The Puffer Forum

Ok, I just brought a figure 8 home from the LFS. They had about 12 in a 20 gallon and needless to say, they all had pretty torn up fins.

I tried to pick out the healthiest looking one, but this guy is still in rough shape. His rear fin is split and all of his fins have little bites out of them.

Is there anything I should do to help them heal? How long will it take for them to grow back?

Also, he seems to be just pacing up and down in the corner without checking out the rest of the tank.. should I assume that this is just stress from the difficulties he has been enduring?

Thanks.

If his wounds look really bad, you could try melafix/pimafix as a precaution.

As long as there's no infection, if the water quality is good then the wounds should heal. Make sure you keep a close eye on ammonia/nitrite (hopefully the tank is cycled).

As for the pacing, since it's a new home for him this is normal. If there are plenty of decorations and hiding places he should settle down within a week or so.

FYI, a tank of at least 15 gallons is recommended for a single F8 puffer. If the tank is too small this could also cause the pacing

my tank is a 30 gallon and has 3 bumblebee gobies and 3 ghost shrimp in it. the levels are all at 0 but I bought a biospira to have on hand in case the extra load causes an issue.

Good stuff, it sounds like you are well prepared. Just keep an eye on him, hopefully everything will heal up on its own. Btw, those shrimp probably wont last long!

Here's a shot of the tank and the best shots I could get of the F8 (he doesn't seem to sit still).

The Java Fern is real but everything else is fake. Any suggestions on the decor are more than welcome. It seems like I need something to fill it in a bit.

My only concern with the water quality is that brown algae started showing up about a week ago.

Your tank is cute!!

This guy is still doing quite a bit of pacing!! and to my dismay, there are still 3 ghost shrimp in the tank!

If he notices me, he definitely comes to the front of the tank, but it seems like sometimes he is so busy pacing that he doesn't notice me until I tap on the glass or something. He does eat snails, worms, and crushed up krill quite voraciously, but like I said sometimes he is pacing so much that it takes him a while to notice that I put food in the tank.

I'm not sure if there is anything else I should do? Does he think he can get out of the tank? should I add a border to the tank? I don't know why but he only ever paces at the back two corners.

Do I need more decor? should really pack it in there? I am not sure what type of decor to add to fill in all the space at the top.

Thanks.

After much observation of my Figure 8's, I'm convinced that pacing is puffer for "I'm nervous," and there's little you can do to stop it completely.
More decor and a background will probably help (your tank is pretty sparse by my standards), as will time to settle in, but they will probably always pace to some extent. I know mine do. Normal behavior IME, and I pack the tank pretty tight:



The huge fake floating plant in my tank really helped fill it out. Mine is like 4'ft long, and is secured to the substrate, climbs to and goes across the top.
FYI mine prefer pacing in corners as well. Maybe being able to wedge in somewhere makes them feel more secure, who knows.

I agree with CoreyK and more decor will make the puffer feel more secure. I think fish feel better knowing they have somewhere safe to retreat to if they need to. Often by providing more places for your fish to hide means you will see them more and displaying normal beahviour, which for a puffer seems to be "oooh, oooh feed me I'm cute!!!" lol

The same cannot be said for plecs that you pay a fortune for though, more hidey holes = less veiwing

I agree, more decor.

The brown algae is just part of the tank cycling. Keep up with the water changes, scrub the glass, and it should go away with time.

Thanks for the feedback guys. I like your tank, CoreyK. I have been wanting to add decor but every time I go to the store I just can't bring myself to spend more money on fake stuff. I feel like my tank really looks like crap right now and I don't know what to do to change it. I had tried a few other plants before adding the puffer but they melted (anacharis and hornwort). I figure I didn't acclimate them long enough. Brackish is tough! I did add some java moss so I will see how that does.. The java ferns haven't really changed at all since I put them in.

Is your big huge floating plant plastic? I didn't know if the puffer would be ok with the hard pointy plastic. There are some really nice silk ones for reptile cages but I didn't know if they would be saltwater safe.

Anyway, any decor suggestions would be appreciated. I am very frustrated with this tank right now. If the poor little guy wasn't in such bad conditions at the LFS, I probably would have taken him back by now.

Ok, I have added much decor. Most of it I added today, though he is still pacing. Hopefully he will settle down soon. Does it seem setup ok now?

Also, I was thinking about adding some of those habitrail tubes like I heard some people do.. but I am not real sure how to lay them out, or if they will dissolve in the water and make it toxic.

the tank looks great well done, the pacing will settle. Not too sure on the tubes but you could use drainpipes or similar from a hardware store as make-shift caves. My black ghost knife fish has slept in one for 5 years or so

Tank looks good.