Tankmates For Figure 8 Puffers?!?!

[eddyg]

im thinking of gettin 1-3 figure 8 puffers in my 200 litre tank i already have a pictus catfish and a gold spotted plec i assume these will be ok. i am puzzled when trying to find any tankmates as any i think of appear to be unsuitable. can anyone please suggest any good tankmates for these??

thanks

 

[jimi priest]

go brackish gobys they usualy do well

 

[Fella]

The figure 8 puffers are incompatible with your current tankmates, as they are brackish and require salt. There are no puffers that would be guaranteed suitable with those tankmates, your best bet would be SAP's or Colomesus asellus.

 

[eddyg]

i thought about Colomesus asellus but the idea of cutting their teeth doesnt really appeal to me

also ive read many items about figure 8s being fresh water but few say they are brackish, maybe if i just ad a small amount of salt they can all be happy

 

[kj23502]

Just to let you know(even though you may already)....salt isn't aquarium salt. It's marine salt...the kind they use for saltwater aquariums.

I'm going to do a South American Puffer and bumble goby tank this fall. NMonks said they'd do best in brackish water sg 1.003 to sg 1.005.

It's really not too hard at all to trim teeth. (I haven't done it, but the instructions are easy.)Here' a great article on it.
If they get fed snails and hard foods then they only need it about 1 or 2 times a year. On the site I gave to you, they also show a puffer with over grown teeth.

By the way
Welcome to TFF

 

[DarkEntity]

i thought about Colomesus asellus but the idea of cutting their teeth doesnt really appeal to me

also ive read many items about figure 8s being fresh water but few say they are brackish, maybe if i just ad a small amount of salt they can all be happy

You seem to be missing the point, they are brackish and thus require a brackish environment, adding a "small amount of salt" wont suffice. You need to raise the Specific Gravity of the tank water with marine salt up to about 1.005. Which as mentioned means they are not compatible with your current fish.

 

[airmike89]

i disagree with figure 8's being brackish...ive had mine for about 7 months in a freshwater aquarium and he's been fine the entire time, i keep mine in a 75 gal. with spotted raphaels, a black ghost knife, some bushy nose plecos, a firemouth cichlid, and a jade goby...after i got the goby i started adding a little marine salt which the other fish don't seem to mind at all they've been fine for about a month now and every1 gets along...however i do have many caves made up for hiding which they seem to enjoy

 

[wendywc]

Hey kj23502, please pm me that link. I'm interested in reading the article.

/sorry, end of hijack

 

[ac106]

i disagree with figure 8's being brackish...ive had mine for about 7 months in a freshwater aquarium and he's been fine the entire time, i keep mine in a 75 gal. with spotted raphaels, a black ghost knife, some bushy nose plecos, a firemouth cichlid, and a jade goby...after i got the goby i started adding a little marine salt which the other fish don't seem to mind at all they've been fine for about a month now and every1 gets along...however i do have many caves made up for hiding which they seem to enjoy

7 months, is not nearly long enough to justify any sort or procedure. Come back in 3-5 years and let us know how your Figure 8 is doing.

Overwhelming opinion, not just on this board, but within the aquarist community, is that Figure 8s are brackish fish in captivity. Please don’t give out incorrect advice based on an incomplete and isolated anecdotal report..

 

[kj23502]

apparently I can't link the dentistry article b/c it's in another forum.... that's EXTREMELY unfortunate b/c it has some useful info on this topic that I haven't been able to find here.

*for any wanting to know feel free to pm me. I have it bookmarked on my favorites so i'll be able to bring it up and send yo the link...hopefully that'll work for everyone.

 

[Fella]

apparently I can't link the dentistry article b/c it's in another forum.... that's EXTREMELY unfortunate b/c it has some useful info on this topic that I haven't been able to find here.

*for any wanting to know feel free to pm me. I have it bookmarked on my favorites so i'll be able to bring it up and send yo the link...hopefully that'll work for everyone.

If you asked the question of "how can you cut an SAP's teeth?", I've done it before, as have other members here. I'd be able to give you an answer!

 

[kj23502]

How about typing something up with the info of how you do it? Then it will be here for all of us to want to search for it? That would great too