I got my dwarf puffers today and as usual they don't eat much on the first day. But i washed my tank with no soap or chemicals and my tank was cloudy. I thought it would wear off because it's hot water but it didn't!!!! Later 1 dwarfpuffer kinda went K.O. and it just floated twitching. And now another one looks like it's gonna die over night...Yup i just checked and its all swimming offbalanced now. PLEASE help me save my little poor puffer!!!
Is it my fake plants or is it the new gravel? I washed the gravel
2007-07-27 20:49:54 · 5 answers · asked by rsonbie456 2 in Pets ➔ Fish
The hot water went to cold water so i put on the heater to 75 degrees
2007-07-27 20:58:40 · update #1
i had dwarf puffers before and they are hecka easy to take care of until something went wrong!!!! At least my fat puffer is still happy
2007-07-27 21:00:25 · update #2
and yes i cycled my tank 2 hours before i got the fish xD When i said hot water i meant i used it to wash the tank but the tank water was cold so i put a heater in
2007-07-27 21:02:29 · update #3
And i didn't change gravels. I just restarted my whole tank with everything new and my puffers are 8 hours new to the tank xD Only one is super happy now but the other is wobbling. Im just gonna get amonia control and get 2 more puffers after this one dies xD But i had 5 puffers before and it didnt do this cloudy water thing
2007-07-27 21:06:55 · update #4
Now only one puffer is left but i learned mt lesson! Don't change gravel too early and i need to get more anti- nitro and ammonia thing cuz i used the last of it!! Now i know wat went wrong!! I
changed everything too fast and i forgot to put in the biological filtering bacteria that cleans nitrates and ammonia
2007-07-27 21:24:28 · update #5
When you changed your gravel, you lost all the bacteria that convert the ammonia waste your fish produce into compounds that are less toxic. Puffers are very sensitive to ammonia and nitrite in the water. Given their messy eating, they and the particles of food they don't eat, there will be a lot of ammonia produced in a puffer tank.
The cloudiness is due to the left-over bacteria reproducing to take advantage of the excess ammonia in the tank, but by the time you have enough bacteria built up, you probably won't have a puffer. The most you can do at the monent is a water change of around 50% of the water in the tank to try and reduce the amount of ammonia in the water. You will need to keep an eye on the ammonia levels for the next several weeks. You might try one of the ammonia detoxifying products, but this will still show up as ammonia on your water tests, so you'll never know if the ammonia results are ammonia that's detoxified or not. These products should only be used in an emergency, not on an ongoing basis.
NOTE: Cycling a tank to get the bacteria you need takes 3-6 WEEKS, not a few hours or days. If you washed your gravel in tapwater that had chlorine, you still would have lost all the bacteria that had been in the tank.
2007-07-27 21:00:38 · answer #1 · answered by copperhead 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Um....HOT WATER? did you just set the tank up? You need to cycle the tank before you add fish.
So you cycled the tank and the water temp is right? Test the water. You must have your nitrates, nitrites, amonia and chlorine in check.
Puffers are sensitive...maybe start with mollies or guppies?
2007-07-27 20:57:52 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
you say you cycled tank for 2 hours before putting fish in..you need to cycle for 3 to 4 weeks before adding fish to a tank..thats how long it to us to cycle ours and get our ammonia,nitrite and nitrate levels correct before we could add any fish
2007-07-27 22:37:19 · answer #3 · answered by greyhound mummy 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Is is supposed to be hot water?? Are you using the right water???
2007-07-27 20:53:26 · answer #4 · answered by Amber 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
ahhhh idk but it makes me sad ]= ... take him to the emergency room haha i just think that would be funny
2007-07-27 20:53:38 · answer #5 · answered by L 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋