Puffers according to Woland!

[Woland]

Hi all.

Life is a complicated journey through waters of all kinds...
Ammonia and Nitrites aplenty, but somehow I find energy & time to change my waters.

I have kept pufferfish for quite some years now.
It has been suggested that it might be a sign of distress when a hobby occupies all major spaces in your life.
I have found this to be true...

Got a divorce a few years back.
At the time I had over 3000 liters of water, with 23 Pufferfish from 16 different species.
Aquarists Anonymous anyone?

Well and truly down scaled now.
Four pufferfish in my care.

"Babe",
a close to adult T. lineatus, which I have kept since she was the size of my little finger.

"Izabella",
a wonderful GSP which you can see on the top right hand side of this page.

"Fred II",
a sweet and attentive M. palembangensis which I adopted from a pet-shop closing down its aquarium section.

Toshiro,
a murderous T. erythrotaenia which I adopted from a guy who concluded he couldn't meet its needs.

My business took a dive during the recent financial havoc, and I had to make temporary arrangements for the puffers I kept in my studio.
Am now setting up shop anew, so there will be a homecoming puffer-party.

I will use this thread to show tank-design & outlay for both fresh and brackish set-ups.
Pictures will magically appear!!!

Take care.

[marksrush]

Welcome! Nice selection of puffers you have, even after downsizing.

[lilacamy931]

Wow! 23! That must be an amazing sight to see in all their tanks!

[LilGreenPuffer]

By the by, you are currently at Aquarists Anonymous. Didn't you know?

[Woland]

By the by, you are currently at Aquarists Anonymous. Didn't you know?

Been here from the start...

[Pufferpunk]

Welcome back! Home to hear lots more pufferstories from ya.

[crazedpuffer]

Good to hear from you again! I can't wait for those pics to magically appear

[Troender]

Welcome back, Woland! Nice to see you. So is the Fahaka moving home to you? I never got so far that I contacted you to see him/her, so I still haven't ever seen a Fahaka.

And now for the question you may find strange: was it you that put the word "giblets" in the naughty word filter?

[CaptainMorgan_SOS]

I can' wait to see the pics... i love seeing tank setups

[Woland]

Welcome back, Woland! Nice to see you. So is the Fahaka moving home to you? I never got so far that I contacted you to see him/her, so I still haven't ever seen a Fahaka.

And now for the question you may find strange: was it you that put the word "giblets" in the naughty word filter?

I love the word "giblet" and it is NOT a naughty word!
It might be my favourite word in English, I routinely cook sauce on giblets.
Leaving for our cabin tomorrow and will then make a gorgeous soup on goose giblets & carcass.
Some double cream and peas...
Yummie...

"Babe" is indeed coming home to roost.
You should really visit Dahls Dyrerike in Moss (LFS) in order to meet her.
They were kind enough to house her for a month and I am told she has a poster on her tank saying:
Hi! I am Babe, a T. lineatus who is currently on a short vacation in Moss!

Cutie pie...
Cant wait to get her back in my arms (tank).
Have an idea for a nice Fahaka setup, although the tank is a tad to small.
Only 450 liters, but it will have to do...

[kelsi.nikoel]

I have kept pufferfish for quite some years now.
It has been suggested that it might be a sign of distress when a hobby occupies all major spaces in your life.
I have found this to be true...

Got a divorce a few years back.
At the time I had over 3000 liters of water, with 23 Pufferfish from 16 different species.
Aquarists Anonymous anyone?

Wow it all makes sence now....I did tell him my fish loved me more than he did....I am currently single

[Troender]

I love the word "giblet" and it is NOT a naughty word!

It's in the filter to replace a naughty word. But from what you are saying now, I guess you are the person who put it there. At least two of us guessed it would be you.

I routinely cook sauce on giblets.

WHAT??? That sounds rather...errr...disgusting. Who came up with the idea that it is eatable? Well, enjoy your meal!

"Babe" is indeed coming home to roost.
You should really visit Dahls Dyrerike in Moss (LFS) in order to meet her.
They were kind enough to house her for a month and I am told she has a poster on her tank saying:
Hi! I am Babe, a T. lineatus who is currently on a short vacation in Moss!

Ah! So that's the "big puffer" a friend of mine saw there. I guessed it might be a Fahaka (but not the Fahaka I guessed though), and it seems I was right. How long is she staying there? I have to take a trip to Moss sooner or later, but I don't know when I will find time to do it. (BTW, are you planning a trip to Drammen this weekend? Saltvannsforum has a gathering there - I don't know if you are into marine tanks or not). They are really nice at Dahls Dyrerike. They are kind and service minded. I haven't been there since I april last year though, when I was there to speak about puffers (for Moss akvarieklubb - they had their meating there). With Mr. Dahl himself present, it was a bit scary. I got a very nervous...

Cutie pie...
Cant wait to get her back in my arms (tank).

I can imagine.

[Woland]

Ah! So that's the "big puffer" a friend of mine saw there. I guessed it might be a Fahaka (but not the Fahaka I guessed though), and it seems I was right. How long is she staying there? I have to take a trip to Moss sooner or later, but I don't know when I will find time to do it. (BTW, are you planning a trip to Drammen this weekend? Saltvannsforum has a gathering there - I don't know if you are into marine tanks or not). They are really nice at Dahls Dyrerike. They are kind and service minded.

Yeah, it is a nice shop indeed.
Friendly people, some knowledge bout Puffers.
Babe will be staying there until the 7-8th of April.
You should take a look.
She is a magnificent creature.

No; I am not going to Drammen.
Having my kids this weekend.
(I try to control my yearning for marine tanks & creatures...)

[Woland]

Ok, time for some pics.
We live in a smallish loft-apartment, and the floor is not solid enough for me to trust it with multiple tanks.
I keep two 160 liter tanks, one fish-soup and one for Fred the Palembang.





The Palembang-tank is decorated with a kind of limestone and low-light plants.







I have some algae issues, and has therefore decided to try out some helping mouths.
Firstly I put in 2 hard-water tolerant sucker-mouths.
Worked like a charm...
Fred thought they are utterly disgusting, and even turned his back on them if they got to close.
I then put in 8 Otos, next morning only 1 left.
Bought 10 SAE, next morning 9 left.
Chucked in 2 Apple snails. Fred tried his luck, but gave up because they were to big.

Things seems to have settled down now.
The algae-control crew has grown wise to the existence of a large predator in their midst.
Fred's level of activity has risen dramatically with the occurrence of potential prey.
He seems happier and has also expanded his sources of nutrition to include pellets.
Spends most of his time "hanging" in the thicket of Vals and Java-ferns on the right hand side of the tank.
Here's Fred, the happy Palembang!





I am now off to my new studio, where I will start on scaping 400 liter Fahaka-tank and 160 liter high-end brackish GSP tank.
See yah later!

[edmlfc1]

Awesome pictures. Fred is such a cutie with those big eyes.