Advice for an Abei Puffer Tank

[romandy]

Hi all,

I will be getting a abei soon, finally found a place that sells them, bit of a drive but worth it. went to see them today and they seem in good condition. they have 5" ones but I'm going for the smaller 2" one so i can watch it grow! I've got my tank and will be starting fishless cycling in the next few days but i need to sort my decor out, can anyone give me advice on what to go for? are live plants ok? is sand a must as a substrate or is gravel ok? I can't seem to find much info on what these little guy's natural habitat is like!

also any one in the UK know good places to buy food? he'll have an endless supply of snails from my main tank, no matter what i do they won't leave so now I'm encouraging them to feed my puffer with!

Thanks for an advice you can give, I'll post some pictures up when it's done!

[bertie 83]

Most Lfs around me have a good range of frozen and regular live food. Live plants are nice if you supplement them. Sorry cant advise as to puffers habitat as I have no experience with these. Someone who knows will be along shortly with more info I am sure

[xrayjeeper83]

gravel or sand is fine, they dont bury so it doesnt really matter. I have live plants in my Abei's tank right now, but will be pulling all of them out and will be putting in fake plants. The reason for the change is that due to Abei's being more dusk/dawn puffers and not liking the light I wanna keep it semi dark for so he will be out more. And with low lighting the live plants will all die.

For lighting I just use the kitchen or living room light.

Also make sure to have some sort of cave or caves for him to hide in. Other then that just plant the hell out of it and he should be happy

[puffykid]

also pictures when you get him/her!!!

[romandy]

thanks for all the advice so far, it's been really helpful!

just 2 more questions, the abei is currently kept in a similar PH but it's in soft water whereas my essex water is very hard, will it be able to adapt or do i need to try an soften the water?

Also, i'm planning on using marble/travertine split face stone for my background (in a similar style to DIY slate backgrounds) is that safe to do?

I will post pictures up once i start work on the tank (hopefully tomorrow if i get positive responses on the stone)

[xrayjeeper83]

I doubt the marble would be harmful, but you can test to make sure it doesnt change the water by putting it in a bucket or something and testing the water over a few days.

[romandy]

Well, here's what I have so far. I'm planning on putting a few more plants in before I get my puffer, i just wanted to get it up an running so it could start cycling. I've kick started it with some safestart to hopefully speed up the process.

The only concern i have now is I've been reading up on the internal stock juwel filter and it's not got good reviews. is there any way i can upgrade it?

[romandy]

sorry i should note that i don't really want to take the current casing out as I've cut the background around it! i just want to improve the filtration.

[bertie 83]

run that and add a canister on top would be worth the extra £££ trust. got cycled media if you need any?

[romandy]

That is probally what I'll do. Can you recommend any good ones? I usually use superfish but they quite a high flow rate and I'm worried about the current. Thanks for the offer of media, I'm already using some used stuff.

Thank you everyone for your fantastic advice so far

[bertie 83]

I generally use eheim canisters but hear good stuff about the sun suns they are cheap too. If you are using established media the cycle should be quick or instant, just keep it alive by feeding the tank, keep your eye on water parameters, where are you buying this puffer? Does this shop have a good range?

[bertie 83]

What size is the tank? Reasonable high current along the front should not cause your puffer problems it will encourage more rigorous exercise

[romandy]

The tank is 30x60 about 54L yes, I know it's too small but I'm moving soon and will buy him a permant home. He is only 3cm at the moment.

I'm getting him from wildwoods aquatics in Enfield. I've been to see him already. They have quite a large range. Fahkas, abei and potato puffers. No brackish or marine.

[bertie 83]

will have to drive there to have a look round. i like visiting new places, defo look at the upgrade asap as it will be quite detrimental to his health if kept in there for too long. you made that tank look nice well done

[xrayjeeper83]

I just ordered a sunsun of ebay, Ive only heard good things about them so I took the chance. 500+ gph for 100bucks couldnt beat it