dhracer wrote:Hi, I'm looking for some advice regarding these puffers as I am buying one immenently and your forum seems to be the best place for information on these fish (there seem to be some abei owners on here for starters
)
You've definitely picked the right place! I also own an Abei, so I can probably help you out.
dhracer wrote:I'm mainly concerned about feeding frequency of these fish, mine is an adult (a little over 2yrs old) and I was wondering how often I should feed it?
Well, mine is about 4 inches now, but I don't know how old he is (probably close to 2 years, I'm sure). I feed mine every second day. *HE* doesn't like that very much, but he keeps his food for longer now that he's older, so I feed him until his belly is rounded (he eats about 1 frozen cube's worth of food, so you can extrapolate that to other crustaceans' sizes). Just make sure he has a varied diet - mine mainly gets bloodworms/mysis shrimp/brine shrimp (I mix these together in one feeding to balance it out), clams (his favourite), scallops, shrimp, and krill (only as a treat, no more than once per week). All of these are raw and frozen, and I just thaw it in a dish using water from his tank prior to feeding (never feed foods frozen, as the cold temperature can wreak havoc in their internal organs). Please note that having a Krill-only diet can cause lockjaw, and an unvaried diet will inevitably cause constipation.
dhracer wrote:Are there any common illnesses particular to this fish that I need to be on the lookout for?
Puffers are sensitive to pretty much everything (as they're scaleless), but the most common are ich and internal parasites. If the Abei is not from someone else's tank, you'll likely have to deal with one or both of these, so make sure you put him into a quarantine when you get him (it'll make your life much easier). Both are relatively easy to deal with, providing you have the right info and guidance (which you can get both of here).
dhracer wrote:The pufferpedia article does not mention water hardness, only ph - is hardness an issue for these puffers? (I've seen 3.0-15.0 dGH mentioned elsewhere but from what I remember my water is towards the top end of the scale)
To be honest, I'm not quite sure. My abe is in higher water hardness (don't know the exact value) and he doesn't seem to mind (then again, we don't interface on a telepathic level, so my opinion is a bit naive
). I wouldn't worry about water hardness unless you're going to be using CO2 injection (as hardness partially dictates what the fluctuations in pH will be and how likely the pH will crash from it), and even then, if you're water hardness is high, you'll be fine.
Have you seen the Abei yet? If so, how does his stomach look (sunken, plump), and did you notice any ich or whatnot on him? How were his colours?
I had assumed this wouldn't be necessary as the tank was only going to be his/hers.
) and froze them, how do you tell which are bad after this? (normally after you cook them any that don't open are thrown away?). I have bloodworms, krill & chopped scallops as well so hopefully I'm all set 
I know now what everyone means about messy eaters!