The Puffer Forum

Yeah, it used to be true that they gave them away free, but since more and more are carrying puffers, fewer are now.

Wilma: http://www.jayscustomcomputers.com/wilm ... page1.html

about the life of eco complete... I don't know anything about it really, but if it comes with nutrients in it, doesn't that mean it'd retain nutrients better than regular gravel? Isn't that one of the downfalls of regular gravel is that it doesn't hold nutrients? So even after the nutrients it came with are depleted, wouldnt it still be better than gravel in that it could hold nutrients from the water, or something...?

good point. I forgot about that. I mean, regardless, i bought the eco-complete already. But that is very true and a very good point. i would assume if using a liquid fert for plants, that some of it may get absorbed via the eco.

btw, can i co-breed ram and pond snails in the same tank?? I bought a 2.5 gallon all-glass tank today for snail breeding with my snails, and it didn't occur to me until now if the two can be co-mingled.

Edit*** just did a search, apparently one will out compete the other...I have more pond snails in the tank than rams, lets see who is the faste breeder.

Second, how many dwarf puffers can live off of a 2.5gallon snail breeder tank? 1?2?3?

Here's a picture of my 20g with Eco in it:



A 20lbs bag will be more then enough for a 10g. Eco "life" should be a very long time... I would suggest liquid ferts after 6 weeks or so, and diy co2.
As far as the snails go, a 2.5g tank should breed tons of them, but you may also want to keep a supply of frozen blood worms. My DPs love them and cant get enough. 1/4 of a cube should feed 3 DP's in a 10g no problem. One pack should last a couple months or more.

I wasn't planning on fertilizing right away. Is 6 weeks a rule of thumb? I already purchased Flourish liquid fert since i have heard it is a decent product at a good price. I realize there may be better products out there, but i felt it was better than not fertilizing at all(i am trying to locate and purchase beginner plants so any fert should be better than none).

As for snails, i'd like to make them a staple but not necessarily a main course(say i feed them 3-4 days a week, maybe only 1 or 2 days of snails).
Do you think the 2.5 breeder could keep up with 2 puffers?

No, the 6 weeks isn't a rule of thumb. The Flourish website recommends much more often than that. Personally, I dose all of my planted tanks weekly after a water change. Flourish is a good product.

You only really need CO2 when you have a high lighting setup. Its always beneficial but not crucial at lower light levels. For my lower light tanks, I just use Flourish Excel and it works fine. The only thing to remember with it is not to use a lot if you have Anacharis, as it will melt the anacharis.

6 weeks after the start/planting of the tank before starting to fertilize is what i was refering to.

I'd start right away. Why wait so long?

i dunno, I've seen/read on aquatic plant sites and they say to wait a few weeks before starting to fertilize. Maybe i misread.

Eco-complete is preloaded with dissolved minerals. exactly to remove/reduce the need for fert supplement while the plants are settling in. Once the plants show signs of growth/pearling, it is time to start ferts IMHO. That can be days or a week or two, or a month or two - depending on the plants, how different the setup and light are from what they were grown with, and what they were housed in most recently, and how high the light is on the setup, and whether or not CO2 is used.

gotcha.