Hello from a hopeful Congo Puffer owner

[Stratters]

I've been hankering after a Potato puffer in my local aquatics shop for ages. We go and say hello to him every week, when we do a water check for our existing tank.

I can't bear it any longer, I am obsessed, and I'm going to have to get him. I've read up on the Pufferpedia, I'm saving my pennies for a big tank for him, and D Day (P Day?) is now imminent.

I'd really appreciate any hints or tips you could give me. I'm at the 'going to get a tank' stage, so I'm open to all suggestions. My local shop is a Maidenhead Aquatics, if that helps.

[Pufferpunk]

Tatertot seems pretty happy in his 15g.

[eieio]

20 gallon works just fine for "Olivia"
these are not very active fish, and don't require a lot of room for swimming
but 15-20 gallon should be a minimum (water volume-wise)

[Pufferpunk]

I'm sorry, I was mistaken. Tatertot is in a 20 long tank.

[Stratters]

Thanks, I have my eye on 2 tanks both of which I think will be plenty big enough. The first is a 3' long one, with a mystery filter (need to ask which one), and the second is 3'6", with an AQUAMANTIS EFX 200 filter. Could someone please explain to me what 'overfiltering' means, and if the second filter is going to be adequate for him?

We rang the LFS today (that is 'Local Fish Shop', isn't it?), and reserved him. We've called him Spud, probably not very original, but he looks exactly like a rather angry, slightly mouldering baked potato.

I think he's awesome.

[Stratters]

The mystery filter is an aquamantra efx1000u

[RTR]

I am a big fan of 20-long tanks. It is for me a very useful size "small" tank.

[Stratters]

So do you think these tanks will be too big for him? They are my preferred tank, but if he's not going to be happy in one that big, I will gladly look at a smaller one. The LFS recommended that size to me, and I went on their advice as they have a pretty good reputation. They're a nice bunch, and they won't sell a fish to anyone who doesn't provide them with a water sample to test (they test free, I take a sample in every week for testing, just to be sure).

They don't specialise in puffers though, so I thought it would be best to come here, and get advice from you all. I want Spud to have the best set up I can possibly provide for him.

[Flutter]

I'm not sure you can have a tank that's too big

[Stratters]

Thanks, that's put my mind at rest. I've been in and paid for him, they are going to look after him for me until his tank is matured. Sadly, I have to buy some more fish to put in the tank to mature it. Gutted. Youngest daughter is rejoicing though, as they will go in her (underpopulated) tank. They're also putting aside some snails so I can get a little colony going for him, I might have to get another Bio Orb so I can put the snails and some shrimp in there for him, although they have managed to get him onto frozen food.

I forgot to say, he's about 2 years old, he came into the shop from his previous owner because he tried to eat his other fish. They've had him with them for a couple of months now, and he looks really healthy, nice white tummy, fairly active and comes up to the glass when he sees the staff. He was munching on some blood worms this morning when I went in.

[Pufferpunk]

No need for that. You can just feed the tank with fish food or ammonia, to keep it cycled. You can also instantly cycle the tank with Safestart. Please don't use live fish!!!

[Stratters]

Sorry, that wasn't very clear, I have to do that to start, then in 2 weeks take a sample of water in to test. If it's ok, then the fish go in. Will that be ok?

[Pufferpunk]

If you are cycling like this, then 2 weeks should work: library/water-filtration/fishless-cycling/

Or you can instant-cycle like this: library/water-filtration/emergencycycle/

[Stratters]

Brilliant, thank you!

[sgtmyers88]

I wrote this up too, it is kinda a rehash of what has already been covered here but useful nonetheless: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=32416