F8 Questions...

[McCahill1983]

In the past I had a Figure 8 Puffer which was lost due to some HORRIBLE advice I received after purchasing the fish from Wal-Mart. I now know, never to purchase a fish from there again, but at the time I had never kept fish before, so i went and bought him on Impulse. The clerk at Wal-Mart told me he was ok in Fresh Wather and that a 6 Gallon Eclipse Aquarium would be fine for him. I also bought him an African Cichlid as a Tank Mate due to her advice! Needless to say, both Fish died within a few months. Since then I have moved on to a 15 gallon and now a 29 Gallon Marine aquarium. My Girlfriend recently purchased me a Valentini Puffer, do to the fact that she knew I loved Puffers so much. The Valentini is a cool little fish, but for some reason he doesn't seem to have the personality as the F8. I love the Figure Eight Puffer!

I'm considering starting back up a 15H Gallon Aquarium that is now sitting in the closet collecting dust. From what I've read, that should be sufficient for 1 F8. If it is too small, would it be sufficient for him for a while, untill I upgrade the Marine Aquarium, and then put the F8 in a 29? If I indeed start up a tank for one... what is the best way to decorate? I'd love to have some live plants and some rocks for hiding places for him. Would an F8 uproot all the plants? Also for Rock... what is the best to get for him? Since it is a Brackish set up, would it be possible to buy some of the "Base" Rock that is used for Marine Aquariums? Something like Arogonite rock? I personally like the look of that better than something like Lava Rock. Also, what kind of sand should i use, is the Arogonite sand ok for Brackish?

[Myaj]

A 15 gallon tank would be perfect for one Figure 8.

They don't mess with plants usually, but live plants can be tricky when it comes to brackish water (the salt kills them). There is a sticky in the brackish forum about various plants that can be adapted to brackish though, you should read that if you want to try live ones.

As for decor/substrate, you can use whatever you'd like, other than driftwood (which will rot in salt). Base rock and argonite sand would both work well, just don't move over live rock from an existing tank as it will die in low brackish and pollute the tank (unless you want to use that to cycle your tank).

Good luck, its so much better when you start them off right! Dang Walmart...

[McCahill1983]

Maybe I'd be best to stick to realistic looking plastic ones. Never thought about the salt killing off plants. Guess I brain farted on that one! Probably would be better off anyways, just in case my particular puffer is a bit nippy.

Using actual live rock.... would the Colors stay on the rock, even if the organisms die off? That might be kind of cool, having some nice purple and red covered rocks in there!

[Myaj]

I don't believe so.. those colors are coraline algae and when it dies, it dies. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure it won't stay.

[Pufferpunk]

I don't recommend using LR in a non-marine aquarium. Everything will die off & pollute the tank.

[Nick]

Yea, live rock is called that for a reason, it can die slowly putting out pollutants for a LONG time. My GF and I are using Tufa rock in her F8 tank, it's used for buffering and hardness in cichlid tanks, simular properties to argonite, it's a pretty white to antique ivory color.