so here we go again.... i guess

[side19]

so yeah, after my little fiasco with the F8 my girlfriend bought me for valentines day i think my mom caught the puffer bug. i come home yesterday to an eclipse 12 on our dining room table and my mom trying to assemble a stank for it. she bought it in hopes of keeping some cute puffers, and low and behold, i go to check up on my dwarfs, and there's a baby figure 8 swimming around their tank with them. it scared the crap out of me because eat first i was like, what is the huge fish doing in there (the F8 is way bigger than the dwarfs, even though its only about 1.5 inches long right now) and did a very frantic head count to make sure everyone one was accounted for. luckily this was fast as all three of my little ones came right up to the glass and started begging me for food. i did another check just to make sure and make sure my ottos were fine, and everyone is doing well. so after getting the crap scared out of me i asked my mom why a baby F8 was swimming around with my dwarfs. she told me that's going to be his temporary home until her 12 gallon tank is safe to put fish in (and of course she's telling me i'm going to have o tell her when that is and help her take care of it until she think she has it down). anyway so i currently have like tiny F8 in with my other puffers, they're all getting along really well, the dwarfs are very interested in him (not attacking him, just swimming up to check him out and then darting off as soon as the F8 sees them) and the F8 is scared to death of the dwarfs, despite them only being about half his size, and of course the ottos could care less. anyway i guess i sort of got thrown back in to the game of keeping F8's alot faster and unexpectedly than i had planned. at least he's perfectly fine. did a check up on him and he's physically fine, no signs of IPs but keeping a close eye on him anyway, a few nips in his fins (too big to be from the DPs) and treating with a little bit of melafix. he hasn't eaten yet but he's only been in the tank for a little over a day so i figure he's still just scared, he seems curious as to what i am, and comes forward a little bit, but as soon as he sees that i'm looking at him he darts away into the little cave in my tank. i'll keep everyone updated as to how he does and elt you all know when he's in his own tank.

EDIT: i have good news! i just saw him poo, and its nice and dark brown. no IPs! (knocks on wood)

[lilgirlkat]

congrats... i guess.



that's something my mom would do.. btw

[edmlfc1]

You need to tell your mom not to throw fish together like that. For one they need to be qt before adding to the tank.
She would feel horrible if she gave your puffers some kind of disease. Also did you tell her she needs marine salt? I hope you both the best. How about some pictures?

[side19]

i told her about the marine salt, i have some left over from my first attempt at a brackish tank (about 5 pounds left) and told her i'd teach her how to do the salt. i forgot to tell her about putting new fish in QT first, so that's my bad. he's got really cool marking though, the eight on his back isn't connected, so its just two gold circles instead of a gold eight. i'm working on pics for you all, but he's a very shy little bugger, how ever he did seem very interested in the snail shell i was taking out of the tank just a few seconds ago.

[side19]

ok here are two pics of him (and two of my smallest female DP becuase she wanted her time to shine).



and the DP

[lilgirlkat]

awww..

I want a f8..

[TobiasRieper]

Congradulations on the new fish lol

BTW I have the same plant in that first pic.

[LilGreenPuffer]

That poor f8 has some raggedy-looking fins. He's got beautiful colors, though! And what a pretty tank setup.

I would absolutely have killed my mother. See if you can get a tank divider. That's not a good situation for your DPs.

Doesn't an f8 need more than 12g, though?

[LilGreenPuffer]

Oh oh oh, P.S.! See if your mom put water from the fish store into your tank. If so, a water change might be in order. Icky central filtration water...

[side19]

i know she didn't put water from the puffer's store tank into my tank (i taught her not to do that) and i'm trying to find a divider small enough to fit. 12 gallons is enough for a single f8, but not if there are other fish in the tank (other than maybe a single BB gobie with the f8). his fins do look a little torn up (already knew about his tail fin, never noticed the tears on his pectoral fins until now) but i'm treating the tank with a half dose of melafix to try and help. he's still very shy, and only really explores the tank if he doesn't think i'm watching. i dropped a couple of snails in there for all the puffers today so at least the DP's can wear down their teeth, and as i was watching from about 5 feet away i saw him eat one of the snails, not the whole thing, but at least half of it. i'm glad to see he's eating. my mom's tank is fully up and running now, just have to wait for the cycle to happen.

and as far as the plant that's funny. i just got that for free from a friend when he stopped keeping fish, he gave me everything he had other than the tank (he uses it for hermit crabs now)

[Agnate]

If you have two filters on your DP tank, I'd take one off and put it on the 12 gallon (or move the media from it into the 12 gallon's filter), and then put the F8 over into that tank. I'd hate to see your Otos get decimated once the F8 gets comfortable, and I'd hate for your tank to catch some disease that the F8 might have that's not noticeable to the eye.

I would equally be disgruntled if someone did that to one of my tanks! Luckily she's your mom, because there aren't too many people who would get away with something like that, haha!

[side19]

haha. yeah if it was anyone else i might have flipped, out more than i did, but it was my mom so i couldn't really do anything. i only have one filter on the DP tank right now, its an old tetra whisper filter thats rated for a 30 gallon (not sure the exact gph, i don't have the box i'm just going off what its previous owner told me) other wise i would. as far as aggression he seems to care less about the ottos, leaves them alone adn they leave him alone. the dwarfs keep creeping up one him to get a better view (i can tell they aren't trying to attack becuase they aren't acting the same way they do when attacking a snail or the blood worms) and then swim off as soon as he notices them (he also darts off to hide in is cave anytime they scare him) and he hides anytime anyone gets near the tank. i'm hoping since i added a little gravel from both of my established tanks that the cycle will go quickly (the 10 gallon cycled in 4 days after i added gravel from my 20 gallon tank) and he should be over there soon. on a side note what do you all think of the name Ra for this little guy (i already know a few people have puffers with that name here, but owell, i like the name) becuase of the way his eight markings are. the one closer to his head looks like an Egyptian symbol and the one on his back looks like a solar eclipse.

[LilGreenPuffer]

Sounds good.

[Agnate]

I'd call him "Fate", like F8... ^_^

[side19]

haha i actually like that name. i think i might have to change it.