The Puffer Forum

whats bb?
i went with sand from the beginning.
my fahaka did bury at the start, not recently tho!
i think a bigger tank is better from the start as well

Puffers are best with substrate.

If I were you, I'd start with the sand. The amount of work that goes into changing the substrate later plus the risk of a mini cycle and the water changes that go with it later can just be avoided. Of course, your fahaka will enjoy the sand from Day 1, but you will have to have proper upkeep to keep your tank in order, (to prevent those nasty poison pockets) but you can avoid that with some plants and MTS and such, or at least cut down on it by what I read.

Just to ask Ohyouknow, with Mts snails I know they are brilliant and turning the sand etc, but wouldnt they be bad in a puff tank if they decided to eat one? Rik of beak chipping?

Yeah, I've heard they are bad for puffer's teeth, but I've also read that many people keep them with all different kinds of puffers as the larger ones remain under sand all of the time. I have never owned any - but while looking into the pros and cons of sand here lately, I've seen a lot of people saying if you keep those, the bigger ones stay under the sand, irrigating it all the time. Of course, if I look for that in particular, I can't get it to pop up to show links where people are saying it (of course) but I didn't bookmark ALL the pages I have looked at. Hmm.

I know my fahaka doesn't pay any snails attention, at least not nerite or apple snails... I guess that doesn't mean if I added some MTS he'd leave it alone though.

First I would find out if its still there.. its been a couple days now and someone may have already grabbed it while you sit here talking about it

I would set the tank up correctly from the start. Get some substrate (if you go sand, try to go with a larger grained sand, trust me, its much better to work with), some driftwood stacked up to make a cave, probably fake plants unless you want to upgrade your lighting.

I wouldn't worry about the puffer looking small in a huge tank.. given a nice big home like that it will grow quickly and you'll be starting it off the best way possible. You *can* start them in somethng like a 50 gallon tank, but why bother, when you'll be tearing that down in 6 months and replacing it with a bigger tank? Save yourself the time and money and hassle and just go big from the start.

unfortunately with my father in the icu, don't think this is a good time for this

i paid $250 for my 125g setup. That was with the rocks, sand, lights, and even fish.

good score $2 / gal

yeah plus stand, filter, wet\dry, sump, canister filter, and pump.

Sorry to hear your father is in ICU, I hope he's ok! Sending prayers and good vibes your way - keep us posted, and hope he has a good recovery!

Yeah, dad comes 1st. I hope he pulls through quickly.

thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers.

Sorry I missed that ICU pert ... that is a real hard thing to deal with. I hope he gets better and your family pulls through.