Hello Everyone!

[Christie_ZXR]

Hello!

New here so thought I'd introduce myself and my fish!
I joined up to learn a bit more about brackish as I'm planning on getting myself a fig 8 puffer (or two!) soon. So if anyone would like to chuck me a link to some good posts they think I should have a read of pls feel free

Pufferwise, I've currently only got one, Romulus the DP who lives on his own.
I have 8 other tanks (bad I know!!) Fighting fish are my passion, I have 5 tanks for my 5 boys, Jin the Halfmoon, Mokusam the Crowntail, Splodge the Superdelta, Ares the veiltail and Ben the delta tail. All share with an otto except Ares, who is vicious by any standard! He now shares with Brisies the Bristlenose, who doesn't taste like food so he tolerates her! I also have a community tank with my female fighters, cardinals, Plecosaurus the sailfin plec and a 3 spot gourami called Gouramiface. The other tank is full of guppies who are slowly migrating to the biorb to make room for the fig 8! (who won't be sharing with anything)

So anyway, thats me and my fish, looking forward to meeting you all and learning a bit more about fig 8s and looking after them before I go to get mine

[dovla935]

hello wellcome...I like dwarf puffers but I can t find them so I bought lorteti..cute little fish...

[El Scorpio]

Hello, Christie! Welcome to the club.

And, as a matter of fact, we do have some links for you. There's an article on Fig8's here:
ug.php/v/PufferPedia/Brackish/T_Biocellatus/
You can also find several articles here about feeding; it's worth a look:
library/category/feeding/

[scottyboy1986]

hi im new to this can any one help me im trying to get some info on my new green spotted puffers but i cant open a messege thanks. i want to ask some questions but dont know how

[Pufferpunk]

[greenspottedlover]

"New here so thought I'd introduce myself and my fish!
I joined up to learn a bit more about brackish as I'm planning on getting myself a fig 8 puffer (or two!) soon. So if anyone would like to chuck me a link to some good posts they think I should have a read of pls feel free"

http://brackishpuffers.webs.com/figure8puffercare.htm

[Christie_ZXR]

Cheers for the links guys! Have had a read. My tank is cycled and has been a freshwater tank for some time. I'm fairly confident the puffer will be in freshwater in the shop when I buy him/her as this seems to be the norm. So when switching over to brackish, would you advise simply doing the weekly w/c with brackish water mixed to the right sg? Or would it need to be mixed lower and gradually upped? I'm thinking more for the filter bacterias benefit than the puffers. Would simply adding the salt to the tank direct (whilst there are no fish in it) and then aclimatising the puffer very very slowly be a better idea?
Just another couple of qs if you don't mind! I have a container for water changes, but I'm not sure on mixing brackish water. I've already got my marine salt and my hydrometer so far. What's the reason for letting the water sit overnight? I would use haloex for dechlorinating, and nitrate minus, but thats a given in all my tanks due to my dodgy nitratey tap water!! I've read you need something to stir saltwater properly, a wooden spoon and some patinence? Or an airstone/filter or something similar? I'm unsure on what applies to marine and what applies to brackish.

Cheers again!

[Pufferpunk]

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=19348

[Christie_ZXR]

that's really helpful, cheers. I thought there would be a post on here with that info somewhere but I hadn't found it! I shall make a note of that formula!
Will an airstone not do the trick then? I take it saltwater is really difficult to mix. (I've never kept marine, strictly a FW person...until I saw fig 8s anyway!!) I presume an old filter would do the job fine?

[greenspottedlover]

that's really helpful, cheers. I thought there would be a post on here with that info somewhere but I hadn't found it! I shall make a note of that formula!
Will an airstone not do the trick then? I take it saltwater is really difficult to mix. (I've never kept marine, strictly a FW person...until I saw fig 8s anyway!!) I presume an old filter would do the job fine?

I had minimal success with airstone mixing. I use a powerhead now, and a filter should work nicely.

[Christie_ZXR]

Coolios, ta.
I think I shall have an experiment and waste a bit of salt before I get the fish. How do I tell if the water's not properly mixed? Will there just be a load of salt sitting on the bottom? Or is there some trick I need to know? I have a pretty powerful airpump which was removed from one of my bigger tanks because it makes the most irritating noise known to man!! (it's been replaced by a spray bar to ripple the surface, which is much quieter! ) So I'll have a go with that and two airstones first and see what happens. The tank's not huge, so the water changes won't be massive. If that doesn't work, I'll have to get a powerhead. but I want to try what I've got first. (any recommendations on a cheap, compact one btw?) I had a poke around today and the old filter I've got doesn't work anyway, so that's that idea out.
Ta for all the advice, is there anything else you guys reckon I should know? I'm totally new to this salty stuff!! So it's going to be a learning curve methinks

[Christie_ZXR]

Sorry, just one more q!
Would feeder fish be of any benifit to a fig 8 once in a while? Home raised, not bought so illnesses aren't a worry. (guppies) From what I can tell, in their native environment they're opportunists, so live fish would probably be a once in a while treat for them naturally. Just wondered if it would be of any benefit to the fish's health to feed one once a month or so? I was planning to go with stuff from the fish counter at the supermarket as the main diet, with bloodworms now and again too. My dp and fighters have live bloodworms a fair bit, so I always have a ton of them in the house.

[greenspottedlover]

I don't see how feeder fish to their diet could be bad. It would add nutrients to their diet. I would say once a month would be good because this isn't a good main food source.

[Christie_ZXR]

Brill cheers, that's what I thought. Just wanted to check really.
Exciting stuff! Can't wait to get the little guy

[Pufferpunk]

F8s are not piscivores. Saying that, I kept mollies with them for algae control & eventually they & all their fry got eaten.