F8 questions.

[SeCon]

Hi all I'm new here and had some questions. I've been reading about puffers for the last 2 months and will most likely be getting 2 F8's in the near future.

How much benefit is there for an F8 having aroganite over plain sand? I see they need a slightly higher pH than tap. I'm asking because I prefer the look of fine light colored sand over aroganite.

Locally the only available puffer food is freeze dried. I plan on turning an old 3gal eclipse I had for my beta years ago into a ramshorn snail factory. Would freeze dried krill/bloodworms (with vitamin soaking etc.) and fresh snails be an adequate diet or does it need to vary more?

If a diet of snails is fed, will all F8s eventually need dentistry or only some lower percentage?

I will be using a 30gal for the 2 and hopefully end up with a 46gal bowfront. If they end up hating eachother when they get older would keeping them in the same tank split in half by an acrylic divider be alright?

I would also like to get some fake plant recomendations as I have never had a planted tank before and probably won't in the near future.

I am choosing F8s because I don't want to go full marine as I have no experience with it (if I did I'd get a porc anyway ) and the freshwater hunter species available around here are either too small for my taste (DPs) or too large (mbu). 3" with low salinity needs seems ideal for my current hobby wants.

Thanks for the help. I'm sure I'll have more questions soon.

[OraLacerta]

If you haven't planted before, planting brackish is not a good place to start, so fake plants are a good idea. There really isn't any 'rule' on what fake plants to add. Basically anything that you think will look interesting, and that will create some broken lines of sight for the puffers.

As for the diet, I've never fed my puffers anything freeze-dried, and before you ask the question whether or not it is good for them, will they eat freeze-dried food? I've never tried it personally. I believe I've read about some people who have done so successfully, and if you can get them to feed on freeze-dried, then soaking in vitamins is a good idea. You may want to look into buying cockles and shell-on prawns at you local grocer instead (make sure they are raw and nothing is added to them). Feeding a regular diet of snails will keep you from having to trim their beaks (figure eights' beaks don't grow as fast as some puffers) if you feed ones that are the right size; about the size of the puffers' eyes. The reason for that is if the snails are too big the puffs won't have to bite the shell to get to the sail, they can 'slurp' it out.

Crushed argonite vs. fine sand is your call. I am planning on switching to crushed argonite from my fine black sand because fine sand is higher maintenance and argonite is a very easy way to keep the pH up.

30 gallons is perfect for 2 figure eights; there isn't any need to upgrade later to a 46 bowfront. It of course wouldn't hurt, but they will only need about 15 gallons for the first puff, and 10 for each additional one.

As for aggression, all puffers vary widely with aggression. There is usually an average amount of aggression for each species, such as SAPs getting along, GSPs being aggressive, etc. However each individual puffer will have its own unique personality, and some Figure Eights I've come across were incredibly aggressive, while my two are so docile my mollies boss them around. What you can try to do is look for a LFS with a tank full of healthy specimens, and observe them. Ask the employee there to feed them, and this will not only tell you which ones are feeding and what they are used to eating, but also how aggressive and territorial they are with each other. You want your puffers to have appetites, but not to be chasing/biting. Of course they will not act exactly as they would in a healthy situation with less crowding and proper salinity, but this will help you get a general idea of what the personalities are of your puffs.

Good for you for reading up on your puffs before purchasing. Be sure to keep us updated when you get them!

[SeCon]

Thanks for the response.

The 46gal bow would be more for me than the puffers. I've wanted a bow full of driftwood and plants for a while now. Who knows I may just like puffers so much I end up with a 70 bow and a Fahaka. Along with my F8 tank.

[Hilly]

Driftwood in F8 tanks unfortunately doesn't work, the salinity rots the driftwood, however you can still create a spectacular looking tank with fake plants rockwork and fake roots.

You'd need something in the region of a 125g bowfront for a Fahaka.

Welcome to the site.

[SeCon]

Driftwood in F8 tanks unfortunately doesn't work, the salinity rots the driftwood, however you can still create a spectacular looking tank with fake plants rockwork and fake roots.

You'd need something in the region of a 125g bowfront for a Fahaka.

Welcome to the site.

I was leaning towards fake wood and plants (fake mangrove root looks nice), and I was just looking at fahaka info for the first time in depth a few minutes ago. Thanks for the correction.

I'm assuming cockles would need to be opened for the puffers. A F8 can't possibly bust one can it?

Instead of prawns (are they synonymous with shrimp?) are regular shrimp alright?

Thanks again.

[Hilly]

Yeah if you open the cockles up so they can get to the insides and then let them go at it. They should still get some teeth wear as they rip the meat from the cockle. If you have option to breed snails as well definitely do it, even my baby 1.5cm F8 will have a crack at snails.

Even my 6" puffer needs a little help, his teeth are powerful enough to break the shell but he cant hold an entire cockle in his mouth to get the grip to crack it.

Shrimp/Prawns as long as they havent got any additives or preservatives they should be fine. I feed mine prawns from the supermarket.

[SeCon]

Question# eleventy-five.

Could I get some recommendations on water testing. I've heard strips are very inaccurate. What brand/product do some of you use?

My game plan.

My mother is a teacher and sets up a FW aquarium for her class room during the school year, returning the fish to the LFS at the end of the year. I will be taking over the tank this year and moving out the FW fish (I think 7-10 smaller fish i.e. tetras). I plan on using a Penguin 350 filter and changing the substrate/decor 2-4 weeks before I move the FW fish out, leaving the old filter also running during this time.

Since the local F8's are in FW, I shouldn't need any cycling as long as I raise SG only 1.002 or less per week until 1.005 - 1.008.

I just found a local seller of frozen bloodworms. I plan on feeding frozen bloodworms and snails alternating daily and prawns/cockle occasionally.

Should I not feed them 1 day a week as I've read a couple times, and is this enough variety?

I will keep pestering the knowledgeable people here until I'm confident about caring for these fish.

[Hilly]

Go for a liquid test kit, I use a Hagen Mini Master test kit, there are others but I cant remember the names, others will chime in with those.

If you move the other fish out and the F8's in almost straight away you shouldnt need to cycle the tank. If there is a long period of time between the current fish going out and the F8's going in you'll need to keep the bacteria fed.

Then once there in you can start to raise the SG.

Have a look at the feeding article in the library, for some more food ideas, the more variety the better but your initial feeding plan sounds fine to me.

[SeCon]

Thanks for the help. I think I'm all set now, and will probably get them sometime in the next 2 months.

[OraLacerta]

Awesome, sounds like you've got everything figured out. I wish everyone put as much thought into buying fish as you do.

[Myaj]

I do use the dip strips, but as a beginner I'd go for the liquid test kits.

Later on, once you are confidant, familiar with your setup and the tank is stable, it can be easier to go for the dip strips. They may not be accurate, but in an established tank you aren't really looking for a specific number, you are looking for increases in what you have found to be "normal". So the dip strips come in really handy for a quick check to see if maybe nitrates are rising faster than they used to (which is generally a sign that you need to get a bigger tank, or are over feeding, something along those lines), without the hassle of getting out the kit, trying to get the right amount of water in the vial, counting drops, etc.

But yeah, for starting out, the actual drop tests are definately better.

[SeCon]

Thanks everyone, but I have another question.

I planned on using an old 3gal eclipse for snails. In your opinion(s) would this be large enough to produce enough snails? I could always get a 10gal for $8, but the eclipse already has a filter built in.

[CoreyK]

Absolutely. I use a 3g bowfront for a snail breeder and it works great. Mine is fairly pimped out though; I have a hood/light, filter, gravel substrate, heater, and java moss and a cuttle bone for calcium.

[SeCon]

That's exactly what I was planning. I wasn't planning on a heater until now though .

http://www.marineland.com/products/cons ... ystems.asp

That's what I have. Also a little 3gal bowfront. Has light/filter all ready to go.

Thanks.

[Myaj]

I tried it in an Eclipse 2 gallon and thee snails didn't breed at all. They did great in a 10 though, go figure.

Give them some moss type plants, that helps a lot too.