Pregnant F8?

[Tihsho]

Well, I have a 2 inch figure 8 in a 10 gal. For the past week (S)he has been fat and I havnt fed him/her. It just hit me today that the puff might be a she, and she is full of eggs. I know this is highly unlikely, but if she is is there any way to tell?

[RTR]

It does happen that way with females of many species. Eventually they dump the eggs and commonly eat them, then slowly start fattening up again. All you say it that it shows the fish to be female if you get a look at the eggs, and is a good suspicion even if you don't, just see the cycle of developing chubbiness and then "slender" suddenly. My female fahaka was the most obvious. Strangely enough to me, SAPs really show being egg-laden also, perhaps because they are slenderer than many puffs we keep..

[Tihsho]

The Aqua Log book doesn't give breeding tips does it?

[RTR]

Not on these, beyond what Ian West has on his site:

http://www.pufferfish.co.uk/aquaria/spe ... /index.htm

If I had a presumed pair, I would give them very light BW* (1.003 or less) and planted, 20/30/40-long tanks, plus dither fish - or better immediately adjacent tanks with other F-8s for the male to "guard" against. The great Dr. Konrad Lorenz taught us a lot about breeding substrate-spawning pairs (while working with Cichlids) which applies equally to other families with similar habits.

*Remember, SW fish which spawn in BW move to that lighter density water and the fry develop there. Our BW fish which are so difficult to spawn and rear likely move to lighter water as well, as the fry are caught from FW and light BW. The most difficult thing will be providing food for the fry - separate culture of tiny foods is likely to be needed - algaes and rotifers.

[Pufferpunk]

Hmmm... all my puffers are fat! Why haven't you fed her in a week?

[Tihsho]

For her size I usually feed everyother day and or hold off a bit if it looks like there is still some belly buldge. But she has been fat like this for a week!