I got a 45gal the other day and picked up 2 more F8's (total 3 now). My 1st F8 is very bold never leaving my hand alone in the tank and always against the glass nearest to me when I'm in my room. This is great as far as pets go, but when I'm trying to feed the other 2 which are more timid he eats too much. I've kept him away with my hand while feeding the other 2 but he'll just jump over it, grab whatever I'm offering, and run. The past day he's eaten more than I usually feed in 4 days. What's a good way to feed the smaller F8's without my older one stealing everything while they are on their first bloodworm?
Also, I was wondering how big the largest F8 people here have seen is. I saw one at the LFS when I got my new F8's that was easily 4 inches if not more.
They had a very healthy looking Takifugu niphobles (at least that's what they said, and it does look like it). They also had another Fugu I haven't seen before. It was a matte silver and only had 2 markings on it, the large "saddle" spot near its head and the smaller "saddle" near its tail. Fugu puffers are the nicest looking IMO.
My Puffers: Puffers I have kept: T lineatus T miurus A modestus T biocellatus C valentini C coranata C papuan C lorteti DPs suvattii burrfish T niphobles
3" is the norm. 4" is a stretch but possible, I guess. Anything large, I'd consider checking to see if it's really a fluviatilis.
I feed live worms in a cone feeder. Everyone gets some. Sometimes, this is the problem you have with multible puffers. You could try netting the one at dinnner time & let the others eat their fill.
You say you just picked up the tank the other day & now have 3 puffers in there. Just checking--did you cycle the tank?
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...
I have 2 figure 8's in a 45g, with one being much more bold, similar to your situation.
I recently discovered the two hand method of feeding, where you just try to attract them to seperate sides of the tank with food and drop them in at the same time, that way one can't steal the other's food. Not sure how this would work with 3 puffers though.
You could also try using a baster; this is how I get bloodworms past my fatties to the bottom dwelling gobies.
Check out my gallery for pictures of Big Boy. (RIP) He was easily four+ inches long. I think perhaps they grow much larger in the wild than we realize.
Pufferpunk wrote:You say you just picked up the tank the other day & now have 3 puffers in there. Just checking--did you cycle the tank?
Everything from my old tank is in the new one. AC 70, gravel, etc.
The 4 inch puffer was definitely a Fig8. There were 15-20 in the tank. He was by far the healthiest and probably dominant as he was one of the only ones I saw with intact fins.
They all have seemed to settle in and are easier to feed. I think the 2 newer puffers just hadn't settled in enough to challenge the older one for food. One of them I've noticed either has a bit of trouble eating or is unsure of blood worms ATM. I expected there may be health issues as they were in a tank with about 30 1.5 inch GSPs and about 5 total Fig8s at the LFS. Other than that they seem fine and their coloring is much better than a few days ago. I have some Flubenol 15 on the way since I wasn't able to quarantine. Only 1 nip so far from the smallest of the bunch. My largest ventured into her mangrove root she set up shop in. Interesting how the stay together in the open area, but are aggressive towards eachother in their hiding areas.
I love the look of a deeper aquarium. Thanks for the tips.
Thanks for the tips.