The Puffer Forum

Hi there! Im new to the Forum and puffers so forgive me if ive forgoten anything.

I picked my new figure 8 up on sunday afternoon, currently in FW. The tank is cycled due to a matured filter from a larger tank and all my water parameters are fine, so far i have fed him 5 ghost shrimp and 6 snails. The F8 seemed a bit stressed for the first couple of days but has settled down a bit now but still not completely settled. This evening i noticed two white dots on his head (sort of inbetween its eyes) that im sure were not there this morning. it does look like ick from what i can see but i cant see anymore spots on him, so could it be in the early stages?
Should i just acclimatise the tank to brackish? i already have bought some marine salt (its marine reef salt with increased calcium, magnesium and strontium) is that ok? how should i go about doing this as i only have experience in FW tanks. I understand salinity (i think) but i dont want to raise it too quickly to harm the bacteria in the filter.
Should this hopfully clear the ick? if that is what it is. do i need a refractometer or hydrometer to do it properly?

Any help is greatly appreciated so please correct me if im in the wrong about anything.

Ammonia: 0 Nitrite: 0 NItrate: 5 PH: 7.2

50 litre (got a 120l in the loft for in a few months needs lighting)

Single Young Figure 8 Puffer

I change 20% every 2-3 days on all my tanks.

Sure, as long as the parameters are stable, start raising the SG by .002. You could also raise the temp to 85:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=28113

Pufferpunk wrote:
Sure, as long as the parameters are stable, start raising the SG by .002. You could also raise the temp to 85:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=28113

yep and get a hydrometer to ensure accuracy.

Thanks for the advice i bought a refractometer and it seems that it has cleared up within two weeks, sg is now at 1.004. my heater only goes to 81 so i set it to that. so fingures crossed!

Glad he's doing well.