The Puffer Forum

I really prefer the "move everything to the new tank" method. For one thing, plopping a piece of well cured rock into a tank with a huge stack of bare rock will not do much of anything to improve the bare rock. Most of the interesting things on live rock are either sustained by light (macr...

Lurkers don't experience boredom, as sitting very still and not warning away prey is how they eat. So if any puffer would do fine in a hex or other very tall tank, a lurker would be it.

That is good. The puffer will be more outgoing and social the less it has to be stressed over. He will also have more time to bond with you when he's not looking over his shoulder at who's getting at his food.

Am I the only one not enamored with the 20 long? I can't think of any situation in which I would not rather be using a 29, which is the same footprint, but a bit taller. Keeps the true gallonage up, uses the same hoods, lights, stands, etc. After I saw a 29 I never wanted a 20 long again.

The way I think of it is that if I already smacked them with a hammer and washed them off, it's just whats in the tissues, very little actual salt. Doesn't seem like it would create a problem to me, or rather, certainly better overall nutritionally than feeding no snails, even if it's inferior to ho...

This is actually a more complex question than it sounds like, because the effect of freezing materials made of cells changes radically depending on how quickly the freezing progresses and how consistent(and low) the final holding temperature. A slow freeze makes large water crystals. Large water cry...

Saltwater snails from an asian food market were my primary snail source for about half a year. Freeze, thaw, hammer time - I was careful to rinse off snail "juice" and the bigger pieces of shell, but left any shell that the meat was anchored on to force the puffers chew something.

All you need is the tinyest salt film, and when wet, it will conduct just fine. It can be thinner than a few days worth of dust, and will conduct right over a plastic surface.

I had good success with baby apple snails under 1/4" in length - Shakespeare could break through any part of the shell, but it was actual work to crush it. This is when he was about 3", nowadays I would say he can handle snails that are about dime-length overall.

If you use only fresh water, and dry really well before putting the thing back together, the strip is easily fixable. Pure water is a terrible conductor, however, salt changes that quite drastically. Typically what I see is trace salt getting damp from humidity and condensation, letting current leak...

I suspect you can only wait on eggs.

You should check them out under an actinic bulb if you haven't, because of the origin of their colors, they really pop.

It's really hard to tell diagnose fin problems without a close up picture.

Yea, a four foot length is particularly important for swimming, as well as having at least 3 of them so they can socialize. I suppose a trio could go in a 33xl, but why not just get a 55 since it's the same footprint and will let them form a bigger group. If you can find a 75 or a 90 at a decent rat...

Something I've been wondering - about a week after the last spot is gone, I've always gone back to normal water change routine, just keeping up with the salt and heat (my fish do not like when I vacuum) as there would be no new dropped cysts to vacuum out past when the fish drops the last one.

The stores make a LOT of money on instant cycle products that don't do the job, ammonia absorbers and other emergency additives, treatments for sicknesses created by the stress of the uncycled tanks, and ultimately replacement fish. So education programs for the workers not only cost them money in t...