My name is Laura and Im 29, and my fiance Tony and I have lately gotten into the hobby of fish. We live in Virginia, US. We now have moved up to 3 tanks, which makes for a very soothing living room let me tell you. We dont even need to use lights anymore
. My fiance has a cichlid tank, with a Pleco and some mollies and rainbow sharks. He tried Cory Cats but we realized that the cichlids would rather eat them... but he just attained a nice balance of harmony in his tank. The cichlids are beautiful. His tank has a roman theme, (and we like to name all our fish) so his fish are all roman type names, like Julius and Octavian and mythology names. My new 20 gal. is devoted to the females and baby-givers, and also the weaker fish the cichlids would have picked on. I have some Red Wag Platys, a Panda Platy, three Cory Cats (one peppered, two panda) and several fancy-tailed guppies, which is my focus. I also have several types of fry seperated in a breeder box, Red Wags, Mollies, and Guppies. Mine is the baby tank. We also made sure to get some snails recently, finding out that we needed to have them for the puffers to grind their teeth on. Im keeping several in my tank hoping that they will multiply. My tank is Asian themed, so I have named them mostly Asian names like Ichigo, Kurosawa, Miyazaki, and the like. I may post some pictures of everyone, we are both proud of all of our fish. But first the story of how we discovered the cutest fish we have ever seen...I accidentally cracked my 14 gal. tank. In the process of changing over to cichlid sand, which we find easier to maintain, it cracked on the tub during a rinse. Unfortunately none of the stores had that same tank, but we decided on a 10 gal. as an emergency tank. The length was the same as the 14, just not the height, thankfully. I didnt need to buy an entire kit. So I saved my fish, which weve had since we started the hobby. Weve lost quite a few, but its been a learning experience.. I would hate to lose those fish who have hung on so long. We got a 20 gal. the other day and transferred all my fish and babies with the new sand, looks great and the corys especially love it (natures vacuum cleaners). We went to a local pet store we havent been to to see what they have, and were surprised happily by their fish dept., they had a little more variety than we had yet seen. I didnt even know freshwater puffers existed... and my fiance happily got two of the cute little guys. Ive always been wary of fish like puffers, for one thinking they were saltwater only and that made them way too delicate to care for, that was my main worry. Its true that they prefer brackish water, and seems that its not as difficult as you would think. We both love these little guys! We thought the cichlids had personality, but the puffers really do. Their bright eyes and curious nature. Their beautful coloration and patterns, and they are fun to watch as they eat and really greet you at the front of the tank. Only after two days, they are already recognizing us. We have distinguished their different patterns, and named one Herbie and the other Otto. Cute names fitting a cute creature.
I worry most of all about things Ive heard, and wonder if I could get some advice. How do we keep them best entertained? Or keep them from getting bored? Do they play? Is there any special care I need to consider to give them? How frequently do they eat, and in what amount? Our puffers are only two inches now, I read they might get up to 20 cm or just 3 inches. Is there any kind of behavior I need to look out for?
We are proud puffer owners now and intend to put all our effort into keeping these little guys happy and healthy.
They'll grow to about 3" (definitely not 20cm), and as they age you can reduce the feedings to every other day and possibly even less depending on the fish.