The Puffer Forum

i am setting up a new tank soon to house a congo, suvatti or a palembangens puffer. I also want to have a planted aquarium. from some research it says suvatti or congo puffers prefer sand and could possibly burrow? if so i was worried if I put a layer of flourite down for the plants, the puffer could hurt himself. Also i know sand is not the best substrate for a planted aquarium for root growth, and with the palembangens puffer i have not seen a decent picture of this fish to really make my mind up if I would like to purchase one since pufferpedia and the gallery does not seem to work at the moment. anyone have a suggestion to help guide me in the right direction?

I'm afraid i don't know much about some of these puffers. (Congo) . But i own a Palembang and he is a great little character. He is a semi lurker and likes to hide and wait for his food to come to him only moving aroung late in the day and early evening. He loves to eat shrimp and worms and i am still trying to get him to eat frozen food, musscle etc!
The suvvati is a full lurker from what i understand and likes to settle in the substrate as you suggested, i also believe that they are a very agressive fish and can't be kept with many other fish, maybe not even other puffers. Where as the Palembang is not so aggressive and can be kept with larger fish and even others of it's kind.
But i'm sure other Puffer carers in the forum will be able to assist you further
Hope this helped

If I were you, I'd go with something like a mix of EcoComplete (easier to use than Flourite, IMO) and black aquarium sand. So you get the nutrients for the plants, and a substrate the puffer can burrow in if they want to.

And I just think black substrates look cool.. that's just me, hehe.

I've used playground sand for a planted tank before and it worked wonderfully for the plants (mostly crypts).. Messy, dirty and easily stirred up though. I won't use it again for those reasons.

I personally would grab a Palembang. =] I love them!

Dunno what to say about the substrate though, I'm only dealing with Java moss in my sand-substrate tanks. =/

that's the direction i think im going in, along w/ the eco complete w/ the black sand...