figure eight or gsp

[pufferfreak]

ive been thinking into the future and am wondering if i should have two figure eights in a 29 gallon or a gsp in it. i have a feeling that the fig. 8s would be better though.

[Pufferpunk]

You are correct & you could have a few other BW fish in there too.

[pufferfreak]

cool!! what kind of bw fishes thouhg. knight gobies or ... i dont know of ohter small bw fish. i mean bb gobies but they may be considered snacks right?

[Umbrella]

I have housed the following fishes with Figure Eight Puffers and Green Spotted Puffers for over 2 months and these were the results: (keep in mind these tanks had plenty of plants and cover in them)

1 Needle Nose Gar - Most of the time they ignore each other. Every now and again one of the F-8's or GSP's might go in and give the gar a little nip. Sometimes the Gar charges a puffer but no contact is made. Sometimes the Gar will stare another fish down and look like he is about to eat it, but he does that to many fish and does nothing after. Other than that, they seem fine. This particular Gar is about 6 inches long.

3 Bumble Bee Goby - Once again, 99% of the time these fish ignore each other. But every now and then you get the curious puffer who just has to try a little bite. Not enough for a kill or even a fatal wound, just a little taste. 1 inch Gobies.

Various baby eels - (Peacock, Fire, Tiretrack, Zigzag) Most of the time these fish were either hiding in the sand or in moss balls, so they are ignored. 3 inch Eels.

Crayfish and crabs - small crayfish (under 3 in) can mostly defend themselves. I put 4 in my tank and all 4 are still there. Larger crayfish I wouldn't recommend because they might grab your puffers. The small red crabs also manage to escape the puffers most of the time. Only 1 of 4 crabs tested didnt make it. His reason sadly was he got tripple teamed. To technically the puffs cheated IMO. By tripple teamed, I dont mean that they cooperated either... they just all attacked. Fiddler crabs on the other hand do not do so well against these guys. I dont know if its because they are stupid or they just got the shaft cause they get one big claw. Of the 2 Fiddlers tested, 1 was obliterated by a GSP...leaving nothing but the big claw. The second one was severely injured. He lost all of his legs but one on the back right side and he lost his small claw, but I found him and pulled him to the side. He is still alive but very handicapped.

Ghost shrimp - for the most part, the GSP's and F-8s don't seem to really SEE the ghost shrimps if they are already in the tank.. or if they do see them... they mostly ignore them. If they SEE you put them into the tank and they float to the bottom, then the GSP's and F-8's will most likely try to eat them. However, since they are rather small, sometimes a GSP or a F-8 will get the urge to chase one until it catches it, even if it had been in the tank with them for a while. I had a GSP chase a ghost shrimp for about 2 mins and just before he was about to finally catch the shrimp, the SAP came out of no where and stole it from him. Luckily, the SAP was a little clumsy/hasty and he dropped half, which the GSP kindly took care of. So.. not a safe bet if you want your shrimps to live. If you don't mind losing a few here and there, then go for it. .5 - 1.5 inch Ghost Shrimps.

Cory catfish - I have found that large cory's seem to be ignored completely, whereas small ones go missing. 1.5 - 2 inch cory's.

Other puffer fish - I have kept young F-8's and GSP's with one SAP. They all get along just fine right up until food enters the equation. Then they each go in and rip a piece off of what they are eating. Imagine a shark feeding frenzy... it looks kind of like that. Each goes in and takes a chunk, then swims away with it, eats it and returns. They usually all circle it or hover near it. Sometimes they bonk heads and scare each other when going in for a piece, but I have never seen any of them ever try to harm another puffer. When competing for food sometimes one will charge at another in an effort to ward them away, but no physical contact is made. I have not kept GSP's/F-8's with any other species of puffer. (yet) All puffers between 2 - 3 inches.

All in all, MY F-8's and GSP's are very nice at the moment, but they also all appear to be fairly young still. This could all change over night, but only time will tell. So maybe you will get as lucky as me, maybe your GSP/F-8 will be that mean one. You just never know. When you go to buy a new one, just observe each fish in the tank for a few minutes, then decide which one has the personality that suits you. I just get lucky and get all nice guys. ;P My meanest puffer I would have to say is a GSP. But hes not really mean, hes more of a jerk. He just eats as much food as possible before anyone else can. Sometimes he doesnt even take the time to swallow or chew, he just goes berserk and gorges himself. So I have to try to distract him while the others eat. Survival of the fittest I guess.. lol, but I'm kinda helping the not so fit, cheat ;P

All of this was done over time in different stages. Everyone ( all the puffers and other fishes, etc.. ) who participated in my little field tests is now in their respective tanks.

T. Nigroviridis - Green Spotted Puffer ( Defensive over food )
T. Biocellatus - Figure Eight Puffer ( Mellow Fellows )

Hope it helps a few peoples decide whats good and whats not.

-UMB

[pufferfreak]

thanks for that.

[Umbrella]

thanks for that.

NP.
I like to help.. when I can.

[jennybugs]

This thread has answered a few questions for me as well. Very informative

[Umbrella]

This thread has answered a few questions for me as well. Very informative

Glad to hear