Do Figure 8's Sleep?

[ben3486]

Noticed my figure 8 on a rock the other day, and he was staying really still and curled his tail round so it pointed towards his head? was he sleeping? when he "woke" up he also wasnt using one of his fins on his side. he eventually did after a few mins and hasntshowed signs of it again. Do they sleep? was he just sleepy when he "woke" up lol

 

[nmonks]

Yes they do sleep, and yes, puffers often curl their tails around their bodies, a bit like snoozing cats. It's rather cute, and one of the many reasons people like these otherwise aggressive and nippy aquarium fish.

Cheers, Neale

 

[ben3486]

thankyou very much neale

Also started the brackish change over, as per your advice via pm so thank you very much again for that.

Am I right in thinking.....that there isnt going to be much difference in a marine tank and a brackish one? i.e...if i get the hang of a brackish tank will it be pretty easy to get the hang of marine? surely not much more to it than getting the nitrates/trites/amonia and sg right? or am i just assuming wrong ?

 

[nmonks]

Depends on the salinity. If you're keeping it very low, say SG 1.002, which is fine for a figure-8, then the tank is basically a moderately hard, slightly basic freshwater system. The salt limits some options in terms of fish and plants, but opens up the possibilities for certain other fish.

If you're running the salinity quite high, SG 1.008 upwards, plants aren't likely to feature, so yes, your aquarium can be run around marine lines with coral sand, tufa rock, even a protein skimmer. Above SG 1.010 you can start adding certain marine species, for example blue-legged hermits, while systems 1.018 upwards can feature live rock and potentially macroalgae.

A mid to high salinity brackish water tank can be adjusted to a marine one over time, and in the past it was very common for people to break into marine fishkeeping this way. By gradually raising the salinity they'd "pick up" the knack of maintaining the right salinity, alkalinity and pH, and gradually add to or replace their brackish water fish with hardy marines. This approach is virtually obsolete now because people instead focus on using live rock to mature new marine tanks, but there's nothing to stop you keeping scats and green spotted puffers in a mid-salinity tank and then eventually raise the salinity and add some damselfish or a grouper.

Cheers, Neale

Am I right in thinking.....that there isnt going to be much difference in a marine tank and a brackish one? i.e...if i get the hang of a brackish tank will it be pretty easy to get the hang of marine? surely not much more to it than getting the nitrates/trites/amonia and sg right? or am i just assuming wrong ?