When should I do it?

[GrubbyGirl]

I have a figure 8 puffer who I acquired when I purchased a community tank. He has happily lived in a freshwater tank for 18 months and despite what they say about puffers he hasn't and isn't causing any problems at all with the other fish. Indeed he seems to have a good friend in a tail spot cory and they are always hanging about together. He is currently about an inch and a half. I know at some point he needs to go into a brackish tank, but when?

Also as he seems to be a less aggressive puffer I would like him to have tank mates and I know bumblebee gobies are brackish, but are there other suitable brackish fish?

Angela

[Jivenjune]

I have a figure 8 puffer who I acquired when I purchased a community tank. He has happily lived in a freshwater tank for 18 months and despite what they say about puffers he hasn't and isn't causing any problems at all with the other fish. Indeed he seems to have a good friend in a tail spot cory and they are always hanging about together. He is currently about an inch and a half. I know at some point he needs to go into a brackish tank, but when?

Also as he seems to be a less aggressive puffer I would like him to have tank mates and I know bumblebee gobies are brackish, but are there other suitable brackish fish?

Angela

Some people keep their F8s in freshwater indefinitely. However, these are the select few who do it either under the belief that their puffer are fine in this condition or have their water perimeters reflecting perfect conditions aside from salinity. I don't know the exact requirements or digits in regards to their water parameters, but I'm sure someone else on this forum does. There was a topic about it recently.

[Pufferpunk]

1st of all, if you're going to keep the puffer in BW (which I highly suggest), the cory will have to go, as he won't appreciate the salt at all.

[GrubbyGirl]

1st of all, if you're going to keep the puffer in BW (which I highly suggest), the cory will have to go, as he won't appreciate the salt at all.

Yes I appreciate that, hence I was asking about other brackish fish

[Pufferpunk]

What size tank?

[GrubbyGirl]

What size tank?

94 litres/ 25 US gallons

[pufferpuggirl]

Personally, I don't see the harm in keeping the F8 in freshwater, sounds like he's happy there with his tankmate, and I keep mine in freshwater, and have done for over a year now and all is well with mine. Just my personal preference though.

[Pufferpunk]

Consider they can live 18+ years, 1 year in that time span is nothing. It is a proven fact (done in a decade-long study on this subject) that F8s remain healthier & live longer in low-end BW & also, when kept as singletons.

In a 25g, you could get another F8 or a pair of knight gobies or chromides. My F8s ate all the BBGs in with them & all but 1 molly.

[pufferpuggirl]

I wasn't saying that keeping them in freshwater was the best way to keep them, just saying that's what I've done. I know people don't agree with everything I do, but that's why we are all individuals. I may end up rehoming my F8's anyway so that BeeBoo can have the tank to himself.

[bazil323]

Since he's only about 1.5", it's possible that he's still in his youthful tendency to like company. Once he gets bigger, don't be surprised if he starts picking on his tankmates. What else do you currently have in the tank and how many of each?

I'd strongly suggest getting another tank, make it low-end brackish, and put the puffer in there. If you want tankmates for him, you must get at least 25g and probably more depending on which fish you want. The more room the better and more likely that he'll leave his tankmates alone.

I've personally kept bumblebee gobies and mollies with mine. My first one who I've had for a bit over 1-1/2 years has barely acknowledged that there were other fish in the tank and really kept to himself. Very shy but not at all aggressive and shared his tank well. Although my second one that I recently got nipped my mollies' fins, he has since seemed to settle and is seeming to leave them alone now. I'm still keeping a close eye on him, though. So you see how personality plays a large part, yes?

Anyway, other fish that have been reported to do well with F8s and are brackish are chromides and knight gobies. I believe that dragon gobies (aka violet gobies) have also shared well, but they get 18+ inches and need quite a bit more room than a 25g and can be hard to feed when sharing a tank as they are kinda slow and need to be target fed in order to get their share. Plus, if I remember correctly, they have somewhat poor eyesight.

[Pufferpunk]

Mine ate all my mollies but one & that's just a matter of time, I'm afraid. Ate all the BBGs too.

[Myaj]

I actually kept a bunch of male endler livebearers with my Figure 8, they didn't mind the little bit of salt and he never bothered them. He was very shy though.. that's part of the trouble with keeping puffers with tankmates, you never know if they will turn out to be a big scardy cat or a killer.

Do you have really really hard water? A lot of people, including the person who did the majority of the long term testing as far as what salinities puffers like, believe this species can do well in freshwater IF it is very hard water.. if you have softer water though don't try it, just go brackish.

If you go with gobies, make sure you research stocking levels and give them plenty of caves/territories.

[Pufferpunk]

Gosh, I wish RTR did an article on his study with F8s!

[Myaj]

Well, he wrote plenty about them over the years, it can be searched out at any time thank goodness.

[By_a_coo]

So do I. Actually, I thought he wrote an article about his F8 studies and I even tried to look for that in the internet with no results.