The Puffer Forum

Hi,
I am fairly new to puffers, but I am experienced at tropical fish keeping, and am just getting into salt, I have had a GSP before, after doing plenty of research about them, and he was doing great. until he got ich, and the guy at my lfs told me to use aquari-sol, wich must have poisoned him. but i decided to give it another shot, because I really like puffers. I have a 10 gal tank, with a whisper junior filter, a nitrate blocker( my water has natural nitrates), a under gravel filter, and a good heater. The tank is fully cycled, and just about ready for a puffer, i just need to get the water tested to make sure everything is good. this is what the water parameters were last time i had it tested:PH, 8.2 hardness, very high( off the charts) nitrates: 10ppm amonia: 0 nitrites: 0 , and im not sure about salinity, but i am adding about half a tablespoon per gallon of tank water.
I plan on getting a Gsp tomorrow if all water parameters are still good.
I have been debating over a GSP and a F8 , but I was told that a GSP would do fine in a 10 gal, but that i might have to move it in a few years, wich i wouldnt mind.
I originally joined this forum about 2 months ago( i think) to ask the same question about whether to get a GSP or a F8, i came back the next day to see if there were any replies, and the site was gone!
I just found this forum back today, I was begining to think it was gone!

Any input on this would be greatly apreciated.

thanks!

-John

GSPs get too big and their growth will be stunted in a 10.

Definitely go with the Figure 8! 10 is fine, and if you ever want to get a larger tank the Figure 8 won't mind.

Eric

But is the tank cycled - is the bacterial colony still alive? If it has been any time since the prior fish died, the bacteria are likely to have died off as well.

I don't understand about the "nitrate blocker"? Can your clarify for us?

RTR wrote:But is the tank cycled - is the bacterial colony still alive? If it has been any time since the prior fish died, the bacteria are likely to have died off as well.

I don't understand about the "nitrate blocker"? Can your clarify for us?

Im using a rechargeable Nitra-zorb pad, that inserts into the filter chamber.
It is made out of man-made resins that absorb nitrates, amonia, and nitrites. every week or so, you recharge it by soaking it in a brine soloution for 2 hours.
I use it to absorb the natural nitrates in my water.

Thanks for the advice, I think I will get a F8.
Ill get the water tested to make sure, but i had 3 ghost shrimp in there( they mysteriously died though??, maybe it was the salt?) and i was adding some kind of live bacteria( i forget the brand name).


thanks!

-John

Since you recharge it in brine, it will not work in a brackish tank.

Yep. According to the Aq. Pharm. web site:
"Nitra-Zorb can be used in freshwater aquariums containing aquarium salt and in Rift lake cichlid aquariums. Nitra-Zorb will not work in saltwater aquariums."

I only have the tank at light brackish, and the nitrates went down from 40 to 10, so i think it works.

I think I'll try to get some of this stuff - the nitrates out of my tap are 12.5. Sounds like it might help during agricultural run-off season...

Eric

Personal choice item, but I am adamantly opposed to the use of nitrogen-absorbtion resins in tanks. A biological cycle is impossible with these resins present, and I would never risk any setup to that technology. I have no objection to the use of such to pretreat water for nitrate removal before it goes into the tank. But I would give up keeping fish before I would have such in any of my tanks with livestock.

JMHO, YMMV.

That's a good point about the resin messing with the biological cycle, but it sounds like it would work in a bucket of water being aged with a filter on it.

I'm frustrated by the high nitrates out of the tap right now and was kind of grasping at straws, I think.

Eric

would the nitrate absorber work in a bucket of water with a airstone in it?

I got a F8 today, he is doing great. I also put 5 ghost shrimp in with him, he seems to like to chase them around.

Just a thought, but, I cycled the tank before i added the nitra-zorb pad. after I added the nitra-zorb pad, would the resins have killed the existing biological community?

How did you cycle the tank? Do you have fish in the tank right now or are you dosing the tank with ammonia, fish food or some other source to maintain the biological cycle? If not and the tank has been empty for a while, you will probably need to recycle the tank. There is an excellent article on fishless cycling in the library.

Also, you really should get a hydrometer or refractometer. Hydromters cost around $8-10 and remove the guess work when preparing for water changes. Are you using aquarium salt or synthetic sea salts?

The resins will have starved the nitrification bacteria is they function as advertised.

There were ghost shrimp in the tank after the puffer died, and i put fish flakes, and live bacteria in during that time. I just recently recharged the nitra-zorb pad and put it back in the tank, but if its going to un-cycle my tank i will take it out.

There is a F8 in the tank right now, along with 4( was 5 about an hour ago, the F8 is looking very happy!) ghost shrimp.

thanks,

-John