Help, My daughter decided to set up a 100 litre tank for Figure 8s. She's put 3 in the tank and all 3 have died with the last one being last night. I'm trying to understand what the sensitivity is causing these to die as they all have died overnight. Could it be a PH drop or is it just coincidental. She's considering packing it in but I'm trying to encourage her to carry on if we can just understand the underlying issues. Any thoughts?
Figure 8 Puffer
- Thread starter DavidG55
- Start date
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Andy Sager
Aquarium Advice Addict
For starters, 3 in a 100 liter tank is crowded. What are the dimensions of this tank?
Can you describe or show a picture of the tank set up?
What was the water parameters? ( Ph, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, temperature, Hardness)
Did you/she cycle the aquarium before adding the fish?
How much salt did you add to the water? ( Figure 8s are brackish water puffers not freshwater. )
I think we have to accept that she was given not the best advice on start up by LFS. I don't have the dimensions to hand but I believe it to be a AquaOne Nano 60. I've been advised that the ammonia was 0.0 and nitrates about 10. PH 7.4. KH I don't know as it wasn't tested. The water was an SG of 1.004. The reason being is the fish were in this SG is because that was the SG of the water when bought. She's going to go back to basics using a more reputable LFS and that starts with getting the tank cycled. I've got a very mature and successful reef tank of over 15 years and the plan is to migrate some of the bacteria across.
Andy Sager
Aquarium Advice Addict
Using a reputable place of business is always the best.
It usually pays to spend a little more at a reputable place than to save a penny at the wrong place. SG was a little low. "Brackish " water is anything from 1.002 -1.019. Most brackish water fish do best in aquariums at 1.008- 1.012. So these fish may have been being kept at 1.004 but they probably would not last long in the store either.
After some research, your tank measures 60cm x 40 cm x 44 cm ( roughly 24inch x 15.75 inch x 17 inch) which is a little smaller than recommended size for a single puffer let alone 3. Water volume becomes less important than floor space. Figure 8s like to both swim about and hide so a tank of 76 cm x 30 cm x 30 cm, well decorated with hiding spots and open areas for swimming is considered the minimum for a single figure 8 puffer. There are some smaller brackish water fish, (Bumble bee gobies, flounders, other goby species etc) that are better suited for a tank your size.
Over the years, there has been much speculation about which microbes are the ones doing the denitrification and it's commonly believed that the marine microbes are different from the freshwater microbes. With that, it may be better to let the tank naturally cycle vs trying to convert ones from your reef tank or a freshwater tank. Unless the nitrates in your test results came from your source water, they must have come from your tank which would mean that your tank is already cycled. I wouldn't do anything but continue to supply an ammonia source to keep the microbes alive until you place more fish in the tank.
