacteria colony whilst waiting for the f8's to arrive at my LFS. During this period Ammonia and Nitrite levels remained at a constant 0ppm, whilst Nitrate remained at a constant 40ppm. I assumed that given these readings my tank had successfully cycled and it would be safe to add a f8.
On Friday, the night before getting my F8 I prepared 25 litres of water so that I could carry out a water change the following morning. I prepared the water by adding two cap fulls of "Nutrafin Water Conditioner Aqua Plus", a heater to warm the water to 78 deg F and an air pump/airstone to aerate the water.
On Saturday morning I carried out the water change before visiting the LFS to buy my F8. After the water change Ammonia measured 0ppm, Nitrite 0ppm, Nitrate 20ppm and Ph 8.0. I was happy with these readings so decided to make a visit to the LFS.
The LFS warned me that they had had difficulties acclimatising the F8's and had already had two fatalities since receiving them on Tuesday. Undeterred I purchased what I thought was the healthiest specimen with few nipped fins, bright white belly and showing signs of activity with no lumps or bumps on its body. I confirmed with the LFS that they were keeping them in freshwater conditions.
The LFS placed the F8 in a transportation bag which I then placed in a plastic container in the event that the F8 might bight through the bag. It was a cold day so I turned the heating up in the car and had about a 20 minute journey back home.
On returning home I opened the bag, rolled down the sides and placed it in the tank to allow the temperatures to equalise. Every now and then I added a little water from the tank into the bag. After about 20 minutes I released the F8 into the tank. He seemed quite content exploring or just floating on the current, although he appeared to spend most of his time at the top of the tank and near the sides and he appeared to be breathing quite quickly. He would also have rest periods where he would lay on a rock or on the surface of the tank. That evening I fed him some frozen bloodworms which I had defrosted using tepid water from a kettle. He loved these and ate all of them, I was very encouraged by this.
On Sunday morning I woke up and checked that everything was O.K. He was quite active and showed no signs of stress, i.e. his belly was bright white. I checked the temperature which was reading 75deg F. I turned the thermostat up to 78deg F. I was happy with his condition so went out for the day. On returning later that evening at about 6 o'clock I noticed that he was resting under a rock overhang and appeared lethargic and not very interested in food or me. All he would do was swim from one hiding place to another. I checked the temperature which was reading 80deg F. Eventually I found him resting on his side on the bottom of the tank dead. I took the following water readings, Ammonia 0ppm, Nitrite 0ppm and Nitrate 40ppm. I didn't measure the Ph
I would dearly love to successfully keep one of these fascinating animals but not at the expense of several deaths on my conscious. I would be most grateful for any advice and in particular with what I should now do with the tank. Do I need to clean/scrub all of the substrate, filter, rock and tank to eliminate the risk of disease? If I do this am I correct in thinking that I will have to cycle the tank again? As you may have guessed I am confused and need some help.
I have a 60 litre tank which is well planted with Java fern and has slate rock work to provide hiding places and areas to explore and gravel substrate. I am aware of the use of aragonite to buffer Ph but chose not to use this because the PH of my tap water is high at 8.0. I am aware of the fact that F8's require light brackish water conditions but most LFS keep them in freshwater conditions. For this reason My tank was set-up for freshwater with the intention to increase the salinity over a period of months.
About a month ago I carried out a fishless cycle on the tank by adding ammonia solution and waited for an Ammonia spike followed by a Nitrite Spike. This occurred and after about 2 weeks the Ammonia and Nitrite readings fell back to 0ppm. I continued to add ammonia solution to the tank on a daily basis to feed the bacteria colony whilst waiting for the f8's to arrive at my LFS. During this period Ammonia and Nitrite levels remained at a constant 0ppm, whilst Nitrate remained at a constant 40ppm. I assumed that given these readings my tank had successfully cycled and it would be safe to add a f8.
On Friday, the night before getting my F8 I prepared 25 litres of water so that I could carry out a water change the following morning. I prepared the water by adding two cap fulls of "Nutrafin Water Conditioner Aqua Plus", a heater to warm the water to 78 deg F and an air pump/airstone to aerate the water.
On Saturday morning I carried out the water change before visiting the LFS to buy my F8. After the water change Ammonia measured 0ppm, Nitrite 0ppm, Nitrate 20ppm and Ph 8.0. I was happy with these readings so decided to make a visit to the LFS.
The LFS warned me that they had had difficulties acclimatising the F8's and had already had two fatalities since receiving them on Tuesday. Undeterred I purchased what I thought was the healthiest specimen with few nipped fins, bright white belly and showing signs of activity with no lumps or bumps on its body. I confirmed with the LFS that they were keeping them in freshwater conditions.
The LFS placed the F8 in a transportation bag which I then placed in a plastic container in the event that the F8 might bight through the bag. It was a cold day so I turned the heating up in the car and had about a 20 minute journey back home.
On returning home I opened the bag, rolled down the sides and placed it in the tank to allow the temperatures to equalise. Every now and then I added a little water from the tank into the bag. After about 20 minutes I released the F8 into the tank. He seemed quite content exploring or just floating on the current, although he appeared to spend most of his time at the top of the tank and near the sides and he appeared to be breathing quite quickly. He would also have rest periods where he would lay on a rock or on the surface of the tank. That evening I fed him some frozen bloodworms which I had defrosted using tepid water from a kettle. He loved these and ate all of them, I was very encouraged by this.
On Sunday morning I woke up and checked that everything was O.K. He was quite active and showed no signs of stress, i.e. his belly was bright white. I checked the temperature which was reading 75deg F. I turned the thermostat up to 78deg F. I was happy with his condition so went out for the day. On returning later that evening at about 6 o'clock I noticed that he was resting under a rock overhang and appeared lethargic and not very interested in food or me. All he would do was swim from one hiding place to another. I checked the temperature which was reading 80deg F. Eventually I found him resting on his side on the bottom of the tank dead. I took the following water readings, Ammonia 0ppm, Nitrite 0ppm and Nitrate 40ppm. I didn't measure the Ph
I would dearly love to successfully keep one of these fascinating animals but not at the expense of several deaths on my conscious. I would be most grateful for any advice and in particular with what I should now do with the tank. Do I need to clean/scrub all of the substrate, filter, rock and tank to eliminate the risk of disease? If I do this am I correct in thinking that I will have to cycle the tank again? As you may have guessed I am confused and need some help.