The Puffer Forum

need plenty of decor for saps and a long tank ....else they will pace up and down the glass around the clock ......saps seem to be quite common in uk lfs at moment and a lot of online retailers seem to have them in stock , ......be prepared down the line for trimming the beak ....

Yea all over that lol will be nervous first time though

just be quick , else you'll find they'll be slipping out of your grip like a bar of soap ! ...not good for you or the puff

Okey dokey, put some more plants in there yesterday, not so tall at the mo but it's fast growing stuff so won't take long. I'm going to take some cuttings from my water wisteria to put in there later aswell.

Good luck with him, as for tank mates I think they're about as "community" puffer as you'll find. Still comes down to personality as always, sometimes no fin nips at all others times aggression. If you can get a few more to get them into a school it may help with the pacing, they are more nervous when kept alone and are schooling fish in the wild. ug.php?g2_itemId=64

Yea I've got my eyes open for a couple more

SAPs are very active fish. It is their nature. Outside of the breeding season they are main-channel fish, so are accustomed to current, but not necessarily main channel - more along the sides. That is part of their activity, they are high-energy fish by nature.

When you need to add more snails, try adding at least some during the tank's dark cycle. That will give them prey to hunt during the light cycle. But at least periodically add snails in the light- it s a good thing for the fish to associate your appearance with food. That gives you a chance to check out the fish more closely.

HTH

Thank you for the input guys. Added some tall plants to all 4 corners and the pacing has stopped by about 50%. Also he still has a healthy appearance, after all that swimming I would at least expect him to look skinnier but he doesn't. Visible snail population is down and possibility of 2 more saps on the way. Rasporas will be rehomed, have a 5 foot tank with very large sump sitting empty so I plan on setting this up with mega mega filtration plus the sump and add 2 extra saps. Total 5 will be on in there will they not?

Any guesstimate of the total volume? It sounds like it should work, perhaps even for more. SAPs are happier in bigger groups, but really only school rather loosely out of strongish current.

The main display is about

The main display is about 149 usg and the sump is around the 50 usg mark. I was thinking either stick with 3 or go for 5. Maybe try to find a suitable cuc. Still only pipeline ATM, need to build a stand etc

Never owned a SAP, but from reading about them do you think that perhaps a longer tank would be better for him? He may want more length to swim?

Just an idea, of course.

Congrats on the new little guy!

...Well, I hadn't read the second page of replies so I see that my last post is a bit "outdated" lol.

Lol. A more suitable tank is imminent one way or the other lol. Been looking through the storage unit ..........

So he is looking fatter today so has been eating, the up and down swimming is slowing. I am starting to think the rasporas are making him nervous, gonna move them tomorrow and chase up some more saps.