Figure 8 Puffer

[blcknwitecuban]

what size tank is all of this in btw?

 

[jennybugs]

Search through Earthling's posts...you'll find it in the brackish section!

 

[greenhalibut]

i was doing research for f8 puffers and I was on aquahobby and about half of the people on there said they kept f8s in a community tank, even with fish such as angels and plecos. I was wondering if anyone else has had this success? I dont really want to jeprodize my fishes tails but I would have a back up tank.

Title of Response: absolutely NO F8 in community tank! (succumbing to cutie big eyes)

Hi - I'm new to this site.

Just thought I'd respond to this as I have just made the costly, silly, mistake of introducing a F8- to a community 50g tank.
And whilst I have now read lots of "No's" on the subject- I thought I'd let people out there know exactly what happens if you stupidly do put one in your tank....... so you can learn from my idiocy.

24hrs ago I had a happy community of Cichlids all getting on great ........ until the F8. I wrongly ASSumed (Following a little research - but not enough)- that the bigger cichlids would be more than brute enough to keep this little cutie in check. Well by this morning the blue acara's missing some tail (in fact -I can see damage on many of my fish) and the keyholes are frightened back to the colour thay came from the lfs - an insipid pale imitation of their former glory ( I love them). The tank was literally terrorised by the little antagonist.

I just wish I'd found this site before succumbing (and not listened to the stupid owner - who got is so amazingly wrong - wrong species, wrong water type, tried to sell me two (thank god I listend to my inner reason which said lets see how one does first), all wrong wrong wrong!).

Now I've spent all day today sorting out my tanks ( poor thailand newts have had to relinquish their palatial 20g tank to a temporary inferior cheap model) to accomodate the wee beastie (which is now its name).... its all on its own looking sad..(healthy but sad) ..fingers crossed it can put up with the stress of being moved twice. (p.s. My partners gonna flip when he comes home to find yet another tank! but he'll be easier to deal with than the F8.)

[b][Quick Q- will 20g be enough for the little menace? - He's under 2cm at present - I figure he might need to go up a click or two (say 30g in a while) I just had to get him into a cycled tank quick (best of a bad job) and the newts are alot more robust with change. He's still in freshwater but I figure I can salinate to brackish slowly to stop any additional stress at this time] any advice you have would be excellent[/b]

So The result: I've had to do water changes and equalising, buying of new tanks and plants, changing of living room to install new tank, facing wrath of partner for new tank, anguish and damage to fish, risk of loss of said F8. Some grumpy newts, A sunday of intensive activity rather than chilling and spent over £50 i didnt expect to. The fin nipping on the other fish may also result in long term health problems which I need to treat.

(Also as a rule i introduce fish on a Saturday so that I can watch them to see how they settle in- if theres a problem I have the rest of weekend to sort it. If I'd done this before work, not monitored or known my tanks behaviour, and left him in there for longer - I doubt I'd have any fish left to talk about now.)

So the word from the not so wise is- Homework- Ive spent most of the day researching- doing what I should have done before the impulse buy/bad advice.
I've been keeping tropical/ freshwater fish and breeding newts for over 12 years.
My successes have always been through careful attention to the habitat requirements/size of the fish/companions for my tank
My failures have been from impulse buys......(Years ago I did the same with an angel fish (a tiny little pretty terror that wrecked the happy equilibrium -again advised it would be ok- er should've learned my lesson)

To my mind fish keeping is about creating a little ecosystem in your little aquatic world. And if like me you do manage to acheive it- its praps not the best idea to go experimenting.

So after reading all the (often conflicting) advice on F8's. I've come to this conclusion - its simply not worth the risk of introducing them to a happy tank- you've got too much to endanger and it'll be heartache for all concerned "if" /most likely when it goes horribly wrong.

As someone else said on this site - just because you can doesn't mean you should.
One final thought- I reckon the people on this site have vast amounts of collective- almost borg-like - knowledge! (This question of F8's in communities is raised on almost every Fish keeping site I've read today) So id ignore this combined experience and listen to the sales bloke at your average lfs at your peril.

Rambling Finished!
Thanks guys (P.s. wee beastie's feeding now and guarding a prawn so i don't think he's too stressed out- also I note my acara is back to his usual friendly self and the keyholes are starting to look good again- my tanks back to being a peaceful place )