Anywho, I was informed that Fig 8's are one of the least aggressive of the puffer species. Does this mean that they have more mellow personalities then other puffers? I'm having a 30 gallon puffer tank, and I wanted to know what I could have as far as puffers go that are full of personality. Note, I'm not considering DP's.
Puffer Personality
- Thread starter GP
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Clare
Fish Fanatic
We have 2 figure eights kept together and they show no aggresion towards eachother but have great little characters.
They will hand feed but you need to watch your fingers, they are brilliant to watch when feasting on snails.
They swim around all the time and are always coming to the front of the tank to see us when we go near.
They do benefit from a blue light and that keeps them active even at night, they eat small pieces of mussel, cockle and prawn and things like bloodworms ( preferably live) and daphnia etc.
A lovely little fish to keep, and they also love plants, they do bite little holes in them but that`s their right!! You just have to replace them every now and then.
Hope this helps,
Clare
They will hand feed but you need to watch your fingers, they are brilliant to watch when feasting on snails.
They swim around all the time and are always coming to the front of the tank to see us when we go near.
They do benefit from a blue light and that keeps them active even at night, they eat small pieces of mussel, cockle and prawn and things like bloodworms ( preferably live) and daphnia etc.
A lovely little fish to keep, and they also love plants, they do bite little holes in them but that`s their right!! You just have to replace them every now and then.
Hope this helps,
Clare
appleblossom
Fishaholic
ditto what claire said really,
ive never seen any of my fig 8's be aggresive towards another fish, we have had 2 in a community setup in the past and you would occasionally see nips out of fins of the fish who hadnt learned when it was time to stop perstering the puffer, but only ever fins, just as a warning rather than an attempt to injure.
the one i have now is only teeny, about 1 1/2 cm long, he flies around his tank at all hours of day and night leaving his bumblebee goby tankmates well alone.
one thing i have found with all of the ones ive kept in the past, they love airstones! swimming up and down through the bubbles keeps them more than entertained
as with all puffers though, watch out for internal parasites, i lost my current fig 8's tank mate to them a few weeks ago having kept them both with no problems for months, he just suddenly started to waste away
i would definitely recommend fig 8's tho, much more personality than the south american's ive had....
ive never seen any of my fig 8's be aggresive towards another fish, we have had 2 in a community setup in the past and you would occasionally see nips out of fins of the fish who hadnt learned when it was time to stop perstering the puffer, but only ever fins, just as a warning rather than an attempt to injure.
the one i have now is only teeny, about 1 1/2 cm long, he flies around his tank at all hours of day and night leaving his bumblebee goby tankmates well alone.
one thing i have found with all of the ones ive kept in the past, they love airstones! swimming up and down through the bubbles keeps them more than entertained
as with all puffers though, watch out for internal parasites, i lost my current fig 8's tank mate to them a few weeks ago having kept them both with no problems for months, he just suddenly started to waste away
i would definitely recommend fig 8's tho, much more personality than the south american's ive had....
Clare
Fish Fanatic
Yep, you could have 3 figure eights in there no problem, just be careful if you are adding them at different times, they are better all put in together so that they can establish territories at the same time, otherwise new ones can end up a bit bullied when he keeps swimming into someone elses territory!!
Do not mix spotted puffers with them, they need different salinity levels and i have heard that they do not mix too well, lots of people keep bumble bee gobies with them though and say they are great little fish.
I wouldn`t reccomend too much else though, make sure you have plants in the tank and ornaments or something which break the line of view.
That means that rather than endlessly darting round the tank after eachother if they do get a bit aggresive, they will lose sight of the other when it ducks behind an object and stop the chase.
Clare
Do not mix spotted puffers with them, they need different salinity levels and i have heard that they do not mix too well, lots of people keep bumble bee gobies with them though and say they are great little fish.
I wouldn`t reccomend too much else though, make sure you have plants in the tank and ornaments or something which break the line of view.
That means that rather than endlessly darting round the tank after eachother if they do get a bit aggresive, they will lose sight of the other when it ducks behind an object and stop the chase.
Clare
Thanks again Clare. I already knew about the plant idea, but I myself may stick to rocks, as I do not have sources of java moss and fern. 
However, the blue light idea was in favor of me already, as I am going to install a moonlight. Also, one more question. 
) Should I start the tank in complete freshwater?
However, the blue light idea was in favor of me already, as I am going to install a moonlight. Also, one more question. ) Should I start the tank in complete freshwater?Clare
Fish Fanatic
Depends if they are in fresh water in the shop. If they are, then yes, bring them home, let them settle in for a few weeks, then increse the salinity slowly, start adding salt slowly and measure it with a hydrometer. Put the salt in a bucket with the water as you do a water change and measure how much it reads with a hydrometer, then you can get an idea of how much per bucket.
Eventually it wants to be 1.006, on average but they do benefit from slight salinity changes, as they would naturally have this.
If they are already brackish, ask your shop what level of salinity and match your water accordingly, as i said, they can take a varience in it.
Marine salt needs to be completely dissolved before it is added to the tank, undissolved crystals can be fatal.
Air stones in the buchet with the salt in do this but we found it messy so we dissolve our salt in hot water in the bucket first, then stir it well to airrate it.
They do like bubbles in the tank, airstones are good or venturi device. Water with salt in does bubble higher though, so you need a good condensation cover.
Hope this helps, sorry if i got carried away with the advice before, didn`t mean to make out that you didn`t know anything about fish!! It is just sometimes difficult if it is a fish you have never kept before.
So, don`t worry too much about the salinity levels because they do like it to vary a bit, between 1.004 and 1.008 is usually about right, although i have heard of people keeping them upto nearly full marine.
As tides come in and out the salinity changes so that is why they an tolerate such a variety. The main thing is to increase it slowly.
Clare
Eventually it wants to be 1.006, on average but they do benefit from slight salinity changes, as they would naturally have this.
If they are already brackish, ask your shop what level of salinity and match your water accordingly, as i said, they can take a varience in it.
Marine salt needs to be completely dissolved before it is added to the tank, undissolved crystals can be fatal.
Air stones in the buchet with the salt in do this but we found it messy so we dissolve our salt in hot water in the bucket first, then stir it well to airrate it.
They do like bubbles in the tank, airstones are good or venturi device. Water with salt in does bubble higher though, so you need a good condensation cover.
Hope this helps, sorry if i got carried away with the advice before, didn`t mean to make out that you didn`t know anything about fish!! It is just sometimes difficult if it is a fish you have never kept before.
So, don`t worry too much about the salinity levels because they do like it to vary a bit, between 1.004 and 1.008 is usually about right, although i have heard of people keeping them upto nearly full marine.
As tides come in and out the salinity changes so that is why they an tolerate such a variety. The main thing is to increase it slowly.
Clare
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