29 gal. BW tear-down, looking for new stocking scheme

[jkj454]

Hey all - I'm new here, am PP's friend from http://www.wetwebmedia.com - she's told me about this place, and I'm glad to say I finally took the time to come check it out - awesome!!

Anyway, I'll spare you all the horrible details of the demise of my 29 gal. 1.005 brackish water tank, but suffice it to say I learned the hard way the lesson of quarantining everything, fish, plants, inverts, etc. FOR AT LEAST A MONTH. I just broke down the tank this evening, and soaking everything in a mild bleach solution, have put the plants (java moss, tiger lotus, java fern) in a 5 gal. bucket w/ a light, and am awaiting potassium permanganate to perform a dip. At least I'll finally be rid of the dreaded MTSs I've been housing for a year now!

I currently have one male knight goby in a 10 gal. QT - he's been in there for about 2 weeks and isn't looking well. I just found that the pair of lyretail mollies have been harassing him, and they are now separately QTed in a 5 gal. I believe the underlying cause of everything that went so horribly wrong in my original tank was "skin slime disease" a/k/a the costias parasite, but am not sure. That's a whole other discussion - been working with friends from wetweb on diagnosing/treating that.

In any event, I just saw a post about someone keeping a figure 8 puff w/ a knight goby - can this be done? Is it wise? I seem to think not, but I am by no means a puffer expert, and look to you all for advice.

I am curious about stocking schemes for my 29 gal. once it is up and running again. I suppose I should inquire as to both with and without the knight goby - I don't want to condemn him, but I honestly don't think he's gonna make it If that's the case, I don't have to stay brackish, and could go back to freshwater...the plants would likely be most appreciative.

What puffers could be a good solution for me? Originally I thought Figure 8, but now that I'm thinking maybe FW that could change...

I am open to options! My other possible alternatives include orange chromides or Florida flag fish (if I stay brackish and pufferless, obviously!). I've always been fascinated by puffs, though....am very tempted!!

Thanks for any advice...

-JKJ

[kass]

Welcome to the site! There are quite a few different puffer species that would suite your 29 gallon. It all depends on what kind of puffer you want though, an active fish or a lurker. I would suggest checking out the pufferpedia and finding one that you think you would enjoy.

[jkj454]

Hi Kass,

Can you tell me specifically about housing a figure 8 w/ a knight goby? I have read that the "8" is one of the least fin-nippy puffs, but am still hesitant about the two together...I *know* I saw another post around here (can't of course find it now!) about someone doing this...

Thanks!!

-JKJ

[jkj454]

http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/vie ... ght=figure knight goby

Here's the link re: knight gobies and F8s. Im certainly not worried about the goby being overly aggressive (he's pretty much afraid of his own shadow!), but the other way around. In a 29 gal., how about 2 F8s and the knight goby? There's lots of rockwork in the tank - the goby loves to hide in there...

-JKJ

[kass]

Sorry, I have no experience with F8s. But many people do have success with tankmates with F8s. It all depends on the individual puffer though, some will accept tankmates and others wont.

[reiverix]

In a 29g I have a male/female knight goby pair and a figure 8. I've had this setup for a while now. I originally started with just the puffer and was accidentally given the female goby in a mix up at my LFS. The female is quite a zippy fish and was too eratic for the puffer, especially at feeding time.

I only had a 15g so I upgraded to the 29g and added a male goby. Lots of rockwork too. Now the gobies are content with each other and spend 90% of the time tucked away out of sight. The female is far more outgoing than the male. I was feeding them crickets the other day and the female goby took one right out the f8s mouth then bolted away. I could tell it wasn't happy but it doesn't go into the rockwork

[jkj454]

<The female is quite a zippy fish and was too eratic for the puffer, especially at feeding time>

I assume the "female" you refer to above is the female knight goby, correct?

This is right in line with everything else I've read - that sometimes it is the gobies who are too aggressive for the F8s...my one goby is *such* a scardy-cat, er, fish!, that is is he I am worried about.

From all the reading I've done, it seems as though the goby and one or two F8s may indeed work - now I just need to get a plan in place to address the algae situation!

Also, re: 2 F8s, I know I've read that these will do better when kept singally or in groups of 3 or more...John, I see you have just the one F8 - is that the way to go, then? Perhaps I can add an additional goby or two?

Thanks!!

-JKJ

[reiverix]

Yeah, it's the female goby that's zippy and highly active. But even so, the gobies tend to live in the rockwork, which I believe is the key to the tank being a success.

My f8 is also quite outgoing and like all puffers, it comes down to the personality of the fish. If I was doing a similar setup, I'd make sure I had a backup tank handy, just in case.

[jkj454]

Yeah, it's the female goby that's zippy and highly active. But even so, the gobies tend to live in the rockwork, which I believe is the key to the tank being a success.

My f8 is also quite outgoing and like all puffers, it comes down to the personality of the fish. If I was doing a similar setup, I'd make sure I had a backup tank handy, just in case.

Yep, my goby looooves his caves/rocks...only pokes his head out for food.

Your suggestion re: a backup tank is a good one...point well taken

-JKJ

[jkj454]

Hi all,

Thanks for everyone's help/input thus far. As an update, I planted the tank this evening w/ java ferns (two species), tiger lotus, two species of anubias and four marimo moss balls. Am currently filling the tank w/ FW and plan to up the salinity slowly to 1.005.

Next, the knight goby will go back in there from QT (once the tank is cycled). Then, I plan to try a figure 8 - I'm so excited...my very first puff!

Any other tankmates you can think of/recommend? Could I do a couple of orange chromis, or is the tank not large enough? Perhaps a couple more knight gobies and/or BBGs? And, if I do choose additional fish friends, in what order would you suggest adding them? I'm thinking the puff should probably go in last, due to its temperment?

Thanks again!!

-JKJ