Help Please

[whiskers]

hi guys! newbie here,
i just got a figure 8 , it was a gift, i put in with my cichlids ,severum blue acara, etc and he reeked havik .
not one fish without bit fins! i put him in a tank of his own , the ph,nitrites and ammonia are all fine, and added aquarium salt 11/2 tbs to 5 gal. he swims around at feeding time but the rest of the time he just sits on the bottom. can someone please tell me if this is normal or is something wrong.
any advise is greatly appreciated.
thanks
glen

 

[SLC Flyfishing]

You need to get a hydrometer. That way you can tell what salinity you have, you may have the salt content too high, I can't tell if you meant to say that you put 11 halves tablespoons salt (which is a wierd way of saying 5.5 tablespoons) in, or if you meant to type one and one half. I'm not familiar with what salinity either one of those would give you as I have always used a hydrometer.

I'm getting a feeling that you may have way too much salt in the tank because figure 8's are a light brackish fish which should have no more than 1.005 as their specific gravity.

also are you sure that the cichlids didn't stress him out or injure him in some way?

SLC

p.s. the cichlids and the puffer aren't such a good choice for tankmates, just for reference in the future.

 

[whiskers]

You need to get a hydrometer. That way you can tell what salinity you have, you may have the salt content too high, I can't tell if you meant to say that you put 11 halves tablespoons salt (which is a wierd way of saying 5.5 tablespoons) in, or if you meant to type one and one half. I'm not familiar with what salinity either one of those would give you as I have always used a hydrometer.

I'm getting a feeling that you may have way too much salt in the tank because figure 8's are a light brackish fish which should have no more than 1.005 as their specific gravity.

also are you sure that the cichlids didn't stress him out or injure him in some way?

SLC

p.s. the cichlids and the puffer aren't such a good choice for tankmates, just for reference in the future.

You need to get a hydrometer. That way you can tell what salinity you have, you may have the salt content too high, I can't tell if you meant to say that you put 11 halves tablespoons salt (which is a wierd way of saying 5.5 tablespoons) in, or if you meant to type one and one half. I'm not familiar with what salinity either one of those would give you as I have always used a hydrometer.

I'm getting a feeling that you may have way too much salt in the tank because figure 8's are a light brackish fish which should have no more than 1.005 as their specific gravity.

also are you sure that the cichlids didn't stress him out or injure him in some way?

SLC

p.s. the cichlids and the puffer aren't such a good choice for tankmates, just for reference in the future.

the cichlids just ignored him ,as far as i saw, he was only in the tank overnight and as i said he was the only one without missing fin parts, the amount of salt in the tank is 1 1/2 tablespoons per 5 gal, i checked with the person who gave him to me and they said that the puffers where in with mollies at the pet store. so i dont know if there was any salt in the water at all.
do you think i should start out with fresh water and gradually add salt or what do you suggest.
thanks again for any help

 

[kanzaris]

Hi Whiskers

You said Aquarium Salt I am sure that it is not the same then Marine Salt. You Definitly need Marine Salt. My bucket holds 3 uk gal and I use 3 1/2 heaped table spoons per bucket to achieve a salinity of 1.004 - 1.005. Correct me if I'am wrong I keep Malawi Cichlids and there ph is between 7.5 and 8, your Cichlids are Central American so your ph is a lot lower but the puffer needs a higher ph then your Cichlids. What is your Ph like? How big is your puffer and how big is the tank you keeping him in now? Also puffers like a lot of oxygenation. I am sure somebody will have more to add.

Sabby

 

[whiskers]

Hi Whiskers

You said Aquarium Salt I am sure that it is not the same then Marine Salt. You Definitly need Marine Salt. My bucket holds 3 uk gal and I use 3 1/2 heaped table spoons per bucket to achieve a salinity of 1.004 - 1.005. Correct me if I'am wrong I keep Malawi Cichlids and there ph is between 7.5 and 8, your Cichlids are Central American so your ph is a lot lower but the puffer needs a higher ph then your Cichlids. What is your Ph like? How big is your puffer and how big is the tank you keeping him in now? Also puffers like a lot of oxygenation. I am sure somebody will have more to add.

Sabby

hi Sabby
the ph in my cichlid tank is about 7.6 the water conditioner i use somehow buffers it up to that and the fish have gotten used to it, i have had them all about 9 months now. my puffer is a baby its only about 1 in. long and right now ive got him in a 10 gal tank with 2 airstones.and an under gravel filter. any ideas. i got up this morning and he ate and then went back to the botton.

 

[kanzaris]

Hi Again

My GSP gets moody and sits at the bottom of the tank. First I used to get worried but I know now that is what he does from time to time. My Figure 8 is in a 15 gal tank with two knight gobys and he is active but every Puffer has it's own personality. Your 2 Air stones and under gravel filter should be enough for a small tank and he is eating so that is a good sign. Give him a few days to settle in. Maybe Mr. Monks or AMS can give you more advise as I have run out of ideas. You didn't say if you have used Marine Salt and maybe your salinity is to high?

Sabby

 

[whiskers]

Hi Again

My GSP gets moody and sits at the bottom of the tank. First I used to get worried but I know now that is what he does from time to time. My Figure 8 is in a 15 gal tank with two knight gobys and he is active but every Puffer has it's own personality. Your 2 Air stones and under gravel filter should be enough for a small tank and he is eating so that is a good sign. Give him a few days to settle in. Maybe Mr. Monks or AMS can give you more advise as I have run out of ideas. You didn't say if you have used Marine Salt and maybe your salinity is to high?

Sabby

i was also wondering something,
i live on the west coast of vancouver island canada, about 10 min from the beach would it be ok to put some drift wood in the tank as in the pet stores here it is very expensive. i would boil it first to kill any bugs before adding it.

 

[kanzaris]

i was also wondering something,
i live on the west coast of vancouver island canada, about 10 min from the beach would it be ok to put some drift wood in the tank as in the pet stores here it is very expensive. i would boil it first to kill any bugs before adding it.
[/quote]


I wouldn't like to say. I personally would not use it I only use sea shells from the beach after boiling them.Try posting this in the Tropical Chit Chat Section.

Sabby

 

[nmonks]

Boiling something is neither here nor there; any small animals stuck on the stuff you bring from the beach will die in the aquarium very quickly.

The only real risk with collecting your own wood and rock is contamination with pollutants, such as oil. Provided the beach was clean, you should be fine. If in doubt, find out if people collect seafood or fish in those waters. If they do, then they're likely clean waters, and the driftwood would be safe to use.

Cheers,

Neale

i live on the west coast of vancouver island canada, about 10 min from the beach would it be ok to put some drift wood in the tank as in the pet stores here it is very expensive. i would boil it first to kill any bugs before adding it.

 

[SLC Flyfishing]

I hope you are using marine salt, you can get it from almost any fish store. Other than that I think that your salinity is probably ok and you either as sabby said have a puffer who is not so active personality wise or maybe he came to you sick or something else like that. Like Sabby has said, just let him settle in and see what happens. I think that now that he's out of the cichlid tank he may perk up a bit after a few days.

SLC

 

[whiskers]

I hope you are using marine salt, you can get it from almost any fish store. Other than that I think that your salinity is probably ok and you either as sabby said have a puffer who is not so active personality wise or maybe he came to you sick or something else like that. Like Sabby has said, just let him settle in and see what happens. I think that now that he's out of the cichlid tank he may perk up a bit after a few days.

SLC

the guy at the pet store told me to add some aquarium salt. this i take it is not right. can i use this or do i need to get sea salt
thanks for all your help!

 

[demonmagus]

you need marine salt

I think it contains minerals and stuff which they need

 

[SLC Flyfishing]

[/quote]

the guy at the pet store told me to add some aquarium salt. this i take it is not right. can i use this or do i need to get sea salt
thanks for all your help!
[/quote]

Yes you will need marine salt, this creates the proper brakish environment even though figure 8's aren't naturally brakish in the wild. Most on here will tell you that they have much better luck holding their 8's in low end brakish. just pick up some sea salt mix and a hydrometer. then over a period of 5 or so weeks bring the salinity up to 1.005 or so.

I'm not really sure what you should do now that you have tonic salt in the water though, may need to do water changes with fresh till that is out. I've never run into this problem so maybe wait for someone else to chime in on that. Or PM nmonks or AMS they'll likely have a better bit of advice on how to procede.

SLC

 

[nmonks]

As SLC Flyfishing has said, there's some discrepency between what figure-8s seem to enjoy in the wild and what works best in aquaria. In aquaria, salty water seems to help. I don't know why.

Anyway, use the tonic salt for the time being, since you've bought it, but really you do need marine mix. A hydrometer is probably essential, "guess-timating" the salinity by weight the salt or using teaspoons-per-gallon isn't reliable at all. A simple floating hydrometer will cost about £5. There are better models, not to mention refractometers if you want the very best, but floating hydrometers will do the job.

An SG of 1.003-1.005 is what you're after. A freshwater-adapted filter will go to 1.005 without any problems at all. As SLC Flyfishing said, adapt it slowly; I'd be adding SG 1.005 water with each 20% water change you do per week.

Cheers,

Neale