Things you want to know but are afraid to ask.

[bertie 83]

Its natural camouflage.... Blend into surroundings lol

[fahucker]

Of course

[bertie 83]

Also if i lived in a river with crocs/alligaters (i dont know which lol) i would not wish to be seen so would like to instantly blend in lmao

[las]

how often do you see ur puffer go poo?

[fahucker]

Mine goes at least daily if not twice
lots of like turds lay by the intake for my filter lol

[bertie 83]

I rarely see mine go i just see it go up the syphon

[fahucker]

I have seen mine poop it looks like an actual turd from like a dog lol

[RTR]

Crustaceans cannot get infected with Ich. But if their are infected fish in the tank with them, parasites may get transferred with the water on/around them.

Ich is really a temperate FW parasite. That is part of why it hits so many tropicals so hard - and especially those that should be in tropical BW to SW. They have never met such before.

[Reaperpilot2014]

That makes sense to me. The thing is, my fish have been in their tanks forever without any new additions, so ich shouldn't be present in the tank. The 1-3 spots I found on my fish were tiny compared to the larger ones all over my shrimp. So while I know crustaceans in general cannot get ich, is it still a possibility that the ghost shrimp can, especially after molting? That's why I'm going to experiment further in a beta bowl with ghost shrimp.

Ich still seems so mysterious to me. There are some people who say it sits dormant in the tank forever, and others that say it will be eradicated completely without a host after a time. If it didn't come from the shrimp, then, since there have been no new additions of any kind to any of my tanks in 4 months (except for my lone fahaka), it suggests that ich has been lying dormant all this time, which I don't agree with. Anyway, it's just frustrating to go to such lengths to avoid the stupid parasite and still have it show up.

[las]

i havent seen my puffer go number2 yet

[Reaperpilot2014]

i havent seen my puffer go number2 yet

How long have you had him, and has he been eating?

When puffers go number 2 it's quite different from watching a "normal" fish. Instead of a trailing thing, there will be a dense "sac" somewhere between bright red and dark brown depending on the diet. They can be easy to miss. It is very rare that I actually see one of my puffers drop these sacs. More like a dog poo than a fish poo.

I would take a picture for you, but just cleaned all my tanks and can't find one atm.

[Reaperpilot2014]

how often do you see ur puffer go poo?

My Fahaka goes most often, usually 3-4 small ones per day. That's way more than most of my puffers though.

[fahucker]

Yeah usually find them near the filter intake!

Also would a sand and gravel mix be ohk? Or just plain white gravel be ohk? It would be easier for clean up if I could get a under gravel filter

[Reaperpilot2014]

I like straight sand myself, as waste doesn't really have anywhere to go, whereas with gravel it sinks down in. I use a syphon to get the poops, shell pieces, and other things off of the sand, and then gently stir it up a few times a week to let any gases escape. It's treated me really well so far. Also, if yours likes to burrow, smooth sand won't hurt their coat like gravel would.

[goldielocke76]

My questions:

1. Why is it bad for puffers to "puff?" Don't they do that in the wild in defense and deflate themselves? Why do we have to do it for them?
2. What is a good feeding schedule for an F8, feel kinda dumb asking
3. How big around is a full grown, 3 inch F8?

Kinda dumb, but, these are the questions that have been bugging me for a bit. I like this thread, so far it's been really useful. =)