T. Ocellatus Rescue

[Pufferpunk]

How chilly is the temp?

[pufferfreak]

Another good question.

[WalkingTarget]

Temp is 69*F-70*F A bit warm, I know, but a darn sight better than the 78*F he was in at the store.

Salinity is only 1.010SG, as I do not wish to shock the bacteria in the filter I brought home. So far Ammonia/Nitrite read 0. While I *could* acclimate him to near-marine in one day, the bacteria are a different story.

Sand bed is only 1/4" thick superfine Aragonite reef sand. I have another 20lbs worth of the same I will be adding bit by bit tomorrow, and more will be added when it comes back in stock.

As for his diet, he has been eating algae wafers, live crickets, shrimp pellets and so forth (again, I know it has not been a good diet, but I have been restricted in what I am allowed to feed while at work). I'm slowly improving his diet with frozen (defrosted!) clam meat. I plan to feed a wide variety of foods, including nori, mussels, oysters and so forth.

The algae wafers (Omega One brand, if that makes a difference) seem to be his favorite food so far, and he has eaten one tonite, so I am less worried about him now.

He's pretty darn sociable... he'd learned to recognize me at work, because I've been the hand that feeds for about 10 months so far... and his tank is pretty much opposite to my computer desk, so he always has half an eye on me....

[pufferfreak]

Thats good. I would try and acquire a chiller to lower it down a bit more. I don't know what the article says but i'm guessing somewhere 60-63 degrees Fahrenheit since it is a temperate species.

[WalkingTarget]

A 1/20HP chiller will run me about $300. And that's *with* my discount as a store employee. So that won't be happening for a good while. It's not that I don't care about the little guy's health, it's that I don't have a lot of cash to spend to make everything perfect.

The information I've gathered (including Yunachin's article) say anywhere from 64*F to 68* with some sources saying they can go as high as 74*F. I'm more partial to the 64-68 as their ideal range.

Just to be perfectly clear on this too: I'd been searching for a home for this little guy for about a month previous to actually taking him home, hoping to find somebody who had a clue as to what they're doing. I didn't find even one hobbyist who was seriously interested in him, nevermind willing to take care of him.

Then this puffer ate the eye out of an Archer he was housed with and the store owner set an ultimatum of "Get him out or *I* get him out". So I had the choice of housing it or allowing it to be killed. Now I'm not going to make any excuses about sub-optimal care, but I'm sure the fish would rather be a bit too warm than suffocating out of water.

That being said, these fish seem to be remarkably hardy for a fish that everybody says is so sensitive. Little Chubby seems perfectly happy now that he's down to room temperature.

[Pufferpunk]

I think you're doing a great job! Forget new--look for a good, used one at RC or Ebay or Craigslist.

[WalkingTarget]

So, I added another 1/4" or so of sand to the bottom, so I have a layer roughly 1/2" thick, up to 3/4" thick in places. Still to shallow, I know, but I'm waiting on more sand, and I might use some slightly rougher sand in there as well.

Oh, and here's "little" chubby.



From the mouth to the base of his Cadual is between 5" and 6", so I'd say he's fully grown. Oh, and of course "He" is purely arbitrary. I have no idea what sex it is, but the name Chubby is going to stick anyways.

His filtration is a pair of sponge filters for the time being. One of which came from his past tank so it has bacteria in it, hence why I haven't upgraded him to marine salinity.

Over the next several weeks, I plan to up the SG by .002 every week using marine salt until I reach 1.020. After that point I plan on doing away with the sponges and using a 20g long as a sump, mechanical/biological on one side, middle filled with Chaeto and other macro as well as LR rubble and a return. This will allow me to use a skimmer eventually too. A chiller is in the works eventually, but since I can keep the room temperature down to 68 no problem in the next couple weeks i'm in no rush; the Canadian winter is good for something :p

[Pufferpunk]

I don't see an image.

[LilGreenPuffer]

I didn't at first, but it showed up after a minute or so.

He's friggin' CUTE!!!!!

[Pufferpunk]

I see it now.

[WalkingTarget]

Hmm... he's not eating as much as he used to. Maybe because of the cooler temp?

Anyway though, he still has a nice, rounded belly, so I'm not worried yet.

[pufferfreak]

Cooler water temps do slow down the metabolisms of temperate marine life.

[bazil323]

Adorable! Sounds like you're really committed to doing right by this guy, and that's very commendable. Good luck!

[diverchic]

Awwww, Chubby's so cute!!!!! I love that picture!

[Pufferpunk]

Aren't you cold in that 68 degree room?