Deadeye’s Amazon Puffer Thread

[jjohnwm]

Oxygen dissolves pretty easily in water; if there's a deficiency, just dropping in an airstone or increasing agitation in some way would solve the problem very quickly. I can't help but think there is something else going on in that tank. Other fish okay now?

With a name like "chemiclean" I am predisposed not to trust that stuff , but knowing nothing about it I did a quick google search. Most links were a bit vague as to what it is and how it works. One source claims that it is Erythromycin antibiotic. Is that a problem for puffers?

Nothing worse than losing a fish in mysterious fashion, or as a result of a user error; good luck with the last two puffers.

 

[fishguy1978]

Oxygen dissolves pretty easily in water; if there's a deficiency, just dropping in an airstone or increasing agitation in some way would solve the problem very quickly. I can't help but think there is something else going on in that tank. Other fish okay now?

With a name like "chemiclean" I am predisposed not to trust that stuff , but knowing nothing about it I did a quick google search. Most links were a bit vague as to what it is and how it works. One source claims that it is Erythromycin antibiotic. Is that a problem for puffers?

Nothing worse than losing a fish in mysterious fashion, or as a result of a user error; good luck with the last two puffers.

I'm not sure of the chemical composition but it works wonders on cyano in fresh or salt. Best to manually remove as much cyano as possible before treatment. I have used it in tanks with discus and with puffers and no adverse effects.
Deadeye , you can drip hydrogen peroxide into the tank and it will raise the O2 level as it reacts.

 

[Deadeye]

Thanks.
I was gonna head to the lfs today to bring some coral in, while there I’ll pick up an air pump or powerhead for the tank.
Ammonia and nitrite were 0 or near zero (anything higher is probably due to the die off) and nitrate was 0-5, w/c probably removed those. PH was 7.5-7.6, same as always.
The chemiclean box specifies to lower water level or increase aeration. I’d assume part of the cyano killing process decreases o2.
I should’ve done that + removed most of the cyano but was rushing and being stupid. In the past I had did it right.
Turns out the 2 “dead” tetras had a bit of life left in them, so into the bucket they go…I was probably too late with them but based on the puffers I was willing to give them a fair shot.
My guess as to why the puffers would’ve went first if it’s o2 is that they are a higher flow riverine species and likely need high oxygen because of it. And puffers are super sensitive already.
Hopefully it all goes well, I put carbon in the filter to suck out the residual chemiclean.

 

[Deadeye]

Dissolved oxygen came up to about 5 mg/L, which according to the kit is sufficient.
One molly is acting a bit off, hopefully it starts to get better. I’m still a bit hesitant to move the puffers back.

 

[Deadeye]

Puffers and a tetra are back. The puffers are a little off, I’m mainly going to attribute that to stress from the move. They were acting totally normal in the bucket…
Tetra is mostly back to normal.

 

[FJB]

I am glad they are back. Good vibes going your way.

 

[twentyleagues]

Wow that's a bummer. Pulling for the remaining two.

 

[Deadeye]

Thanks everyone.
I had to pull the tetra, it was wobbly, and honestly if it dies it’s a lot easier to get a fish out of a bucket than a mess of wood and rocks.
The current fish in the dt, including the puffers all seem back to normal. Hopefully it stays this way. The carbon and bubbler appears to be working - even the Val is growing for a change.

 

[Deadeye]

Put the tetra back in the tank yesterday, mostly because my salt tank couldn’t go another day without a wc (I gotta get another bucket). The tetra didn’t improve and died last night.

Everyone else is (knock on wood) 100% better! In the coming weeks I’ll add back to the tetra school and probably get a male molly.

 

[Deadeye]

While I think about restocking, I kinda want something that would greet me at the glass (seeings I have the one puffer species that doesn’t).
Any thoughts on something small and personable? I know the tank would be sitting around fully stocked when I add the tetras and molly back. I was thinking dwarf acara (rams and apistos won’t do well in the higher ph).