ATTN: PUFFER LOVER

[puff(er) daddy]

MY SPOTTED PUFFER EYES SEEM TO BE A LITTLE CLOUDY TONIGHT. I KNOW I'M OVER REACTING, BUT I WANTED TO RUN THESE THING BY YOU TO SEE IF ANYTHING POPS INTO YOUR HEAD.
I'M CURRENTLY IN THE MIDDLE OF HYPOSALINITY, I JUST LOST MY GROUPER (ICK). ALSO, IN TRYING TO LOWER MY NITRITE I REMOVED MY DRIFTWOOD AND 80% OF MY SUBSTRATE OF CC/SAND.
HE'S STILL EATING GREAT NO CHANGES BUT JUST BEING CAREFULL.

 

[pufferlover]

I have run a number of Puffs thru Hypo and never lost one (knock on wood), I have noticed that once in a while their coloration does change a bit while going thru it and even some real heavy breathing but they seem to take it ok. The funny thing that most do not realize, because the books and lfs say how tough Puffs are, is that they are very prone to Ick (as I have found out over the years) but also very able to be cured. Hang in and let me know if anything real unusual happens while it is doing its time (so to speak).

 

[puff(er) daddy]

YOU DON'T KNOW HOW GOOD IT IS TO READ YOUR REPLY!
I'M USING A GLASS HYDROMETER THAT YOU PUT INTO THE WATER (I HEARD IT WAS THE BEST). MY WATER IS AT 1.O10 RIGHT NOW, THE PUFFER IS DOING OK I JUST FED HIM.
NOW, SHOULD I LEAVE THE WATER AT 1.O10 BECAUSE I READ IN PREVIOUSE POSTS THAT THEY'RE NOT AS ACCURATE AS THEY CLAIM?

 

[pufferlover]

Well I agree that they are not anywhere near completely accurate. I have 2 swing arms that I tested against each other and found one was off a point. Then I had my lfs guy check them against his refractometer and found that the 1 point was correct. So in my case I need a reading of .1008 to be at .1009 (where you must be to do a job on the white devil parasites. At the moment I am also hypoing my Stars and Stripes and altho this morning it is doing much better at .1011 it is going down to .1009 tonight and staying there for 3 to 4 weeks to be sure. I would say you could go one more point by your gauge and then leave it be (but you must check every day due to evaporation which will cause it to rise again. As said before I have not had a Puffer that I did hypo that did not respond to it. The hard part is the patience it takes to do it and then to raise it back later, but it is well worth it. On my homepage if you have not been there you will find in messages a long post I did on hypo and how I did it and how it worked and what to watch for along the way. Any other questions ask away.