First off, I'm interested in a figure eight puffer. I've been waffling between it, an Indian dwarf and a South American. I figured I wanted something cooler looking and larger than the dwarf and found the likely prospect of having to trim the South American's tooth terrifying. Plus, brackish seemed like a fun little endeavor.
Anyway I plan on buying all the necessary setup items sometime in early January (the stuff can get expensive, so I'm saving up!), so with cycling time I expect to actually get the little guy around February. I want to keep 1 figure eight in a ten gallon tank, or possibly 2 in a 20 gallon. I'd like it to be heavily planted. I was just wondering if anyone has tips for beginning BW. I've read that its basically as simple as adding the appropriate amount of Instant Ocean, and that you don't need a protein skimmer or live rock. Am I missing something, because that really seems like no big deal at all?
I plan to also breed ramshorn snails and possibly ghost shrimp in a 5 gal. as feeders. Do these sound like an appropriate staple diet for a F8?
Also, I was wondering if people know the proper adult size (in BW) of figure eights. I've been getting conflicting answers from online sources-- from 1.5-8" I'm assuming approx. 3 inches is common. Also, does anyone know if it would be at all harmful to house one F8 alone? I know that they're often aggressive, so I figured keeping just one would alleviate possible problems, while I got used to running BW.
Any other random advice for a puffer newbie would be greatly appreciated. I had a painted turtle years back that died of a respiratory infection because I didn't understand their temperature requirements. I really want to become an expert on these puffers before having one in my care. Thanks!
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