Helicopter, the F8 Puffer.

[Treekami]

Long overdue update on my 20 gallon breeder tank with my F8 puffer named Helicopter. Copter for short. =)

Brackish water, fake plants, driftwood, gravel and crushed coral substrate mixed together with a filter and a bubblier in the background.
He eats frozen Krill, snails, shrimp and frozen blood worms.

I would LIKE to have Bumblebee Gobies in his tank with him, but he would eat them. Everything is food to him. haha! But that's okay one fish in that tank is good enough for me.

This is what he looked like when I first got him. He looked bad. They had him mixed with green spotted puffer fish in full salt water. poor thing.


And this is what he looks like now. these photos do not do his colors justice!





thank for Viewing, Tree

[Pufferpunk]

He looks wonderful, great job getting him healthy!

[Treekami]

Thank you! he has come a long way, that's for sure. I felt bad for the others that were in the same tank he was but there was nothing I could do. =<

[Treekami]

Hello again!
So I just bought myself a 37 gallon tank for Copter and I am wondering how to safely transfer him and my bumblebee gobys into it. I want to use the same decor what is in my 20 gallon long.
I know not to use a net for the puffer. As of right now, I wont be changing the tank any time soon. More like in the middle of summer so the Gobys can get adjusted with their new home. Everyone is getting along well and Copter isn't attacking the gobys. I just would like a larger tank for them when Copter gets larger. The new tank will be stored in the mean time. (tempting for me cause I would be using it for more fish HA.) my old tank is going to a friend of mine.

[Pufferpunk]

No reason not to move him now, he'd surely appreciate the room!
I'd put him in a bucket & move everything over to the larger tank, include the filter & most of the water.

[Treekami]

you don't think I will crash the cycle at all when I move over all the decor and the gravel?

thanks so much for the reply =)

[Pufferpunk]

Not at all, the bacteria will cling to hard surfaces.

[Treekami]

oh perfect! thanks so much for the help and info! I'll be getting my 37 gallon this week. Not sure if I want to move them this weekend of wait until later in the summer. Ill decide when it comes. Copter does seem a bit bored, glass surfing in the back at times reasons why I upgraded.

[Treekami]

I upgraded! =D

37 gallon tank with 6 bumblebee gobys and Copter!

[Pufferpunk]

I highly suggest changing that substrate over to Aragonite sand. You also will want to remove that wood, as it will soften the water & the salt will rot it.
library/puffers-in-focus/fig8/

[Treekami]

thank for the info.
I didn't think salt would rot the wood. I knew it would slowly break it down like fresh water does. I ended up taking the driftwood out today and changing the tank around. I do not want to change the substrate, I hate making fish stressed out too much. Not to mention my KH and GH and PH are already high in the numbers. I also did not want to change anything in the tank so that the cycle would not break. I heard many horror stories on this and played it safe. I have looked up info about brackish waters and didn't find anything about gravel harming any of the fish in there so I will keep it in there until I am ready to safely change it out.

[Treekami]

The new look for the tank.
"fake" driftwood this time. I love the look of wood underwater. half brackish half fresh I was trying to capture in this tank. Right side is full of plants while the other side looks more dead and open. I want to add some large shells sometime down the line when I find some. some big enough for the gobys to hide in.

[Treekami]

so I have been worried about my boys teeth. I have been giving him snails, Krill, and now clams for hard shelled foods. Some bloodworms, cherry shrimp and silverslides as a treat. Though he has been ignoring the silverslides and the krill now. Only eating Bloodworms and Snails and the Shrimp. I'm not sure if his teeth are overgrowing now and really don't want to sedate him. I bought some MS-222 just in case of needing to trim them down. I read up everything there is to know on how to trim them. I have also seeing him peck at the conch shells in the tank and the fake wood at times.

I would like an expert to tell me if the teeth in the picture below need to be trimmed or not.
If you do need a better shot I can get it later tomorrow for sure.
Thanks, Tree

[Pufferpunk]

Teeth look fine

[Snoopy]

Hi guys. How many of F8 can I add to 260l tank? Dimension is 130x40x50cm. Thank you very much.