F8 puffer questions

[DGabbs]

Hi,

I'm brand new to brackish water and also to puffers. I really like F8 puffers and i went in to my LFS and they said they can be ordered in any time.

I have:
-25 gallon aquarium
- AC50 filter
-proper heater
-silica sand
-driftwood
-lots of round smooth rocks
-hydrometer
-instant ocean salt
-air stone
-master water test kit

I will probably do weekly/every other weekly 50% water changes. Preferably weekly but some times it just can be done.


Before any puffer is introduced to the tank i will make sure it is very well cycled.

Here are my questions:

1. in a 25 gallon, with an aquaclear 50 would i be able to get two f8s in there? I know its preferable to have 15 per fish, but some seem to say 15 for first and 10 for additional.

2. I would really like to feed the puffer(s) a wide variety of food including meaty food like bloodworms and brine, and hard shelled food like snails, shrimp, crayfish... Do F8s like human grade shrimp (just your standard grocery store stuff). Also what other stuff do they like that can be found in the seafood section of a grocery store. Just asking because my little brother works at a grocery store and can get anything there for a really cheap price.

3. I'm going to keep the water around 1.005 and I'm just hoping the young F8s are ok with this. Some say its best to start out FW when they're young, but that seems overly complicated.

4. I think i will try to feed the the F8 2-3 time per week, unless you think thats too much/to little??? I plan to have a snail breeding tank going soon. My LFS would love to supply me with their nuisance snails.

I've been in the hobby for many years, and i would honestly never purchase a fish and not follow through with all the care.

Thanks, I may have more questions as we go along.

[Terrance]

Feed them 5-7 times per week. Just stick with brackish from the beginning. 1 f8 will do better in a tank than 2, but 2 has been done before. Add lots of decor to break up the line of sight.

[Pufferpunk]

Aragonite sand is best. It buffers the pH to around 8 & keeps it stable.
viewtopic.php?f=68&t=28692

[RTR]

Most of us feed puffers no more than 6 days a week max. Captive puffers tend to be overfed and a bit too fat, which shortens their life. But 2-3 feeding may be a bit light if the new fish are small (less than one inch to an inch and a half total length). Mature F-8s are fine with 3x feedings per week for many years one mature.

Personally I would not keep two in a 25 gallon tank. I would use a larger tank, particularly with a larger footprint. But some folks get away with it.

F-8s need more crunch in the diet than many puffers. For me over 90% of their diet is crunchy. Brine shrimp is nutritionally poor, but is a great appetite stimulant.

+1 to Pufferpunk's suggestion of aragonite sand. It is the only substrate I ude for F-8s.

I will move F-8s to BW immediately after purchase, but I do not increase more than 0.002 per week to avoid shocking the nitrification bacteria.The tank needs to be per-conditioned so that the biofilter is mature before the fish are introduced.

HTH

[DGabbs]

Aragonite sand is best. It buffers the pH to around 8 & keeps it stable.
viewtopic.php?f=68&t=28692

Hi, My pH is already very stable with a high KH. Lower GH and the pH right from the tap is around 7.5-8.0.

If its very important i would go with that type of sand, but i already have a big bag of silica sand and i have used it many times with no issues.

Thanks for the link! Extremely helpful. It answers about every question you could possibly have.

[DGabbs]

Thanks so much guys! Really appreciate it.

I just heard they get bored easily and i thought having two in a tank would help with that. I'm not worried about bioload, because i have a huge filter (AC50) and will have lots of decorations for BB colonization. The thing i would worry about is agression....?

One question, I saw some great looking base rock at my local fish store thats on for a great price. Just wondering if i could use this with F8s. Being base rock it is porous and the only thing i would worry about is the puffer scrapping up against it. Any one else use it?

[RTR]

Filtration does not, repeat, does not in any way compensate for lack of sufficient water volume. They are two separate and distinct requirements.

[Nuclear_Glitter]

+1 to RTR's comment

Base rock MAY be a problem, as you said they can scrape themselves on it.

Puffer fish are the type of fish that are alone, but not lonely. They are territorial and smart (minus a few species who do okay, or prefer to be in groups.). Figure 8's can be in groups, however your tank is 25 gallons, and it doesn't even hold that technically, and then you have to account for substrate, decor, and equipment displacement. You really only have about 15 gallons (roughly) to work with, so two puffers is a bad idea.

Puffers can get bored, yes. However, lots of decor, that you arrange every so often will help with the boredom issue. They can get bored because they are so intelligent.

[Flutter]

I used to put live shrimp in my F8's tank. The tank was very complex and the shrimp could avoid her for days. This way she had live food to hunt but it kept her busy for a long time as she was hunting a lot.

[bertie 83]

+1. I wish my fahaka wasn't so smart tho, he will take out every shrimp within 30 mins or so. This bugs me cos there is ample hiding space but the loaches chase them out into the open lol

[DGabbs]

OK, I'll stick with one puffer.

But back to the base rock. I have a bunch of it (new from a freshwater tank build that i bought not knowing i couldn't use it in fresh) and i was really hoping to use it.

Does anyone have experience with base rock and puffers?

Also, in a year or so i will likely set up a big 50+ gallon tank for f8s only. If i just get one now, will i be able to introduce a couple more when i get the big tank? Or will the big one pick on the new little ones?

Thanks guys!

[Anothernewb]

I use base rock and live rock with my GSP and my Dogface. Hasn't been an issue so far. My dogface actually sleeps in a fairly tight quartered cave in the rock.

[Iliveinazoo]

OK, I'll stick with one puffer.

But back to the base rock. I have a bunch of it (new from a freshwater tank build that i bought not knowing i couldn't use it in fresh) and i was really hoping to use it.

Does anyone have experience with base rock and puffers?

Also, in a year or so i will likely set up a big 50+ gallon tank for f8s only. If i just get one now, will i be able to introduce a couple more when i get the big tank? Or will the big one pick on the new little ones?

Thanks guys!

Unless you have the outlet of your filter blasting directly onto the rock which would risk pushing your F8 into it then I wouldn't worry about it.

According to the logic above if you get a 50 gallon tank it will barely be big enough for 2 F8's... But seriously you could run into difficulty adding a puffer to an already established tank and territory.

[RTR]

Unfortunately, lots of things are relative, including tank sizes. If you have only worked with very small tanks, a 50 looks huge but in fact it is not at all. IME it is only large enough for two F-8s and they should be introduced together and both should be quite small.

A year-old F-8 will be nearly grown and may be sexually mature. If it is, introducing a new F-8 would likely result in the death of the newcomer, or at least serious injury and harassment.

[Iliveinazoo]

I agree that it's all relative, a tank looks huge depending on what's in it. A 200 litre would look huge with a shrimp in it but tiny with a shoal of Scats. With 3 Figure 8's it would look average. With 2 figure 8's added to an already established Figure 8 territory I'm afraid that it would look like one live and 2 dead Figure 8 puffers.