Stars and stripes juvenile

[hamish]

I have had a juvenile stars and stripes pufferfish for about 6 months now in a 180l tank (I am aware that the tank will soon be too small and I have found a new owner who will be buying my puffer from me in august). After seeing videos of other puffer fish I have noticed that my puffer barely swims around the tank, instead he simply sits constantly under a fake plant and only slowly swims around that small area (still keeping low). I also have a maroon clownfish who does the same and the fish hardely ever even venture to the side of the tank as if they are scared of something.?. I have noticed that when I go to sleep (the tank is in my room) and the room is pitch dark the fish swim around more and become slightly more active. is there anything I can do to make them more happy (perhaps change the layout of my tank) if anyone wants a photo i can put one up to show how I have set up my tank.

[Nuclear_Glitter]

What are your levels? Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate. Also, what sort of lights are you running?

[hamish]

I am just using marine, and bright flouresent tube lighting

[hamish]

puffer tank 2012 b.jpg

puffer fish pic 2012.jpg

these are some pics

[hamish]

puffer tank 2012 b.jpg

puffer fish pic 2012.jpg

these are some pics

in the top pic the maroon clownfish is in the tunnel

[Nuclear_Glitter]

You should still post all your levels as they could be causing a problem. Also, you need to make that tank way more decorative and interesting. Puffer fish are very intelligent and get bored easily. Why don't you have more liverock?

[Pufferpunk]

What are your levels? Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate?

[hamish]

You should still post all your levels as they could be causing a problem. Also, you need to make that tank way more decorative and interesting. Puffer fish are very intelligent and get bored easily. Why don't you have more liverock?

I am afraid I can only add rock small stages at a time purely because of the cost of live rock. I will shortly be adding more. And would it be better to wait until I have more live rock or should I change around the decor now, perhaps spread out the plants?

[hamish]

You should still post all your levels as they could be causing a problem. Also, you need to make that tank way more decorative and interesting. Puffer fish are very intelligent and get bored easily. Why don't you have more liverock?

I did test the ammonia and nitrate and admitedly it was too high. I have done about a 20% and I have done it the correct way (I already had the mixed water in a bucket with an airstone for 24 hours). I am trying my best to improve the water quality. Another thing, is it crucial to use RO water for a tank because at the moment I am using tap water with conditioner, next week i will do another water change but drive to 'World of Water' to collect RO water. I will promptly post a photo of my new decor setup..

[Pufferpunk]

Tap water will give you algae problems. If you are not prepared to care for this fish properly (keeping the ammonia/nitrite at 0 & nitrate <20) by using proper filtration (live rock, good flow, large protein skimmer) or prepared to be doing LARGE, 50% weekly water changes, then maybe he's be better kept elsewhere.

[hamish]

have changed around decor + live rock and the fish seem to be alot more active (especialy the clownfish), I will post pictures when the dust from live rock has settled. will be buying more live rock on saturday

[Pufferpunk]

Be sure to keep doing daily water changes, until you reach the parameters above & they stay there. Test your water often.

Instead of buying live rock, you can add dry rock to your system for much cheaper & it will become seeded by the existing rock. As the puffer grows, the newly seeded rock will support it's bioload. Do you have a skimmer on there?
http://www.marcorock.com

[hamish]

Be sure to keep doing daily water changes, until you reach the parameters above & they stay there. Test your water often.

Instead of buying live rock, you can add dry rock to your system for much cheaper & it will become seeded by the existing rock. As the puffer grows, the newly seeded rock will support it's bioload. Do you have a skimmer on there?
http://www.marcorock.com

I do, but I also posted explaining how my skimmer didn't work properly, so I imagine that my live rock and bio filter are having to do everything. I have come to terms that my juwel 2.0 skimmer is worthy of the bin; but I am willing to invest in this backpac you mentioned. Also, how long would dry live rock take to cure, my only fear is that because of my not so amazing water quality, it would take a while for the rock to become cured. I can't do water changes everyday because I go to school, which makes things difficult timewise. Sorry I do not understand what you mean by 'seeded' do you mean to say that the existing live rock I have can 'revive' dry rock? if so how long will it take? Thank you for all the help by the way

[Pufferpunk]

It will take some time... It sounds like maybe with school & everything, you might not have the time necessary to devote to this puffer? IMO, the Backpac is for much smaller tanks, 55g & under. You could try the double one though.