The Puffer Forum

I just got my puffer yesterday and he's already not doing too hot! I don't know the pH of the water or any of that stuff. The tank is like a gallon big and I just have the one puffer. I've used AquaSafe water conditioner and tried to feed him bloodworms, but he just sits at the bottom and doesn't eat. Like, I said, I've had him for less than a day!

Sorry that your first post is under such circumstances but:
1. What type of puffer?
2. A 1 gallon tank is too small for any puffer.
3. You need to know more than pH, you need to know ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and hardness as well but ammonia and nitrite are by far the most important.
4. All tanks need to be cycled, this means that the tank has been given sufficient time to build up bacteria that can convert ammonia to nitrite and then convert nitrite to nitrate. You then keep on top of nitrate by carrying out water changes. It takes time for bacteria to build to the point that the tank is cycled - normally around 4 weeks - and you need to add small amounts of ammonia each day during this period. You can instantly cycle a tank with products like Tetra Safestart or by seeding your filter with filter media from an established tank but I would always run a tank without fish first to establish that the water is truly safe.

Because your current tank is too small to house fish I would return your puffer to the shop that you bought it from and look into housing shrimps or snails but please look into cycling your tank before adding anything else to the tank.

If you would like to own a puffer like the one that you currently have in the future then please let us know what species it is and we can advise on the best tank size and set up.

Thanks, I was in a hurry & don't always have time to write all those details.

No problem we've all got to do our bit, I admit that my knowledge is limited but I will try to help when I can.