Brand new Member

[Cich Ambishinz]

Hey all! I just signed up here to this forum because I just got my first puffer last night. It is a Figure 8 puffer. I have been keeping fish for a lil bit now but mostly cichlids and piranhas. I have always wanted a puffer tho....so now that I had my 20 gallon free I got one. I just wanted to ask everyone here about there personal experiences with these fish and what I should look out for and helpfull hints etc. I also wanted to know if there is any room for anything else. All comments appreciated!! Thanx in advance

[Jayhawk]

Welcome to the board! I have a figure 8 in a 20 gallon long myself...great fish. He came in with ich, but raising the temperature, frequent water changes, and upping the SG (he was in FW in the store) cleared up the ich pretty quick.

Have you read RTRs article on Figure 8s in the library? If not, check it out - it covers most everything you'll think of except, I think, it fails to mention figure 8 jump so be sure your tank is well covered!

Eric

[Cich Ambishinz]

Yeah its covered pretty well. I figured it might not have been hungry since it was just moved, but I put just a little bit of flakes just incase it was hungry. Now I find out that they dont really like flakes?? How bout Pellets? Or what would you guys suggest to get it started on?

[Tihsho]

Best things are live or frozen foods:
~Brine
~Blackworms
~Bloodworms
Etc. Your local fish stores should carry them.

[Peregrine]

Mine ate flake when I brought them home, but after their first taste of bloodworms, and brine shrimp they never touched them again...and snails..they love their snails...
I can get them to nibble at sinking shrimp pellets if I hold them at the surface, but wont touch them if I put any in the tank

Also ate the fins off one of my Columbian sharks, (twice their size) so careful with the tank mates

[Jayhawk]

I'm not a big brine shrimp fan (too messy without great nutrition), but frozen bloodworms, blackworms, krill - all defrosted in a shot glass of tank water are good. Freeze dried kill (rehydrated in a shot glass of tank water, too) and people foods like shell on shrimp (freeze and cut into smaller shell on pieces), muscles, clams and such (all frozen to kill pathogens) are great. Finally, the aforementioned snails are essential for keeping their teeth down (common pond on european ramshorns are the best).

Welcome to the world of puffers...they do require a bit more care, but they're worth it.

Eric

[Cich Ambishinz]

So what more care do they require?? Just becauce of the picky eating or what??

[Jayhawk]

Their food requirements are the biggest issue, and keeping a brackish tank takes a bit more work what with the marine salt mix and all, and you need to keep the nitrates low as they're sensitive to that - so good tank cleaning habits and allowing no uneaten food to remain are important.

That's about it - it's not that much more care, and the feeding requirements are no big deal once you're used to them.

Eric

[Tihsho]

Puffs are not that simple, but care becomes second nature after you get use to it

[Pamela]

Yep, grab a coffee, sit down and read through here till you're cross-eyed!
My two F8s love cockles, mussels and clams as well, if you get them from a human fishmonger rather than your lfs (in which case they'll have been irradiated and rendered sterile), then freeze them for at least 48 hours to kill any pathogens.
Any food must be thouroughly thawed before it goes in the tank, though, and if you're giving him food that frozen in blocks, like bloodworms etc, rinse out a couple of times with a small amount of tank water once it's thawed, as the juice (eww) that comes off is a major source of pollution.
Congrats on your new dude, and welcome to the forum.
Pami.