The Puffer Forum

how coarse is your gravel?
flatfish bury in the sand. since they have a large surface area & are quite thin from top to bottom, they need a fairly fine substrate.

There is a recent good thread on flounders here. I believe the conclusion was they definitely need sand--like a stingray.

I know that they're incredibly docile...also can be picky eaters, try live blackworms first, seemed to break his fast. They're sold as freshwater flounder in a shop near my school but I looked them up a while ago when I first saw them and the species the shop was offering required brackish water and fine substrate, obviously to bury himself in. They're very interesting little guys though, sometimes they stick to the side of the tank like a pleco, not with their mouth though of course, more like a total-body suction cup! ...if that makes any sense...haha.
I dunno if I'd try to put one in with an f8...the flounder I had for a while was scared of the molly fry he shared a tank with. They're also mostly nocturnal so be sure to plop some worms in the tank after lights out.

cool thanks for the info... i actually did buy one, couldnt resist, or risk her not being there later... she is currently living in my DP tank and seems to be doing well... she is only there temporarily until i switch my other tank to BW. i figure, shes been living in FW at the fish store this long (ive been drooling over her a while now).... a little while longer wont hurt... only have to wait until i find a buyer for my red devil (to free up the tank) the person who was interested had no idea they were agressive and wanted to put him with his gold fish as a centerpiece fish because it kind of looks like a big gold fish hahahaha (serious lack of research on their part)... needless to say, i refused to sell my red devil to someone who would be putting him in a tank full of snacks lol

oh, and i will be switching the 55gal slowly to sand (regardless of how much i dont want to!!!) but if its what needs to be done... guess i will... i was thinking of switching like 20% at a time and just gradually make my way across over a course of a few weeks... or is there an easier way to do it? cause my red devil LOVES to throw gravel around.. and i would hate to have to pick gravel out of the sand.... OH i kno!!! what if i take out all the gravel and put a bunch of it in some pantyhose for a few weeks or something???? that would work right???

PS- Hey Erinmd... YOU HAVE A CAT NAMED MISS KITTY???? me tooo!!!!!!!! got any pix? id like to see what my kitties name twin looks like dang... and i thought it was original... i got it from the old tv show gunsmoke

she is currently living in my DP tank

With DPs?

... yes. and no body is picking on anyone else... they dont seem to notice her, and she doesnt seem to care about them. the tank is in my kitchen right behind the sink on the breakfast bar and since i spend half my life in there either cooking or cleaning or eating, i get a lot of time to look at them and observe them (i kept the reciept just incase i see anything) and i take a daily count of my DPs to make sure none come up missing, which i actually did anyway for some reason. i read they were pretty docile, and erinmd confirmed it for me... and since shes only the size of a quarter, the DPs cant fit in her mouth... i figure id keep an eye on them... but i didnt want to risk her not being there because the LFS guy said he had never gotten them before and hasnt seen them on the fish list since... well, anyway, theyre doing good... and they are continuously monitored, so im not concerned

As soon as she settles in--expect your precious DPs to be dinner!

Pufferpunk wrote:As soon as she settles in--expect your precious DPs to be dinner!

If the flounder ate the dp's wouldnt the flounder die as well from the puffer toxin?

I know puffers lose their toxin in captivity over time and some captive bred like dp's may not carry it,but wouldnt that be a risk?
(im not starting a argument here i just want to know)

well, i mean they really arent my "precious" DPs, i mean yea i like them... but mainly beause they arent your typical mollies, plattys, guppies and such... i havent had them that long and im really not super attached to them... as soon as one comes up missing, its back to the petstore for the flounder and ill just wait till the 55gal is empty to get another (if available)... im prepared for that... it could be worse... for temporary living purposes, it really dosent bother me

I try to be pretty practical but that's not fair to ANY of the fish. IMO a bad decision.

I thought you moved your miurus into the DP tank.

Pufferpunk wrote:I thought you moved your miurus into the DP tank.

?? no i was really wanting the miurus i saw at a LFS but i decided he wasnt for me because i wanted a puff that would be more excited to see me. i decided that i would wait until the weather warms up a bit and there is more selection of puffers available.... (holding out for a abei or a brown... but if i cant get that, i plan to go brackish with some f8's, or a different type of BW puff if i can find any)

Flutter wrote:I try to be pretty practical but that's not fair to ANY of the fish. IMO a bad decision.

see, i view it diffrently... people give feeder fish to their carnivorous fish everyday... just because a DP isnt a goldfish or a feeder guppy, does that mean its any better? no, a fish is a fish is a fish. if one happens to get eaten, well, thats the circle of life and the flounder will go back to the LFS... its the same as if i bought a feeder for the flounder... and i REALLY dont think they can get eaten for the simple fact that the flounder is only about the size of a quarter, and simple anatomy tells me that its not going to happen... those DPs are about 10x the size of the flounders mouth... thats like trying to fit a soccer ball in your mouth and wishing for the best. its just not possible... and flounders feed by sneak attacks... so when they go for things, they go for things they can fit in their mouths in one bite... thats just how they hunt. so until im proven wrong, she stays.

PS- her name is "ariel"... if you would still like to tell me how terrible i am for putting her in there, pls use her name ok bye!

I think it's unfair because if she eats one of your fish you are going to return her. Then you'll have a fish that died for no cause and another fish that is going to be put under extra stress by being sent back to the store. Not fair to either one. You're expecting one to die needlessly and then the other to be 'punished' for acting like it's supposed to.

Does that help clear up the confusion?

that's IF the DPs are not poisionous. If they are 2 dead fish...