Help me make a warm welcome for my Congo Puffer

[Moezy420]

I have just got word my Congo Puffer will get in this Wednesday ! I have a 75 gallon tank that measures 48" x 18" x 21" I have 2 Emperor 400 running the tank has been up since 02 I moved it recently and sold all my fish but my 14" Pacu I will be getting rid of him as soon as my puffer is in I used him to make sure my Tank stayed cycled. I am wondering what type of furnishings my little Congo will like he is about 2" right now. I have some lace rock that has made a nice cave and I also have a fake mangrove tree root thingy. There are some fake plants but I have heard they like real plants. I also have about 40 ramhorn snails breeding in the tank right now so the little guy will have a smorgusborg when he gets home. Does anyone have any advise as to what I can do to keep his stress as low as possible. Also I have an 14" Pleco in the tank will he be able to live with the congo? How often should I feed him and what is the best for a little guy like this. I want my Miurus to grow up so I can take some great pics and show him off like all of you do!!

[manutius]

Hi there, congratulations on your new puffer. Thankfully your tank is cycled which is where most people go wrong, personally I would not keep any other fish with the Congo Puffer so your plec would have to go, they are messy fish and will only stress the bioload on the tank and filter. As for decor I would go with plenty of caves and bogwood, not too sure about the lace roack as the puffer may get scracthed on it. I would go with planty of bogwood caves, natural low level planting like anubias and Java fern and moss and maybe the odd bit of Vallisnera. As far as substrate goes I would look for sand or fine gravel as these fish bury themselves so large gravel/stones os no good. Large water changes and not too much overfeeding will ensure that your puffer lives a long and happy life

Good Luck

[Moezy420]

Thank you as soon as I get him at home and de-stressed I will post pics. AW shucks it's like I am a daddy! Get me a Cigar!

[Pufferpunk]

I'm wondering... how will you be able to keep the substrate deep enough for it to burrow & still thoroughly stirred (to prevent anerobic/toxic air pockets) & planted? Especially in tank that size.

[Nick]

I would think the best way would be to use rocks to make a few "deep sand pits" where he could burrow, not plant them, and stir them up periodically.

[Pufferpunk]

Hey, I was just gonnna type that!

[Nick]

Clearly, great minds think alike

[Moezy420]

Is there a place I can go that will tell me care instructions for sand as a substrate? like what do you mean by stir do I just stick a long handled spoon down there and stir or is there a specific method that needs to be used?

[Nick]

Muching it about with a chopstick or other stick weekly is fine.

[kimmers318]

I have to second the no pleco comment with your congo puff. I had purchased a baby mirius, approx. 1 inch long, he was eating great, quite active and looked wonderful. I had left a 4" bristlenose pleco in there since he wasn't going to stay in that tank anyway, I still needed to do some rearranging in the larger tank. I woke up one morning to find chunks missing from my dead bristlenose. Poppy wasn't able to fit him in his mouth, he was 4 X his size (which is why I figured he'd be safe from a well fed baby for a week or so) so he just took bites out of him wherever he could .

[Moezy420]

Thank you for the info. My pleco is like 14 inches long so I thought I would give her a day or two to see if he was going to get bit on but if your bristle nose got it than Jenna Jamison will (that is my pleco's name) THe LFS I went to said that the muiris can be taught to live in communities LOL They had internet so I took him to the puffer forum and let him read up on them. He was more than shocked. It turns out he was the owners son so he is doing a retraining concerning all puffers. They had quite a few of the green puffers and F8's. They were feeding them all live feeder fish which will now stop and they are going to dispose of some of their ramshell snails in the puffer tanks. He is putting a brackish tank in so he can house all the brackish separate from the others. The Puffer Forum can make a difference.

[Pufferpunk]

Yippee!!!

[crazedpuffer]

That's awesome.

[manutius]

Yay!!! Good work Moezy