The Puffer Forum

Ok, so, I've had fish before, mainly Cichlids. But now I've got my first puffer batch and have grown to really like them and enjoy them a lot. Unlike other fish, they really do have personalities and interact well. But anyhow, I need to start doing water changes, as I've had them for about a week now. What I want to know is how should I change 25% of the water at a time without throwing off the salt levels? Do I prepare a bucket at a time with proper levels or do I just add salt to the filter and begin filling?

Mix and aerate your water in a large bucket for several hours before adding it to your tank.

Aerate it by like, how, putting an air pump hose on the bottom?

I use a powerhead, but yes, same idea.

Air pumps and marine mix do not play well together. Use powerheads with a sponge prefilter on the intake. Good circulation is aeration.

So would this work out ok? I set three buckets up (adding up to a little over 25% of the water in my tank) and filled them and added the appropriate chemicals and salt and stuff. But here are some pics. This is my first time messing with salt so check it out, let me know what you think... Thanks.

Looks good. I can see you have aquarium salt, you will need to get marine salt since this is what the puffers require.

How much marine salt shoudl I add? like per gallon?

You really need to measure it w/a hydrometer but a rough estimate is it takes about a cup of salt/5gal to raise the SG .005. You'll have to do some math here.

and F8's are good between .005 and .008 right?

1.005 is fine.

So... lmao, sorry, I've got 4 gallon buckets, how much salt do you think I should add to each?

ok, so I added 3/4 cups to 4 gallons and my Hydrometer reads 1.011...

Empty some out and add more freshwater, 1.011 is too high. You are aiming for 1.005 and be sure do dechlorinate the water before adding it.

If he airates for 24 hours, no dechlor is needed. Check after a few hours, not immediately, as the salt isn't diluted evenly yet.