Help me pick a puffer

Ariadne · Post by **Ariadne** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 4:21 am

If you can get your hands on a product called Biospira it is the best thing ever. If you can find it make sure your fish store has handled it properly and kept it cold. Seriously this stuff is worth its weight in gold and would save you time doing a fishless cycle http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/lib ... s-cycling/ Its live bacteria in a bag and the only product of its kind that actually works, all the other stuff they sell to help you cycle a tank is dead bacteria and is a rip off. Welcome to the forum btw

OraLacerta · Post by **OraLacerta** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 12:08 pm

VanillaShake311 wrote: I obviously feel retarded and need help learning how to cycle this tank properly. I want to do what is necessary for these guys I just need steps to help a poor herp enthusiast with aquatic fish. Im sorry.

Hey, we all had to learn at one point, and with all of the misinformation out there, there are many people who have kept fish for decades that still don't know these things. My mother was one of them!

Well, if the filters are too large to physically fit onto the tank or they are so powerful they'd blow the fish out of the water, take a sponge that has been in one of the larger tank's filters (unwashed and in the tank for several weeks) and cut it up or do whatever you have to do to get it to fit into your filter for the 20 gallon. That will give you enough filtermedia to cycle the tank. It's pretty tricky to mix the filtermedia of two different brands- I was forced to get out an old aquatech and crammed in bio-max from an aquaclear and that was quite a hassle. It did work though.

VanillaShake311 · Post by **VanillaShake311** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 12:23 pm

Okay I will call up to the Dallas North Aquarium today and ask them how much that live bacteria is. I know they carry it cause when it came out it was all the rave up there. I remember it being expensive but I will ask them. But if it isn't that much more than having to buy a new filter pad for my tank then ill just go with the live bacteria.

Again I am not at all in a rush. I find that when you rush around and get a fish your more likely to regret. This way my anticipation increases and it will feel well worth it in the end.

So from the post above ... any of y'all had any experience with any of those puffers I liked?

Thank all of you for all your patience with me.

OraLacerta · Post by **OraLacerta** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 12:32 pm

I believe online Bio-spira is $20 with $20 shipping, so anything cheaper at a store would be a deal.

I have not had experience with any of the puffers you have listed, but several members have Cochinchinensis and Turgidus, so hopefully some of them will chime in. As for the Borneansis, I haven't seem any active members with them, and I don't think they are commonly available.

Boxermom · Post by **Boxermom** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 12:49 pm

Just make sure that what they sell you is Biospira. Nothing else has the correct live bacteria, no matter what they insist on telling you. Biospira is the ONLY thing that will work. Also, you have to add the fish within 24 hours of adding the Biospira to the tank to prevent the bacteria from starting to die off.

A great article on cycling a tank, including why and how, is available here:
http://aquariumboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 5:18 pm

By me the 30 gallon pack is 13$, and available locally... cycling a tank any other way just doesn't make sense from the labor value angle.

VanillaShake311 · Post by **VanillaShake311** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 5:41 pm

Hmm... okay I have put some extra filter material in one of my bio wheel filters and I'll leave that in there a week and than stick it in my 20 gallon. I will go grab some of that Biospira.

So I read that those Target puffers are nasty characters? IF i decide on one of those would I need to be careful of him trying to take a bite out of me? I am really interested in the Turgidus.

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 5:46 pm

Yes, I believe BM has a picture of the kind of damage even a small puffer can do with it's beak.

VanillaShake311 · Post by **VanillaShake311** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 6:35 pm

So would the Red eyes be a nicer choice than a target puffer? Could I keep more than one red eye in the tank or would they destroy each other?

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 6:39 pm

I"d not keep more than one red eye, males kill females too readily in a non-harem situation, which requires lots more tank space and many females.

Post by **Myaj** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 6:40 pm

I have a turgidus, and if he's really hungry he'll snatch food right out of my fingers. So my fingers don't go near him if I suspect he's hungry. But for regular tank maintenence he doesn't threaten to bite at all.

But seriously, while he could do some damage, it wouldn't be much worse than a bad blood blister I would imagine, at the most a smaller chunk taken out.

He's not very active, except when it comes time to eat, but he's got the sweetest face and really wiggles around and gets happy to see me (when he's hungry of course). I love him to death.

Post by **Myaj** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 6:45 pm

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this.. take a fair amount of gravel from your 210, put it in a media bag (or nylon sock) and that will bring in bacteria. You can also "borrow" decorations from your other tank as well, fake or live plants, etc. Bacteria lives on surfaces, not in the water, so anything you move over will bring some with it. Do NOT scrub any of it or you'll just scrub off and kill the bacteria.

The trick then is keeping it alive. The bacteria will only live if its fed. So what I would do is read up on fish-less cycling a tank with ammonia, then when you are ready, move over the decor/gravel and start feeding it ammonia and you should have a very quickly cycled tank. You'll have to keep feeding it ammonia until you actually get your puffer home, but ammonia is cheap and it only takes a few drops a day to mimic what a fish puts out.

VanillaShake311 · Post by **VanillaShake311** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 7:03 pm

Awww.....

Are most puffers not as active or is it just the turgidus that's not as active? I love puffer faces too and the way they wiggle their big bodies around that's why I really fell in love with them and wanted one.

Yea I read the fishless cycling and I think I am going to do that. I have already put in small snails in the tank to hopefully start breeding before the guy comes home. I hope thats okay?

Well I am not so much worried about the biting or anything..... my diamondback terrapins or green ameiva scratch me and bite me up weekly. So I am used to it. I was just wondering what to expect.

With just one individual puffer should it still be a heavily planted tank with lots of caves still. Or can I leave it a bit more open?

VanillaShake311 · Post by **VanillaShake311** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 7:16 pm

My setup at the moment. Any advice would be great. I haven't started really decorating till I know for sure exactly what the little guy would like.

Post by **Myaj** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 9:29 pm

Turgidus in general are not very active, they tend to just hide in a cave until they get hungry. Irrubesco are much more active, so are modestus, if you can find either of those freshwater species.

If you stay freshwater that should be fine, but if you decide to go brackish (figure 8's) the driftwood will probably rot.

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