agabr123

oh the wonderful wealth of info that is pet store employees....

sorry to say but what they told you is quite wrong, a cycle can take anywhere from 2 to 5 or 6 weeks (depending on the size of the tank and unknown factors) and should be done fishless. IMO there is no way to get through the cycle with fish without causing stress to them, as they really really need 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrite, 5-20 PPM nitrate. you can help the cycle along with tetra safe start, and by adding food to create ammonia as it breaks down, but please no fish

agabr123

oh, and i'm not sure if you have one but in order to monitor the levels and know when your cycle is done (0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 5-20 nitrate), you'll need a test kit, my recommendation would be an API freshwater master test kit

pinkfloydpuffer

Just so you know... there are no brackish puffers that will do well in a 10g aquarium. The only ones that will are dwarf puffers, and they are purely freshwater.

nathan7294

how bout 15 gallons?

pinkfloydpuffer

15gs would be good for one figure 8 puffer

Amanda

You've morphed another one Pink!

nathan7294

aww i like the green spotted puffers......

pinkfloydpuffer

Green spotted puffers are much bigger and have more stringent requirements.
They need 30gs, and much higher brackish even up to saltwater as they age.

nathan7294

ill look at the figure 8 puffers then

pinkfloydpuffer

They are really neat looking

nathan7294

ya can i put other fish with my figure 8 if i got 1? 15 gallons os alot of room for one fish

pinkfloydpuffer

15 gals is the minimum for one f8 puffer. Puffers need lots more room than your average fish. They are very messy and get very fat
And putting other fish with him, especially in only 15gs, would probably end with the other fish getting killed.

nathan7294

but ive also got a great filter ive got a 30 gallon bio-filter in there

pinkfloydpuffer

That's good. You'd need 150GPH flow from your filter for a puffer. They are really messy fish.

nathan7294

idk exactly what the GPH is....do i need to get different gravel for them?...i know ill need some more plants

pinkfloydpuffer

It's best to have aragonite. That will buffer the pH for you. But you could just get a small bag of aragonite or crushed coral to add to the filter.
Lots of plants and caves and places for them to swim through will be lots of fun for the little guy.

nathan7294

ive got a log and whats aragonite?

AlyeskaGirl

I came across this suggestion for tankmates for those fin-nippers.....
Semi Aggressive Fish: Danios, Red Tail Sharks. Zebra danios get 2 inches and chace other fish for sport, lol The thing about danios is that they are always on the move.......and like to jump!!!! lol