The Puffer Forum

There's sand in there, he's just sitting on the uneven end of the tank. I haven't added much to the tank so I don't think he's too comfortable yet. Which is weird because I haven't seen him bury once.

Maybe it's not deep enough?

Mine doesn't bury that much either, prefers to sit in a cave or hollow log. Pool filter sand works fantastic and it is real cheap. From the pictures I see you have a dark substrate (potting soil?) in there, what is it? It also looks like there are white specs in there also, if that is vermiculite it needs to come out. I lost a GSP and almost lost my Turgdis because the worms I was feeding them came with vermiculite in the bedding.

Yeah mine like to bury themselves, or hide in the plastic tubes I got them. They need to feel secure.

There's only 20lbs in there and the sand is 3 inches deep in a majority of the tank. The sand is Estes Marine Sand. I was looking for a black sand but I didn't know if there was black pool filter sand. I plan on added more substrate to the tank though. Possibly black gravel or more black sand. The guys at the LFS said they use it in their FW aquariums and on the label it said safe for freshwater tanks. The white specs are just air bubbles. Maybe the sand is too compact?

I would add to just make sure it's easy for the suvattii to bury into, if you go gravel, make sure it's the fine gravel, otherwise your puffer could get hurt.

Thanks for the advice guys. Just another question, if sand gets stuck to his belly, will this do any harm?

Mine end up with sand everywhere. I have no knowledge of it causing any problems, they would bury themselves almost completely in their natural surroundings don't forget.

My little Congo buries herself so that all you can see is her beady little eyes and just a bit of mouth, sometimes just the eyes. And today she was buried so good that I could not see her at all, and had to start poking around in the tank, come to find out, she was right in front of me! That's how well they camouflage!