We've had dwarf puffers for a while, since last August I believe it was. My wife and I are now considering some bigger puffers. Our current thought is to go with SAP's. We want something bigger than DP's, something freshwater (not wanting to mess with brackish or marine yet) and something fairly active.
We're thinking of getting a 75 gallon tank and putting 4 of them in there. My only concern really is will we be able to feed them enough snails so we won't have to trim their teeth. We've got a 10 gallon tank for snails for the DP's right now. Would it be possible to just get bigger snails and let them breed? Any thoughts from anyone who has SAP's?
-Kenny
considering South American Puffers
My old SAP I had a few years ago would have its teeth constantly grow even when fed about 3 dozen snails a week. So in the end looking at ways to not trim their teeth will be inevidable. Extremely active little puffs that are great fun to watch. Make sure to have some surrent in the tank for them to play with.
<80 gal> 2 GSPs & a Ceylon!
<75 gal> 3 Figure 8s & 1 Butterlfy Goby
<75 gal> *Empty*
<55 gal> 3 Gymnothorax polyuranodon (FW eel)
<30 long> Pair of Lorteti's & Irrubesco's, 1 DP, Endlers Livebearers, Clown Pleco, Royal Pleco, 2 Bumblebee Cats
<20 long> 4 Flounders
<4 gal> 2 Sparkling Gouramis & 3 ottos heavily planted
~Tihsho~
<75 gal> 3 Figure 8s & 1 Butterlfy Goby
<75 gal> *Empty*
<55 gal> 3 Gymnothorax polyuranodon (FW eel)
<30 long> Pair of Lorteti's & Irrubesco's, 1 DP, Endlers Livebearers, Clown Pleco, Royal Pleco, 2 Bumblebee Cats
<20 long> 4 Flounders
<4 gal> 2 Sparkling Gouramis & 3 ottos heavily planted
~Tihsho~
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monsterpuffer
- Dwarf Puffer
- Posts: 75
- Joined: Fri Jun 10, 2005 6:09 pm
- Contact:
I dont have any experience with SAPs but my experience with F8s is that if they have crunchy food common in their diet then dentistry is usually not a problem - but is sometimes required. I would say about every 6-9 months or so I would have to do something about it.
MP
MP
A man without data is just another man with an opinion.
BW isn't much harder than FW - RTR told me that, and he was right. You just need a hydrometer or refractometer, some sea salt, and about 15 extra minutes of time.
Since I only have a low BW F8 tank (at 1.005 SG), I can mix up the salt and let it sit about 10 minutes after stirring vigorously to make sure it's mixed.
Plants don't do well in BW - that's my only problem with a BW tank.
I've had my F8 for 11 months now. I feed snails once per week or twice per week (he's fed every other day), frozen and freeze dried krill, crayfish (cooked, frozen as a treat - can't get raw in my area), and muscles weekly (they scrape their teeth against the shell's insides). So far, no dentistry needed and his teeth look fine. I now have pond snails breeding in my FW community tank, so my snail population is increasing at a goodly rate now and I plan to feed snails twice per week from here on out.
Eric
Since I only have a low BW F8 tank (at 1.005 SG), I can mix up the salt and let it sit about 10 minutes after stirring vigorously to make sure it's mixed.
Plants don't do well in BW - that's my only problem with a BW tank.
I've had my F8 for 11 months now. I feed snails once per week or twice per week (he's fed every other day), frozen and freeze dried krill, crayfish (cooked, frozen as a treat - can't get raw in my area), and muscles weekly (they scrape their teeth against the shell's insides). So far, no dentistry needed and his teeth look fine. I now have pond snails breeding in my FW community tank, so my snail population is increasing at a goodly rate now and I plan to feed snails twice per week from here on out.
Eric
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lisalisa
-
RTR
- Mentor
- Posts: 6155
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 4:39 pm
- Gender: Male
- Location (country): East Coast, USA
Yup, I all but never had to trim a SAP's teeth, but I believe that the diet would be 90%+ snails. SAPs have the advantage for me in preferring planted tanks and frquently co-existing well with conspecifics. Other than DPs, they are the best puffer on that score for me. Multiple F-8s in a tank and I always had to remove some by or after sexual maturity (a year and a half to two years seemed the critical period for me).
I still see light BW as not significamtly different from FW in upkeep - but I do age all my water, so having a different label on the container was not a big deal. I have multiple reservoirs anyway. Multiple snail tanks is not an issue for me either. Having too many tanks has its benefits.
I still see light BW as not significamtly different from FW in upkeep - but I do age all my water, so having a different label on the container was not a big deal. I have multiple reservoirs anyway. Multiple snail tanks is not an issue for me either. Having too many tanks has its benefits.
Where's the fish? - Neptune
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HRPuffersnStuff
- Figure 8 Puffer
- Posts: 105
- Joined: Mon Jun 06, 2005 1:51 pm
- Location: State College, PA
- Contact:
I'm curious about SAP's personalities... We've currently got dwarf puffers and for our next puffers, we're definitely wanting puffers with lots of personality. Our DP's will come up and look at us, and one will even follow us as we move from one side of the tank to the other. I'd like bigger puffers with more personality.
So with that in mind, SAP's or GSP's or Figure 8's?
-Kenny
So with that in mind, SAP's or GSP's or Figure 8's?
-Kenny