Need advise on setting up my puffer tank

[boosted23]

Hello, I just purchased a 150 gallon 48" long x 24" wide x 31" tall tank to house a fahaka or cross river puffer. I wanted the correct forever home tank before i bought one of these beautiful and awesome creatures.

I have the tank, a cascade 1200 canister filter that filters a 150g tank, a milwaukee ph controller and regulator setup, planted tank gravel and sand for plants. i still need to purchase lighting system cause tank came with a flouresent light, and i also need to get a co2 tank along with the puffer. My questions are

1. What is the best way to cycle the tank? i am going to use the established tank water from my 36 gallon tank that i have an african bircher, 2 rainbow tail sharks, and 2 irridesent sharks. I will be donating the irridesents to my local fish store, i will be putting the african bircher, and rainbow tails in the tank to help cycle the tank.

2. i will be also setting it up as a planted tank which is why i have the co2 setup. Is it better to plant it first and then add the puffer?

3. How often and how much should i perform water changes?

4. What light should i purchase? I have heard t5 to halides. What does a puffer require?

5. With everything i have and will be purchasing, what else would i need to get to house a puffer properly? I want to make sure i have everything before i purchase. I dont want to do this half assed.
Thank you for your help on this matter

[bertie 83]

If you are using the filter from the other tank you should not need to go through the cycling process, using fish to cycle a tank is frowned on because it's cruel. Puffers are not fussy on lights so work that around your plants.

[defool89]

The fish tou are using to cycle your tank will just be in the tank. Using your old filter is pretty much instant cycling. No need to uae tour old water. Bacteria does mot populate there only in the filter and gravel. Your lighting should revolve around your plants not your puffer. I had a bad light and kept mine in the dark for a while. T5 bulbs are fine.

I woyld suggest putting the puffeer first then the plants. Puffers are lumberjacks when they dont like something and they are very picky. Onlt through trial and error will you figure out what YOUR puffer will like. I wouldnt go out and buy a bunch of plants that look good only to have them destroyed. Buy a certain kind of plant and wait a couple days and look for bite marks. But i do warn you, just because he kept peace with it for days does not mean its safe. Have fun mostly, plants are an art in water.

As for water changes do 50% weekly. I do suggest doing a partial water change in between for best results. So 25 % in between.

But you seem to be starting out fine. Just make a cave out of rocks and or hiding places. They need their alone time too

[boosted23]

Thanks for the advice. Let me clarify myself on my fish using to help cycle. I wasn't going to put them in there right off to help cycle. I am going to use their water when i do a water change on their tank, and i am going to take water samples to my lfs for them to test when it is safe for them to go in there. When that is good, they will go in there to help keep it cycle and established for when i get my puffer cause i will be planting the tank before i get the puffer.

I have had my fish for 2 years now and i have grown fond of them. I wouldnt want to lose them. The only reason i am donating my irridesents back to the shop is because they will get to large for the 150 gallon and i wouldnt be able to get the puffer. plus the pet store guy said they are skiddish fish and the would freak out and bang all over the tank and possibly crack it when they get bigger. The african bircher will have plenty of plants to hide in while the puffer is small and if he starts to mess with them, i have a backup 55 gallon they can go into.

[boosted23]

okay defool, I read that you should plant first so that when you introduce the puffer, it was there before him and they will acclimate to the plants better this way. This is why i came to this forum for real life experience cause i dont know if the people writing these articles on how to setup actually have done this. thank you for your info.

The filter on my 36 gallon is a penguin 150 with the small filter cartridges, i am gonna be using a canister filter now. do i just put the filter in the water and let it float or should i put that penguin on that tank to help it establish it? I will not be putting my other fish in that tank till it is safe so i need a filtration system on their tank till it is allowable for them to be moved.

[bertie 83]

Yes at least 50% weekly, I actually do 3x 30-40% per week as I find it better for my fish and me. I only drain more when cleaning my filters

[defool89]

Dont get mad when you start losing plants. Puffer have their own personality as far as i know. You may get lucky and get a hippie puffer or some cute evil spawn of satan..what kind of puff you wanting? I have a Fahaka and hes destroyed 60-70$ worth of plants. He doesn't like seeing stems, he will bite them from the bottom and just leave nubs. I have
Learned over time he likes leafy plants where the stalks arent visible...some people have puffs that hate leaves.. you can testi out and plant your tank fully and let us know how it works out. Mine wouldnt care how long the plants been there.

[Pufferpunk]

1. What is the best way to cycle the tank? i am going to use the established tank water from my 36 gallon tank that i have an african bircher, 2 rainbow tail sharks, and 2 irridesent sharks. I will be donating the irridesents to my local fish store, i will be putting the african bircher and rainbow tails in the tank to help cycle the tank.
library/water-filtration/fishless-cycling/
library/water-filtration/emergencycycle/

2. i will be also setting it up as a planted tank which is why i have the co2 setup. Is it better to plant it first and then add the puffer?
If you're planning on a fahaka, I suggest fake plants, as he'll bite almost all the nice ones. Anubius works well with mine though.

3. How often and how much should i perform water changes?
50% weekly, minimum. I do 75%.

4. What light should i purchase? I have heard t5 to halides. What does a puffer require?
Puffers don't "require" special lighting. I'd be concerned with either you have mentioned causing huge algae problems. Regular fluorescent bulbs at a good K-rating for plants is best.

5. With everything i have and will be purchasing, what else would i need to get to house a puffer properly?
API test kits for ammonia/nitrite/nitrate. Melafix, Pimafix, Prime & a Python.

[boosted23]

Thank you guys, really appreciate the info. You have helped me alot. The tank came with a flourecent lighting setup so i will try that first. Now if i don't go with live plants, would the co2 system still be needed for the puffer? I purchased it about 2 months ago and will not be able to return it cause its out of return time. I will still use the ph controller that way i know what the ph is at all times. If i decide live plants, i will try 2 stemmed and 2 leafed to see which ones the puffer would tolerate if any of them. lol

Pufferpunk, i read your links for the cycling after i wrote this up. Thank you for that info, it really helped me to understand cycling alot better.

[defool89]

I didnt know diddly when i first got my puffer. I have learned a lot here too. .....i really wonder how far the hobby would be if it weren't for the internet...thank you Al Gore for the internet ... my puffer does fine without a co2 tank idk what its for besides plants. I add liquid co2 to my plants. Idk if it effective but i do whatever i can for my plants. Just remember you plants and algea require the same nutrients to thrive. If you choose no plants I wouldnt want to provide anymore to algae

[Pufferpunk]

No, don't use the CO2. Maybe you could sell it on Craigslist or at least try to return it. I can return anything!
Fish don't care about pH, it's gonna be whatever your tap water is, don't try to change it.

[boosted23]

HAHA, Yes defool, i originally went into my lfs for gravel for my 55 gallon tank so i could move my current fish into a bigger tank. Talked to one of the floor people and he showed me a Mbu puffer they had. I was sold on a puffer and ended up walking out with all the stuff i have now minus the tank and puffer to get it setup. He is the one that said a planted tank with the puffer would work great. Good thing i started researching cause he said an Mbu would be fine in a 90 gallon forever home tank.....WRONG!!!!! That is when i looked into the fahaka and the ever rare and elusive cross river puffer.

Pufferpunk, My cascade canister filter is rated for 150g. Should i then return the co2 setup which is still in the boxes and get another canister filter then? They also said that the 1200 would be sufice for a puffer tank. What else would you recommend for things for the tank? returning the co2 would leave me with 1 cascade 1200 filter, and gravel. I know about caves, plants and decorations, i am talking about tank operation parts. like a waterflow head, bubblers, other types of filtration, etc.

our water here in az is not the best, it is hard and heavily ridden with chemical treatments. What would be the best way to go about making the water safe for the weekly water changes? What is a good water change setup for that amount of water? thank you guys for helping me with my noob questions.

[defool89]

Whatever your tap conditions are dont matter. Add a product called "prime" by Seachem. A 500ml bottle treats 5000 gallons and is only 20$. I think its 50ml per 50 gallons so just do the math on your tank. It is a miracle treatment that does wonders. Removes chlorine, converts amonia into a product that gets filtered away into your bio filter, detoxifies nitrites and nitrates and treats all kinds of metals found in the water. I use it and i live in a suburb of Dallas. Cant be any worse than yours.

As for the water changes themselves, get this thing called a python, you connect it to you sink. Flip the lever one way it sucks water from your tank and it goes into your sink, flip it the other way you turn on your faucet and the water goes into your tank. No spill no mess system. No need to maintain the python, it cleans it self.

I still use buckets and a syphon its so sad but i read a lot on it after pufferpunk talked about it. Its 40-60$

Stir your gravel before using and let all the particles settle on the surface for the best cleaning.

[Pufferpunk]

Prime should detoxify any chemicals added to your tap water. I'd ad 2 x Aquaclear 110s, so you have extra mechanical filtration you can rinse out often & still the added biological filtration.

[Pufferpunk]

Cheapest place for your aquarium supplies is Amazon.