Advice Needed On My New F8

[carlos]

Hi there, sorry if this has been posted before but im new here and to puffer keeping. I noticed my LFS had a very overstocked small tank of F8's and Spotted juvies in which i didnt agree with and felt sorry for also. I have a fully cycled 3 foot tank (freshwater) at about 76 deg ish.

I have always wanted a puffer and fully intend to slowly step up the salinity after a week or so to brackish doing a tiny bit every few days, I bought the F8 to give at least one a better life. It is doing extremely well is very confident little fella and is very colourful, seems really happy.

All I want to know is about diet, i know they have special needs and at the mo i have given him bloodworm and he got hold of a fly too, but when i go to the LFS tommorow what should i look to buy him to eat? I mean 3 or 4 things that i can rotate to keep him interested and what should i get from supermarket etc. JNust want him to be happy and last his distance in full health.

Thanks for any help

[Myaj]

Welcome to the forum!

Under the "Learn" tab you'll find a library full of articles about different species, feeding, etc. So that should help you out some.

A few basics, you'll want to use marine salt (like Instant Ocean) not aquarium salt to make brackish water, and you only want to raise it .002 at the most per week or you can crash your biofilter.

For food, snails are always a good basic diet, so if you can get some ramshorn or pond snails he'll love that. Shrimp are good too, either live or you can get the frozen, raw "people" shrimp at the store and thaw out one and give him a little.. that's a lot of food for one little fish though . Live worms, both earthworms and black/blood worms, frozen bloodworms, kril (but only as a snack), etc...

[carlos]

Great thanks ill explore the site more fully, my LFS has some snail issues so ill get them for free, and maybe get an additional small tank and try letting them breed as a constant food supply. Im starting fresh water as thats where they are kept in the shop, idiots tell me they are solely fresh water but after explaining theyre needs the shop has taken on board my comments and will make proper arrangements for the puffers next time.

I have salt intended for marine tanks and a tester so next week ill try to raise it ever so slightly, poss slower the better as hes by no means unhappy and i dont want to shock the bio side or him.

Thanks again, glad to join this forum as i dont think ive been this pleased with a choice of fish for a long time, character in spades and very friendly, reminds me of my old tiger oscar i used to have.

[Green Puff Machine]

Congratulations on your new puffer. How big is he. Anyways, you should mostly feed them what they would eat in the wild: crunchy foods like shrimp and other small crustaceans and snails. Not only does this ensure a good food source for your puffer,but the hard shells also wear down it's constantly growing teeth. Also you need to take care to not give into his begging and not overfeed him. Good luck

[carlos]

Cheers mate, I went to House of pisces 20 miles from my home to get correct food for him, hes about 2.5 inches, nice round belly and vivid green colouring, still a bit shy but loves his food, i have some kind of bony fish the shop said was good for puffers and some general aquatic snails which are gone in a matter of seconds.

Im looking at feeding him once maybe twice a day with a fasting day a week, does this sound right? Cant beleive ive kept fish for years and never considered these little fellas they are a really unusual fish.

He likes to stay in the stream of fresh water when im syphoning in fresh water on a change.

Thanks for the welcome, ive done alot of research but any extra advice is always welcome, I want him to be as happy as poss.

Should i get a second or do they prefer solitary life????

[Myaj]

I'm assuming your tank is in the 30-40 gallon size range, so if you'd like you could get a second or maybe a third Figure 8 (figure 15 US gallons for the first, minimum 10 more gallons for each additional) or you could look into some other types of tankmates such as bumblebee or knight gobies (very cool little fish, just give them lots of rockwork/territories if you get multiples as they define territories and might fight).

Some people prefer to keep figure 8 puffers alone, others in groups.. personality can really vary when it comes to Figure 8 puffers.. I have yet to meet one that is really mean to their tankmates but I'm sure there are some that are out there. Most people find if you keep one alone, it tends to focus on the humans more.. IME all puffers other than dwarves and SAP's are constantly focused on a potential source of food

[carlos]

its 80-100 litres so ill just stick with the one for now. Thanks for that.

[Myaj]

Sounds like a plan. You could probably add something like 3 bumble bee gobies if you'd like, they are smaller than other goby species.

[carlos]

Cool will look for them but dont get fish like that near here usually Thanks