The Puffer Forum

I have amano shrimp with mine , they are large though

SAPs are carnivores, not herbivores. However, you can expect puffer bit marks on the plants from their biting the snails off the foliage and stems. Stem bites may well prune the plant.

IME, a 2217 is likely to be a bit overpowered for a ten gallon tank.

Also IME, a ten gallon tank is way too small for a SAP. They are quite active and need space, which is inadequate in a heavily planted ten. A 15 or better a 20-long would be a better choice. They are better off in a significantly larger tank with conspecifics.

RTR wrote:SAPs are carnivores, not herbivores. However, you can expect puffer bit marks on the plants from their biting the snails off the foliage and stems. Stem bites may well prune the plant.

IME, a 2217 is likely to be a bit overpowered for a ten gallon tank.

Also IME, a ten gallon tank is way too small for a SAP. They are quite active and need space, which is inadequate in a heavily planted ten. A 15 or better a 20-long would be a better choice. They are better off in a significantly larger tank with conspecifics.

I agree RTR - thankfully the SAPs and the 2217 are in a 55 gallon now The ten gallon was just temporary and I "transplanted" most of the contents into the 55 gal

Good work. Too many people cram them into too little tanks, no wonder most saps are glass surfing.

Well, glass surfing is at least exercise, which they really seem to need. But it is hardly optimum housing.

SAP "schooling IME is rather like that of the small inverting catfish - they rarely move as a school, but seem "aware" of the presence of conspecifics and in such company are more active and less bashful. They do also seem to like current. I never had one of the big tanks open to house them, but those would likely be a better home for them. Then they might really school.

I read that they enjoy current, which is one of the reasons I got a 2217 for this tank. I'm using a 2215 on my other tank with the spray bar. I purchased glass lily pipes for this tank and i was really surprised initially at the strength of the outflow. I thought it might be too much for the fish and plants to handle, but 2 weeks later everything seems to be OK. The lily pipe gave an unexpected bonus of keeping my water surface "clear" because of the whirlpool effect it creates. However, I realize this is entirely aesthetic and does not actually clean the water surface.

I also am developing a huge, huge green hair algae problem, the likes of which I have never before seen on any tank. My glass tank walls and every rock and plant look like they literally have long green fur growing from them. No doubt this is at least partly due to the fact that my tank is right next to a large window. My ten gallon was in the same location but I had very few algae problems - although it did have a lot of floating plants. I can't imagine that the addition of floating plants will put a big dent in this algae growth though. I may have to consider moving the tank to another location.

If anyone wants to chime in on my algae problem my water parameters are:

pH: a little higher than 6.0
ammonia/nium: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: between 5 and 10
gH: 2 (our tap water is very soft)

lights: rack of 48 high-output LEDs (1W each, 48W total, 10K). lights are on from 3 pm to 10 pm. The tank also receives indirect sunlight from about 6:30 am to 7 pm. Most of the time this light is fairly weak though some direct sunlight can enter around noon (there are tall buildings near us that shade the light at other times).

I would guess that light could be a large factor here, if you can find amano shrimp cheap they will help keep the amount down. Others may have other ideas.

bertie 83 wrote:I would guess that light could be a large factor here, if you can find amano shrimp cheap they will help keep the amount down. Others may have other ideas.

I have 5 Amano shrimp in the tank and 2 Otocinclus catfish. There's so much algae though that I think I'd need a large colony of both to make a noticeable difference. I'm fairly certain also that lighting is the main culprit. If possible though, I'd like to try to find a solution that doesn't involve moving my tank since the space in my home is very limited.

My tank sits with 1 side towards the window, if I start to get an algae build up I cover that side. Not sure if that's an option?

Nutrients + light = plant growth. If the nutrients and light are in balance, you may have vigorous growth of higher (vascular) plants. If there is any imbalance, the vigorous growth will be some form of algae. There are many, many algae around, and any particular imbalance will likely promote a dense overgrowth of some algal form.

Do you have specific liquid based teats kits for nitrate, phosphate, KH and GH?

What percentage water change do do per week?

What plants are you using, and is the planting dense?

RTR wrote:Nutrients + light = plant growth. If the nutrients and light are in balance, you may have vigorous growth of higher (vascular) plants. If there is any imbalance, the vigorous growth will be some form of algae. There are many, many algae around, and any particular imbalance will likely promote a dense overgrowth of some algal form.

Do you have specific liquid based teats kits for nitrate, phosphate, KH and GH?

What percentage water change do do per week?

What plants are you using, and is the planting dense?

I have nitrate and GH which I mentioned above - both levels are fairly low. I did a 50% water change less than a week ago. Week before that I did a nearly 70% change. Since this is still a "new" tank I have been changing more than I typically do (around 30% a week).

Just off the top of my head I have 5 sword plants (2 types), some cuba pearl, hydrocotyl, several pygmy chain swords, 1 crypt (willisi - went through a melt and is doing good now), 2 banana plants, 1 water poppy, 2 anubias var. nana, and then I just recently added 6 amazon frogbits. Aside from being algae infested, all the plants seem to be doing fairly well. the HC (cuba pearl) is on an elevated "hill" portion of the aquascape so it is doing OK, but not great. I am not injecting in CO2 into this tank yet, though I have dosed some excel.