Which Puffer?

[spilz]

hi there, i have kept fish for about 10 years now, ive had a lot of fish, a lot of tanks,and also bred bettas.
ive got rid of a lot of tanks, as the fish went on holiday and never came back, and im now down to one tank as i haven't bought fish for a while. In the tank is a talking catfish, a bristlenose female and a marbled male bristlenose.

The thing is, I want a new challenge to stop me completely getting rid of my tanks. I have always liked puffers, but also always had community tanks. My dad said he will have the catfish off me for one of his tanks, and i was thinking about completely stripping the tank down, and starting a fresh, cycling the tank all over again, with puffers in mind.

sorry about the story, got a bit carried away, just wandering what puffers people would recommend, i really like the pygmy's, and the figure 8's, and my girlfriend says theyve gotta be "cute". im not scared to go brackish!

the tank is a "juwel 96" 21 gallon, and would be empty, with just the puffer(s)

thanks, look forward to people's ideas.

sam

 

[jennybugs]

For that size of tank the puffers you've mentioned are good. I'd go for the super smiley Fig 8 puffer myself

Not sure if the tank size would be good for 2 of them, but one with a swarm of bumblebee gobies would be good

It would have to be low end brackish of course, but I love my F8's and bbg's and wouldn't part with them at all (see my tank thread link in my siggy for pics).

Failing that you can have a fair few dwarf puffs. You'd be able to get some good planting done in a tank that size to make it look like a right jungle. It all depends if you want to be able to instantly notice your puffer/s or not as they are small little things

South American Puffers (SAP's) are another choice. I've not had them but they can be prone to needing dentistry so I gather, but I think they're cool and look like ducks (facially)
Mind you, I just like puffers so I am rather biased

 

[AdAndrews]

SAP's would be too active, from what ive heard for that tank, you are either looking at Fig8's or dwarf puffers, i would be inclined to have 2 fig8's in that size tank, although, ive never kept them so cant really speak... dwarf puffers are tiny, max 1 inch, but hell, they are awesome little things, however i like to look at a puffer as a pet, seen as they are so smiley, intelligent and curious, i find its nice to have 1, or 2 puffers at max in the tank, this keeps them like a wet pet, rather than just on of the so many othe fish you have.

thanks.

 

[spilz]

Thanks for the replies guys, decisions decisions!! i like the idea of both! #29###. 2 pygmy's would be good, i love bbg's too! would i get away with 2 figure 8's?? all im thinking is two pygmy's arent really gonna "fill" the tank (looks wise) although having said that i dont think that would bother me. ho hum. decision time.

The below quote is what sums puffers up for me! they seem much more of a pet compared to the ornamental fish you find in every fish shop.

i find its nice to have 1, or 2 puffers at max in the tank, this keeps them like a wet pet, rather than just one of the so many other fish you have.

sam

 

[spilz]

ok ive done some research guys, im thinking the pygmy so far, as they dont need brackish water. the only thing im not so keen on is a heavily planted tank, and the fact that i may hardly see the puffers due to this.

i would go for the figure 8, but dont they have the beak problem? and ive heard that they need the brackish water once older, not straight away? how hard is it to maintain brackish water anyway?

also, would it be a good idea to re-cycle my tank and then wait until the water is ready for the puffer?

im stumped!

sam

 

[AdAndrews]

ok ive done some research guys, im thinking the pygmy so far, as they dont need brackish water. the only thing im not so keen on is a heavily planted tank, and the fact that i may hardly see the puffers due to this.

i would go for the figure 8, but dont they have the beak problem? and ive heard that they need the brackish water once older, not straight away? how hard is it to maintain brackish water anyway?

also, would it be a good idea to re-cycle my tank and then wait until the water is ready for the puffer?

im stumped!

sam

fig8s would need brackish, yes, although the lfs could stock them in freshwater, so you can cycle the tank in fw(if not already cycled) and then every water change add so many grams of marine salt mix... its not as hard as it sounds mate, just a few grams of salt every water change thats all, its not precise, brackish fish tollerate changes very well.

and dont be afraid that you wont see the dwarf puffers...

i'd go for fig8's. 1 or 2, not sure.

 

[spilz]

ah ok, i thought it best to ask people who have had the experience rather than rely on what i find on the net. i think i am going to go for the figure 8 puffer, and just get the one on its own in the tank. at least then i can hone my attention to one fish, and make sure everything is spot on for it. i like the look of those bloodworm feeders!

what about the beaks tho?

 

[AdAndrews]

ah ok, i thought it best to ask people who have had the experience rather than rely on what i find on the net. i think i am going to go for the figure 8 puffer, and just get the one on its own in the tank. at least then i can hone my attention to one fish, and make sure everything is spot on for it. i like the look of those bloodworm feeders!

what about the beaks tho?

there are a few tips to prolongue(not avoid) cutting of the beak, feeding snails, in shells, muscles, cockles, shrimp with shells.. basically anything hard.. one thing i also read the other day was on about getting a porous rock like lava rock, and smear soft food into the little holes so the puffer fish has to bit it to get the food, although that may be very messy so watch out..

heavy filtration is needed for puffers, i would always use an external filter.

 

[spilz]

ah right, so no matter what, you will eventually have to cut the beak?
i dont think im up for that to be honest lol.
yer i was thinking of getting an external filter soon-ish before i start to clean the tank out.

 

[AdAndrews]

ah right, so no matter what, you will eventually have to cut the beak?
i dont think im up for that to be honest lol.
yer i was thinking of getting an external filter soon-ish before i start to clean the tank out.

i think so, yeah, not that hard though, worth it!

 

[jennybugs]

SAP's would be too active, from what ive heard for that tank, you are either looking at Fig8's or dwarf puffers, i would be inclined to have 2 fig8's in that size tank, although, ive never kept them so cant really speak...

2 fig 8's would be too cramped in that size tank. I have two in a 120L tank and that's a metre long and perfect.
Anything smaller and I'd say stick to one F8. As Ad says the brackish thing is dead simple as long as you use marine salt. I alternate freshwater changes and slated water changes to my tank as the F8s are used to fluctuating salinity/freshwater in their natural habitats.

ok ive done some research guys, im thinking the pygmy so far, as they dont need brackish water. the only thing im not so keen on is a heavily planted tank, and the fact that i may hardly see the puffers due to this.

i would go for the figure 8, but dont they have the beak problem? and ive heard that they need the brackish water once older, not straight away? how hard is it to maintain brackish water anyway?

also, would it be a good idea to re-cycle my tank and then wait until the water is ready for the puffer?

im stumped!

sam

if your tank is already mature why recycle?
Figure 8s don't have a beak problem as long as you feed them hard shelled foods as part of their regular diet. Baby snails are perfect as are prawns with their shells on or crushed cockles in their shells. Nothing difficult there, unlike SAPs that may require their beaks being trimmed by their keepers. I've never had to cut my F8s beaks and I've had them for 2 years now.
I'd keep F8s in brackish right from the start and even if they are kept in freshwater in the LFS they will handle being introduced into a salinity of 1.03-1.05 straight way with normal acclimatisation.

With dwarf puffs youmust have a heavily planted tank to reduce aggression as they mature. If you don't want this then avoid dwarf puffers. Easy plants to try are anubias on wood, java fern, moss balls and even pets at home do some awesome long silk plants that you can use along with things like wood and moss balls. Once again, example pics can be found on my tanks thread

 

[jennybugs]

there are a few tips to prolongue(not avoid) cutting of the beak, feeding snails, in shells, muscles, cockles, shrimp with shells.. basically anything hard..

I haven't heard of anyone needing to trim the beaks of fig 8 puffers. SAPs yes, but not F8s. Feeding the things you have suggested will be more than enough to avoid the need for beak trimming in F8s

 

[spilz]

hi thanks for the replies, yer the tank has been running for about 6 years, but i lost 2 angel fish to velvet recently so i was going to clean the tank and re-cycle it to rid any disease thats in there. having said that, the remaining fish are ok, so as long as i get the water parameters ready for the fig 8 (THATS IT IVE DECIDED!!!) then hopefully all will be ok.

So you dont actually measure how much salt is in there? you just add some and then im guessing you can buy a test kit to check the salt levels? and then you just add some marine salt every time/every other time you do a change? so there must be a minimum and maximum?

 

[AdAndrews]

there are a few tips to prolongue(not avoid) cutting of the beak, feeding snails, in shells, muscles, cockles, shrimp with shells.. basically anything hard..

I haven't heard of anyone needing to trim the beaks of fig 8 puffers. SAPs yes, but not F8s. Feeding the things you have suggested will be more than enough to avoid the need for beak trimming in F8s

thanks for clearing that up at least i know now aswell.

good luck with it mate!

 

[AdAndrews]

there is a salt calculator to tell you how many grams will raise the s.g(specific gravity) by, i'd get a hydrometer(glass one) to measure, although as jenny mentioned, its in their nature to have changing levels of things, so its not all that bad if its not perfect.