The Puffer Forum

My hairy puffer came home 1 month ago. It was 2'2 or 2'3, an adolescence puffer i guess. He jumped out and died.

My tank was like 80-84F PH 6.5. I have zero clue why it jumped.

I'm so sorry to hear that! I see there is no sand. Was the tank cycled before you got the fish?

Pufferpunk wrote: ↑Wed Jun 26, 2024 8:07 am I'm so sorry to hear that! I see there is no sand. Was the tank cycled before you got the fish?

Yes, I cycled this 12-gallon tank for several weeks. However, the water became cloudy on the second day of this puffer's stay. I changed the water, and it was clear in two days. It was two weeks after the water cleared up that it jumped out of the tank.

Btw, I didn't put sand in this tank because I learned that this pufferfish lives in rocky rapids of the Mekong River.

Now this tank is about to meet its new owner, a Pao Abei.

I hope you have a cover for this one!
How exactly did you cycle the tank? Had you been testing the water after adding the puffer?

Pufferpunk wrote: ↑Fri Jun 28, 2024 12:13 am I hope you have a cover for this one!
How exactly did you cycle the tank? Had you been testing the water after adding the puffer?

Ya I got one now.

In the first week, I didn't do anything. In the second week, I added some Ammonia shrimp, including the carcasses of some that died in transit, and some small floaters. Then, I let the filter and bacteria do their thing. The water got cloudy once, and I figured the nitrification system wasn't established yet, so I did three water changes once a day. It didn't get better for three days. I ended up adding some nitrifying bacteria directly into it, and the water cleared up in 2days. Before I added the puffer at the end of the 3rd week, I kept testing the pH, which was quite stable around 6.5.

You also need to be testing ammonia/nitrite/nitrate

Pufferpunk wrote: ↑Tue Jul 02, 2024 8:59 am You also need to be testing ammonia/nitrite/nitrate

Thx for ur advice!! I will