Puffers getting stuck to filter

[SilviaGTO]

Ok. The first two puffers I had (theyre dead..sick from the store...) were so little that they kept getting stuck to my penguin mini's uptake...

All the lfs' around here sell baby puffers, any one i get is going to get stuck to the filter.. any suggestions on how to fix this?

[Pufferpunk]

You can buy a sponge cover for the intake screen. Usually found as a kit for reverse flow, by the powerheads. Say, why don't you join us pufferfans at my site, The Puffer Forum at: http://www.geocities.com/thepuffertank

[SilviaGTO]

cool thanks!
thatll work perfectly!
except it might not suck up as much debris.. but better than sucking up my puffers.

[Pufferpunk]

What kind of puffer is it?

[cdawson]

They were probably getting stuck to the filter due to poor health. Any fish, no matter what kind will be able to get away from the filter current if it's healthy. If they are getting stuck then they are not well.

[justDIY]

hrmm ... sometimes the pull from the filter can be too strong for fish, but like cdawson said, it's probably because they're weak from being sick

I had 5 fish (mollies and platies) get sucked into my fluval 404 a few days ago, as I had the strainer off for cleaning ... luckily all 5 survived, although some got scraped up pretty badly ... good thing the filter's impeller is on the outlet side after the media trays ... it was funny opening up the canister and seeing them peeking out from the prefilter sump ... they sure seemed happy to see someone come to their rescue, didn't even resist the net

[SilviaGTO]

yeah they were sick.. they both died.. stupid fish store.
they were green spotted puffers.. but (yes im aware i should have read up on them first) the store told me they would be fine in freshwater and to feed them just plain freez dried brine shrimp

not that it wouldve mattered. they were both sick =(


I was just wondering for future reference.. because now Ive read up on the puffers...

[TankGirl]

I use a sponge filter over my intake instead of the usual basket because I have sand substrate and need to keep it out of the impeller, and though it does require frequent maintenance it reduces the regular filter maintenance that I would normally do. However, I don't think any healthy puffer would have trouble keeping away from the filter intake. My LFS where I got my freshwater puffers from has now started putting tubs of rock salt in the tanks with the same Malabar dwarf puffers that I have, even though they are strictly freshwater. Either they are trying to sell brackish puffers as freshwater and hope no-one notices the salt, or they are trying to sell freshwater puffers as brackish. I won't be going there again.... The moral is do your research and shop carefully.

[justDIY]

the salt may be to soften the water, not to make it brackish

I guess it depends on how much you use ... I know putting salt (sodium or potassium chlorides) in contact with fresh water will swap sodium or potassium atoms for calcium atoms (ion exchange), but I'm not sure how that also doesn't make it "salt water"

I've drunken water softened with sodium before and couldn't notice any salt taste to it, but it must be there right?

ah the wonders of chemistry

[Pufferpunk]

I thought adding minerals, ie. salt, would harden the water.

[TankGirl]

Yes, this could have been a technique to alter the water chemistry in this particular tank, since all of the tanks run off of a single sump system. The employee responsible for fish that day told me that these freshwater puffers "like salt" in their tank, which made me suspect that they were trying to make this tank brackish. Who knows! (Obviously not the employee or me...) This calls for more research.

[justDIY]

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