poison puffer = poison sand?

a good friend ofr mine had a valintino puffer it died (disapeared over night) it was the only liiving thing besides LR and live sand. the guy at one of the lfs said its toxic when it dies. the weater was infact poisoned as a newly added healthy fish died in a matter of hours. we are changing the water as we speak. but what do we do with the sand?

 

Sand and rock will be fine.

Keep doing numerous large (30-50%) water changes, and run some activated carbon. Should be fine.

The question you should be answering now is.... why did the puffer die? : And if it was the ONLY living thing in your aquarium, you may want to be careful regarding the amount of time you let your tank go fishless and/or lifeless, as ANY new fish will cause a bit of a cycle.

 

ok great thanks for the help well be putting fish in tommorow

 

Stir the sand prior to water changes!

 

I would definately not do this as the are other organisms in the sand bed that are good in the bed but not mixed around.

 

so stur or no stur?

 

No stir, it will also release tons of waste.
In all honesty, I don't think this has anything to do with the puffers poison. Yes, they do contain poison. but its not the sort of poison that can just be released like that. Something would either have to get stuck or ingest the fish to get the poison. Same thing with something like tangs, lions, or dragonettes. Double check params, acclimation, and the source the new fish was bought.

 

I agree...def do not stir the sand!

Not always when a puffer dies does it release its toxin, just like it doesnt always release it when it puffs! Your new fish could have died due to acclimation problems, ammonia levels etc. However it is always a good idea to do water changes before adding another fish.

I have a scorpion (esp my ambion scorpion) that is continually shedding its skin as it grows. From what I understand the skin that he sheds is poisonous also. So I was told to remove the skin with either gloves, stick etc.

 

do not _EVER_ EVER

EVER
EVER
(are we getting the picture)
Stir or disturb the sand. If you want your sand turned get a CUC

Stirring the sand releases trapped bacteria which will cause an immuno response in the fish
stirring the sand can cause sand to get where it shouldn't, hurting or killing inverts
stiring the sand can directly kill or injure your CUC whose job it is to...
wait for it...

STIR THE SAND
</rant>

 

lol ok i get it no stir no stir i will fallow your instructions...we are going fish shopping in the am