Need so advice for a newbie

[judge6266]

OK my wife has decided that she wants a puffer fish, I do not want to set up a salt tank so I decide to go fresh or brackish (been keeping african cichlids for 10 years a brackish tank is not that big of a jump. So now I have looked at the LFS and have 3 choices Tetraodon nigroviridis, Tetraodon biocellatus, and Colomesus asellus.

My proposed set up a 35 gallon hex (I know not ideal, but this is what I have) it was set up as a african cichlid grow out tank so it has sand (medium grain size) and a big 30 lbs. Texas holey rock piece with a few smaller 1/2 lbd pieces. Based on the size of the tank I am guessing Tetraodon nigroviridis is out so it is down to Tetraodon biocellatus, and Colomesus asellus. Any advice here would be great, prices locally are about the same and I can do fresh or brackish just as easy.

I am new to puffers but have 15 years experience with cichlids and other freshwater fish.

[Hilly]

In that tank I would probably go for 2 F8's. Some interesting rockwork, plants live or fake in the lower brackish range and away you go. F8's are great looking fish and I think SAP's would do better in a more conventional shaped tank, longer tanks are preferred for them.

[Pufferpunk]

library/puffers-in-focus/fig8/

[judge6266]

Pufferpunk great write up, thank for the good info, for food in the write up you have live food Crab, Crayfish, Shrimp where are you getting this items, LFS collecting wild items?

[purplecandle]

Crayfish and crab probably are too big for an F8...they would probably like them, but for something so big they would have to pick it to death..

..meaning a slow, torturous death for the food..which is a little bit of unethical fish keeping.

[Pufferpunk]

Puffers have amazing chompers! They can tear chunks of meat off anything. Try for smaller pieces though. I feed mostly shrimp tail, krill, plankton & worms.

[JRC3]

If you want a few F8 tankmates, I have had good luck so far with bumblebee gobies and 6 or so ghost shrimp.

[judge6266]

Wouldn't the F8 puffer eat the ghost shrimp?

in fact I was looking to feed the puffer ghost shrimp found a LFS that sells them for a fair price as feeders

[Flutter]

Yes, they'd eat the shrimp.

Cherry shrimp will also do fine in low brackish conditions.

[JRC3]

I've had the same 6 shrimp in there for weeks now. I put them in there to clean up a bit and serve as occasional snacks, he looks at them sometimes but that's about it. One of the shrimp was carrying babies so the BBGs got to snack on some live food.