The Puffer Forum

I have a hermit in my brackish tank (1.008). I have no idea what kind of hermit it is since I only had him as a treat for the puffer which hasn't realized that crabs are food, lol. He's been at that SG for over 6 months since I got him, and the person I got him from had a brackish tank. I'm not sure...

If you can find Tetra SafeStart or Dr Tim's One and Only, that works great to instantly cycle tanks (must add fish immediately or at least within a couple hours). I only use established media from my existing tanks coupled sometimes with the above products if they need a bit of a boost going to a la...

I would love to see a puffer documentary! I was so disappointed that the Discovery Channel special Life didn't have a portion on puffer fish (except for a short little blip when one got attacked by an eel), not even in the Fish episode! I thought the fish featured during the special were much less i...

It's also great for creating a corral to keep your floating plants in one spot and to protect them from a strong filter output.

Or making a moss wall.

I've seen egg crate used to help support/spread out the weight of large rock formations in, for example, cichlid tanks.

Is it at least 8 hours of darkness that is recommended? For some reason, that number was sticking in my head, but I wasn't sure so I didn't put it in my first post. What I was trying to say was that the type of light (actinic, daylight, K ratings, compact flourescents, etc.) and the amount as in wat...

I know it happens quite often in ponds, but I'm not sure how common it is in aquariums. I assume the change in environment to the larger pond was the trigger for spawning. In ponds, spawns happen in the spring when the water is warming up, so the upgrade may have somehow mimicked this change. I thin...

I think the QT time is 2 weeks for any parasites that might be carried by inverts and passed to fish. I would go with 3 just to be safe. If you really want to be certain, then you can always freeze them prior to feeding. They need to be thoroughly frozen for at least 24 hours in order to kill bacter...

Yep, they sell on Ebay and Aquabid too. I avoid any seller in Asia because of the long shipping time. Even if they might be a good seller (which IMHO Aquatic Magic is not), it just takes a long time to ship, and a lot of people don't bother to do the proper things to ship and could result in getting...

They will overindulge. Some may even do so to the point of illness or even death. I believe there were some pics floating around of a puffer that actually ate so much it literally burst apart. Really? I thought it puffed up and did that... Haven't been on for a bit, so this reply is a bit late. You...

The kind of light and amount really only matters for corals and plants. For fish, they really just need a period of time that it's light and a period where it's dark. On my brackish figure 8 tank, I only use the tank light when I'm looking at the tank. Usually, I just let the ambient room light brig...

I agree. I usually mix it in a rubbermaid tub and mix with a stick and then let it sit for a few minutes until it clears (tends to get a little cloudy for the first few minutes while salt is dissolving) and I'm sure there are no chunks or bits of salt. Then I try to pour it through the filter so tha...

When I first had Figure 8s, I had put in a couple ghost shrimp. They completely ignored them for about 2 months, and then suddenly one day, he (by that time was down to 1 F8) realized they were food and ate 1-1/2. He was so huge that I fished out the remaining bits so he wouldn't hurt himself. I swi...

Hmm, the meaty part generally stays in the shell after death until it rots away or is pulled out. There is a muscle attachment to the shell on the inside that would have to be pulled off or the soft fleshy parts rotted away enough that it would separate. It's often hard to tell when a snail is dead ...

If they still have more at the LFS, I would pick up at least 4 more. Cories are quite social schoaling fish, and they get stressed when they are in small groups or alone.

It's kind of a gray area. Most of the time people just say to not use it if you don't know, so I don't think there has been a lot of experimentation with that. However, I think any kind of glass would be just fine. Painted items are usually a no-no for the chemicals, but I think Krylon has a paint t...