F8 frantic behavior in my tank.

[pufferpuggirl]

Sorry By_a_coo, I did miss that part where you told how long they had been in there. My mistake.

[bigfatfish]

It does look like a lovely tank & well set out. All I can suggest is each time you do a water change, that you move things around a little. I move all my decs. a little every week (mainly so my 2 GSPs don't start nipping at eachother), & find that they spend time exploring. I have the end of the tank nearest the window, blacked out with card (to stop the sunlight entering so much) & they never seem to pace at that end. The other end, they do sometimes, so I put a load of plants etc there. Maybe if yours have a "favourite" spot for pacing, you could break the line with some well placed decs. Good luck anyway!

[speaktree]

You might want to try a floating plant, mine used to pace incessantly until I added some hornwort to the tank, it seems to mess with the reflections a bit and they love to hang around in it. If you have problems with pacing at the back of the tank, a background seems to put a stop to that.

[By_a_coo]

bigfatfish - Moving the hardscape a little in each water change would be a PITA because I have very heavy stones, and I have cryptocorines, sagittarias and eleocharis that don't like to be moved. That's why I really did plan the decor.

speaktree - I was thinking of floating plants such as duckweeds or water lettuce (pistia sp.). I planted my hornworts among the rocks since they begin to rot if I plant them in the substrate.

Well, I think I have good news.
Today I made a water change and I raised the salinity from 2 g/L to 5 g/L (SG 1.002 at 25°C/77°F). My water parameters are:
Ammonia: zero
Nitrite: zero
Nitrate: <5ppm
pH: 7,5
KH: 8°dH/143 ppm
CO2: 8 mg/L
GH: 30°dH/535ppm
Temp: 29°C/84.2°F
SG: 1.002
Salinity: 5g/L

In the beginning they used to pace up and down the glass after feeding time. Now that I raised the salinity they were fed and then they went to take a rest instead of pacing as they used to do. After that I noticed they exploring the java moss... That was the happiest moment that I experienced!

I think there are factors that together prevents them from pacing, such as:

-Medium-low light;
-Some tall objects such as plants/rocks/woods among décor to breake up the lines of sight;
-Not overfeeding to stimulate them to explore and hunt for food;
-And the most important, proper water parameters (including the presence of salt in the water).

I realized that there’s not one unique thing that will stop them pacing the glass however a number of factors that make them feel more comfortable in the tank.

I hope they keep up that good behavior.

I really like to thank each one of you for your time and your advice.

[pufferpuggirl]

I'm very glad to hear that your F8's are behaving better, it's always satisfying to see your puffers doing well and looking content. Hope it keeps up. You did a great job on your tank, and you're doing a great job with your puffers too!