Hi everyone,
I feel like I've been posting on here way too often lately about my Puffer fish! lol
After recovering (almost 100%) from a severe ich outbreak (due to a sick Trigger I introduced prematurely), I noticed my Dog Face Puffer still gets cloudy white spots on his eyes, after two rounds (14 days) of Para Guard and Metronidazole treatments. I have replaced all of the sand with new Carib-Sea "Arag-Alive" Fiji. I do weekly water changes of 20-30 gallons for a 75 gallon tank, using RO water (the size will upgrade for the fish and he lives alone; currently, he's about 3-5 inches). The tank has almost 90 pounds of live-rock, a sump rated for a 125 gallon tank, and a venturi skimmer rated for a 150 gallon tank.
Despite the filtration and constant water changes (and the fact it is only the one puffer in the system), I cannot seem to keep the Nitrates below 12ppm; they fluctuate weekly between 12-25ppm. The fish is eating just fine (twice per day), though he is on a "Krill kick" and that is the only food he will accept at the moment (he used to love muscles and squid); to keep up his nutrients, I soak his food in Zoe and Garlic. I make sure not to leave any chunks of food in the tank and I understand Puffers produce a high bio-load. I have a 90 gallon reef system stocked with nearly 12 fish and never have a Nitrate issue. Should I add a canister for additional filtration? What do you all think?
Other tank params:
Nitrite - 0
Phos. - 0 (was .5 prior to water change 48 hours ago)
Amm. - 0
PH - 8.3
Temp - 75-76
Calc. - 480ppm
I feel like I've been posting on here way too often lately about my Puffer fish! lol
After recovering (almost 100%) from a severe ich outbreak (due to a sick Trigger I introduced prematurely), I noticed my Dog Face Puffer still gets cloudy white spots on his eyes, after two rounds (14 days) of Para Guard and Metronidazole treatments. I have replaced all of the sand with new Carib-Sea "Arag-Alive" Fiji. I do weekly water changes of 20-30 gallons for a 75 gallon tank, using RO water (the size will upgrade for the fish and he lives alone; currently, he's about 3-5 inches). The tank has almost 90 pounds of live-rock, a sump rated for a 125 gallon tank, and a venturi skimmer rated for a 150 gallon tank.
Despite the filtration and constant water changes (and the fact it is only the one puffer in the system), I cannot seem to keep the Nitrates below 12ppm; they fluctuate weekly between 12-25ppm. The fish is eating just fine (twice per day), though he is on a "Krill kick" and that is the only food he will accept at the moment (he used to love muscles and squid); to keep up his nutrients, I soak his food in Zoe and Garlic. I make sure not to leave any chunks of food in the tank and I understand Puffers produce a high bio-load. I have a 90 gallon reef system stocked with nearly 12 fish and never have a Nitrate issue. Should I add a canister for additional filtration? What do you all think?
Other tank params:
Nitrite - 0
Phos. - 0 (was .5 prior to water change 48 hours ago)
Amm. - 0
PH - 8.3
Temp - 75-76
Calc. - 480ppm
