(almost) newbie makes classic mistake - help!

Haven't done the testing yet today but I have a question about feeding. They still won't take forzen food. I put a bit of whitebait in the tank (cut the head off one) and one of the puffers had a quick go at it before leaving it in the corner.

So I tried putting the body in cut in half and the other one had a few picks at that, before it too got bored and left it.

Any tips here? Shoud I use a whole whitebait tied to a bit of nylon and jig it around a bit? Or should I be cutting it up into more manageable pieces for the little fellas?

I don't have an infinite supply of brine shrimp (LFS only gets them once a week) and I would be a lot happier if I could get them to eat frozen food.

Also not keen on bloodworm (had a bad experience with them burrowing into the gravel and hatching once!). Would daphnia be ok while they are so small?

Other than that they seem happy enough and have been eating the shrimp. They are definitely a lot more lively now and shoot out to the front of the tank when you enter the room. In fact its almost like they want food - until you give them some!

I'll post water results later, just in case anybody is interested.

Oh yes, I have been removing the unwanted food.

Thanks for any help.
Ade.
 
I've been reading this thread with interest. Did you decide to use the Marine mix as OrionGirl suggested? That will help, and mean that you don't need to use the pH up any more, too.

Regarding food for your puffers, snails are a good backup food. When you move the puffers on to a larger tank, you can just use the tank you have now as a "snail farm", and harvest your own.

Most LFS also sell ghost shrimp as feeder food for certain fish, so you might try those as an alternative. If the LFS you are currently going to does not carry these, you should call around; it shouldn't be too hard to find one that does. I actually keep these shrimp as scavengers in a few tanks, so the nice thing about them is that if the fish won't eat them, they will serve a purpose in the tank.

I'd also suggest that you try frozen bloodworms as an alternative now. By the way, the worms you referred to are tubifex or blackworms. You should definitely never feed these in a tank with an undergravel filter. Bloodworms are not worms at all, but rather the larvae of a flying insect. Warning: some people are extremely allergic to these little buggers (myself included). If you decide to try them, either get yourself a box of disposable surgical gloves (my solution), or just make sure you wash your hands immediately and thoroughly with lots of warm water and soap right after feeding.

Keep up the daily water changes (adding Marine mix with each change will bring your water pH, GH, and KH up slowly and nicely). Good luck and keep us posted.
 
Hi Harry,

Thanks for the advice. I haven't yet started putting marine mix in, mainly because I've been swamped with information over the last few days (!) and the thought of making things more complicated put me off, until I know what I'm doing more.

I might look into it as and when I've got time. Would slowly increasing the amount of aquarium salt also be a way of producing brackish water? *thinks he might be opening a can of worms with this question!*

My more immediate problem is today's test results:

ph = 6.7
ammonia = 0.5ppm !
nitrite = 0
nitrate = 0

I've done a water change and will do another later. The test kit I have suggests carbon in a filter or ammo-lock 2 which it says will convert it to 'non-harmful ammonia' but will not inhibit the growth of the biological filter. Is it worth me using this?

Incidentally they have started bickering, particularly when there is food around. I will try feeding them more brine shrimp.

As always thanks for the help.
 
Nope, aquarium salt will not make marine/brackish water. Marine/bracksih water consists of NaCl, in addition to a bunch of other additives and minerals (Calcium, iron, blah, blah--it's on the packaging). All of which makes for happy critters, in addition to buffering the water and raising pH. Adding aquarium salt is appropriate if you're thinking of raising the temp and serving them up with butter and parsley.

Not to add to your load, but you'll also want to invest in a hydrometer. They're cheap, easy to use, make sure to keep clean (rinse in fresh after each use). They are used to determine specific gravity, which is a cheaters method of estimating salinity. A Brackish setup should read somewhere between about 1.005 and 1.010 (you'll find various figures for this--it's a guess-timate, so somewhere within the range). Using a hydrometer eliminates the guess work in how much salt mix to use to achieve an appropriate level for your fish.

Try feeding them both the brine and the frozen fish bits. Use little pieces--these guys can crack a shell wide open, but they can't really chew large pieces into smaller ones (think how a bird eats, not how a croc eats--the bird breaks a nut open, then snaps up the pieces, they don't tear of huge chunks). With a fleshy food, if it won't fit in their mouth, they'll have a tough time eating it. If the live food is their to entice them, they will grab a few bits of the other foods as well, and slowly learn that this too is food.
 
Hi all,

Just in case anyone is interested today's tests showed:

ph = 7
ammonia = 0 (or maybe a trace its hard to tell)
nitrite = 0
nitrate = 0

I'm still feeding them brine shrimp but have been giving small bits of whitebait as OrionGirl suggested. They seem to be slowly taking to it. One of them seems to like the eyes in particular. Nice.

One of them is getting a bit territorial though, particularly when there is food in the tank, I guess this could be a problem in such a small tank, but at least it gives me some ammo to use when persuading my wife that we have got room for a 50g :D

Will look into very slowly adding marine salt next week I think...

Incidentally OrionGirl, I was thinking sushi rather than butter & parsley!

Cheers,
Ade.
 
LWI like Harry Tolen.

Ade, next time you're at the lfs-- prolly tomorrow, eh-- take a small screwtop jar and ask them to fill it from their open bag of "crushed coral" for the reef tank substrates they have in the shop.

Put a couple of tablespoons into your filter, say inside a filter bag. It will start to stabilize your pH a little above 7.0

I followed the link to the description of "EasyLife" and saw no description, no hint of ingredients, no science, just a lot of vague but glossy promises...

Sounds like your dilemma is unravelling nicely. You've been getting outstanding advice.
 
Last edited:
Hi wetmanNY,

I do appreciate all of the advice, v. glad I found this forum!

Having a problem with ammonia now (I guess its starting to cycle?). Have been out of town for a day so only did one change on saturday and left it for 24hours before testing again. Last two day's results are:

Sunday:
ph = 7.2
ammonia 1.5ppm
nitrites 0
nitrates DNT

Monday:
ph = 7
ammonia 1.5ppm
nitrites 0
nitrates DNT


I'm doing two changes a day again and will keep you posted.

Is it worth me putting in a treatment for the ammonia at this point?

If so any suggestions (the test kit says ammo-lock 2, but then it would as they make it)?

They still seem happy enough, but I know this ammonia is not good for them...

Thanks again for the advice.

Ade.
 
in case anyone's still reading:

Tuesday:
pH = 7.4
ammonia = 2ppm
nitrites = trace
nitrates = 0

Bought some ammolock.

Also got some snails from different LFS. Dropped the first one in and it didn't even reach the gravel before being descended on by the puff's and turned into mashed snail shell. Lovely.
 
It's great you were able to get some snails! It's something to watch them go after them.
 
People are still reading...just thought that I'd let you know that!

If your ammonia is rising like that still, you may not have cycled yet, or it may just be Mother Nature's way of pointing out that a water change is due. Also, I believe that you will start to see more ammonia as the pH rises, but you still need to make sure that it is minimal for your fishes' sake.

Best of luck with that tank...sounds like a cool one!

~Matthew
 
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