Stocking suggestion for a 28gal BF

[RichGSR]

I'm 99% set on the T. Suvattii. With that in mind, I think I may go with fake plants as they are much less maintenance.

Just waiting for the tank to cycle now. Have put a few danios (puffers first food) and some established media and water from my old tank and filters to the new one. I'll let it run for a week with numerous water testing before I put the puffer in.

I read the article in the library about this fish, but can anyone share their personal experiences with them? Tips? Advice?

Thanks!

[riggers]

I know it's a bit late now, but if you ever cycle again do a fishless cycle. Much quicker and no pain comes to any other fish. Here's an article about it, library/water-filtration/fishless-cycling/. Also, don't get your puffer hooked on feeder fish as he will always want them and may not eat other foods. They're also not good foods for puffers really. There another good article about this in the library, library/feeding/feeders/

[RichGSR]

Actually they aren't feeder fish. They're zebra danios, not goldfish.

I know that I need to train the Suvattii to accept frozen but accordign to what I've read, these puffers are piscavores so they're natural diet is live fish and what not. Should I not give them live fish at all (was planning on doing so as a treat maybe once a month)?

If this is a bad idea, I will not do it.

[riggers]

It doesn't matter whether they're goldfish or not. If you feed your puffer a live fish, then that fish is a feeder fish. They're not good for puffers because they are usually very fatty and don't have much nutrition. You have to remember fish in the wild would be eating all sorts of things which then gets passed on to the puffer when it eats that fish. Most pet stores just feed their fish dry food, and the puffer just gets the fat that has built up from this. In the wild puffers may also go a few days or even a couple of weeks without managing to catch a fish to eat. Also, you don't want to run the risk of the feeder fish having a disease which will then get passed onto your puffer. The odd feeder is fine, so long as you quarantine it and maybe fatten it up with some nutritious food before giving it to your puffer. But don't worry that suvattis are piscivores, as they will not be bothered if they do not get given feeders. The best food for puffers are things with shells, which you can easily pick up from the seafood counter at the supermarket. Hope that explains it a bit better. Don't forget to have a look at the articles in the library.

[RichGSR]

Oh actually these danios are from my established tank. They were my dither fish for the cichlids so they've been well taken cared of for months now. But I will heed your advice and just move them back to the other tank once the cycle is established. Just have to add more plants and decor and wait for the tank to cycle then i'll go get my new fish!

Any advice on how to best transfer the fish? I know you're not supposed to let them breathe air so netting is a no no. How do you all do it?

[riggers]

Just some sort of container would be good enough. Like those plastic containers that strawberries come in (I'm guessing they come in those in the US as well?). Or use one of those bags which LFS put the fish into, I think you can buy those.

[StormySkiez]

How are you acclimating it? I use a container like bowl that I use for fish only to dip the fish out or gently pour the fish into.

You may want to start a new topic for what type of experiences ppl have had w/ a Suvattii.

[RichGSR]

Woohoo! I got the arrowhead today. He looks awesome. The LFS has been feeding it feeder fish so I have my work out cut out for me to get him to frozen. He was fed today, and I think I'm only supposed to feed every other day correct? He's 4" long and looks very healthy.

Thanks for all the advice, everyone. I'm going to take pics of him later this week and post pics.

-Rich

[riggers]

Every other day should be enough provided you give him enough food of course. I am sure you have already heard this but a good way to get them onto frozen is by dangling the food around on some string or holding it in the water flow. It makes them think it is alive, and grabs their interest, so it might work with yours. And get those piccys up!

[RichGSR]

I'm going to get some frozen shrimp from the grocery store and soak one in garlic water and see how he does. How much should I feed him one sitting? I'm going to go with the every other day schedule. I'll take pics once my water clears up a bit. There's still a bit of sediment floating around from the substrate.

Oh my water is pretty hard here. Should I try to soften it or just leave it stable?

[riggers]

Frozen shrimp should be good. Try it without the garlic first, you never know he might go for it without that. From what I've read most people just seem to leave it hard to be honest (I think they do anyway). How hard exactly is it?

[StormySkiez]

Woohoo! I got the arrowhead today. He looks awesome.

-Rich

Congratulations!