The Puffer Forum

Hey all... this is where I'll be keeping tabs on my 110 gallon tank (60"L x 24"W x 18"H)

Timeline
04/06/2008 - Tank was purchased for $400. Purchase included tank, iron stand, aquaclear 110 filter, aquaclear 70 filterm, two heaters, a large air pump, ten pounds or so of flag stone, two grocery bags full of silk plants, some driftwood, enough gravel to cover the bottom about an inch thick, two siphons, one 25 foot python and of course... about 8 mature african cichlids, a 6" blood parrot and a 4" red tail shark. Later gave the fish away as no LFS would buy them from me.

05/02/2008 - 05/04/2008 - Tank was scrubbed down with vinegar, once each day then rinsed. Tank was then touched up with silicone sealant from my local hardware store...so I went to this store (back in April) knowing that I needed clear silicone. I found various types but couldn't find out if it was aquarium safe or not so I asked around. The employee I asked couldn't tell either by looking at it so he had to pull up his MSDS to find out that it was indeed safe for aquarium use. When I finally got around to using it, I just happened to glance at it and right below the brand title, in bold print was the phrase "Safe aquarium use". I felt really stupid. I still do.

05/03/2008 - Filled Rubbermaid container with vinegar diluted by water and placed Aquaclear 110 and all "tubes" in to soak all day after a good scrub or two.

05/04/2008 - Emptied vinegar mix and rinsed off filter and accessories.

05/10/2008 - Went to local gardening centre to buy sand. Bought the stuff in the sealed plastic bag but it turned out to be half gravel. Went to another store, picked up some mortar sand which I than spent a couple hours washing. It was then dumped into the tank and the tank filled with water. Of course the sand got really stirred up.

05/14/2008 - Tank is still quite foggy. However it has cleared enough to see that the sand has created piles. Bought mechanical filter and biomax for the Aquaclear 110 and turned it on.

05/16/2008 - The sand has not settled totally yet. The water is still fairly foggy. Filter is still running smoothly. Went to beach and picked up about 50 pounds of beach rock (mostly larger ones).

05/22/2008 - The sand has mostly settled. Aquaclear 70 was setup with 2 mech filters and bio max. Ammonia added.

05/24/2008 - First rocks have been boiled and added to the tank. Larger rocks are forming a "mountain" near the back on the left hand side while flatter, thinner rocks have been added to the front.

05/26/2008 - More rocks added. Sand has totally settled. Found riftwood on beach, boiled for 20 minutes then added as a cave.

05/31/2008 - Added more rock. Bought two Marineland Stealth Heaters which are mounted horizontally along the back. Raised temperature to 25C or 77F. Went to local(ish) fish store to spell out my plans to my new supplier. Advised him of what I would be needing. We will be keeping in touch. Also bought two clown plecos for my other tank.

06/01/2008 - Purchased shop lights. Built cheap light holding device out of a 2x4. Lighting currently consists of two 32w compact flourescent bulbs. Will double lighting in next couple of weeks. Will eventually triple it.

06/30/2008 - Purchased two Figure Eight Puffers and four bumble bee gobies. The puffers looked a little skinny and readily ate, two entire snails each, shell and all. Prior to going to bed, I tossed in a small chunk of shrimp that was thawed in tank water. They ate it right from my hand and then proceeded to have a tug o' war over it once I let go. One of the gobies swam around and watch, so I tossed in a real small piece, which one of the puffers took. However a small piece had broken off from the chunk and the goby grabbed that.

07/01/2008 - All six fish are doing really well. The puffers enjoy their snail snacks while the gobies are really interesting to watch swim then rest, swim, then rest again. Fed them some more shrimp, more of the gobies got in on it in the morning, while at the nighttime feed three gobies hovered around and watched. I've noticed that the puffers tend to jump at the gobies if they get a little too close. For the night feed, I also tossed in some frozen mosquito larva which, some gobies got, as did the puffers. We'll see what the future holds.

07/03/2008 - My first loss due to puffer aggression. A bumblebee goby was found barely alive with most of the tail missing and two other fins gone. Goby died minutes after being found and before it could be let go humanely.

07/06/2008 - A puffer was found dead this morning. He was found stuck between the filter intake and the aquarium glass. I'm assuming it died at some point and was then sucked into the filter as the filter does not have that much suction power. Second puffer doesn't feel the need to eat, nor do the gobies.

07/06/2008 - The second puffer and gobies are eating again.

07/10/2008 - Second puffer has passed on. One goby cannot be accounted for at this time.

Current layout plan
Left side moving right...
Rocky pile at the back with smaller, lower rocks and small logs towards the front
Sparse vegetation, low plants, with a tall one or two with scattered rocks/boulders
Well planted with some wood and decoration to break it up and an empty beer bottle nearer the front.

Final Stocking Plan
Brackish...
Figure 8 Puffer (2)
Bumble Bee Goby (4) (Looking to bump it up to 8 to 12)
Considering a Dragon Goby or two.

Jared

Are you sure you want to use a six foot tank for small puffers? I mean, if you do, it's great. Just never really thought it was a good idea.

And crayfish + Neons = bad idea.

Rope fill also will try eat eat DPs...

You know after I got the 75gal I chickened out on having the DP's in there. I could possibly go with a small fish that schools and have a lot of them though.

groovitudedude wrote:Are you sure you want to use a six foot tank for small puffers? I mean, if you do, it's great. Just never really thought it was a good idea.

And crayfish + Neons = bad idea.

Several huge schools of small fish look awesome - I bet a big group of glofish danios, both regular and black neon tetras, and maybe a larger tetra school would look awesome.

dont know tank demensions but if its a standard tank size isnt their a possibility of a fahaka?

but otherwise my vote is the large schooling groups that would look awesome, and then you could go crazy with some exotic plecs, L15, L27, L46(awesome tank for zebra colony but you better be rich), L75, L201, L273. idk those are just some of my favourite plecs theres hundreds if you wanna check them out on planetcatfish.com. but hey just ideas i mean its your tank do what appeals to you and thats all that matters.

groovitudedude wrote:Are you sure you want to use a six foot tank for small puffers? And crayfish + Neons = bad idea.

I'm a fan of understocked tanks. Get a couple of active fish and it seems more natural/realistic...besides... It's like playing "Where's Waldo?" And as for the crayfish+neons...that's some expensive food for the crays. I was just thinking of this "electric blue lobster" or "rock shrimp" that I see at my local stores.

Nick wrote:Rope fill also will try eat eat DPs...

That's likely true, but I haven't heard of any specific examples yet... I just hope that they would spend enough time apart or that the puffers would too large for the rope when I introduce them.

LizB wrote:You know after I got the 75gal I chickened out on having the DP's in there.

There's always the change I will too, but larger fish in my area are fairly hard to come by...with the exception of oscars, koi and plecos.

cobra1713 wrote:dont know tank demensions but if its a standard tank size isnt their a possibility of a fahaka?

Yeah, a fahaka is definitely a possibility, but consider me ignorant/naive as I would attempt to throw in some tank mates. But the problem around here is finding one. Cichlids, plecos and guppies are very, very popular around here, more so than other fish anyways...although Koi are rising fast as more and more people get ponds or convert their swimming pools.

The LFS that I went to yesterday had beautiful blk neons. The girl didn't speak very favorable though as far as being able to keep them. She did say they're tougher than the neons and maybe the cardinal. I like the cardinal a lot, but my eye is constantly drawn to the blk. I bought neons on 2 different ocassions many years ago and within days they died. Since then I've shyed away from them. I know the main thing is for ph to stay stable but my water is so hard. I'm talking thick crusty minerals.

I saw a school of white cloud minnows at one store and they were beautiful. Their colors were so bright and they looked healthy. It was one of those tanks where the fish caught me from the corner of my eye and they were so beautiful I had to stop and watch for a bit.

I've also thought about the glofish a LOT, without a doubt they are gorgeous. My choices seem to be growing.

The killifish made me drool but if they just hang out and not do much...well, I don't know.

Nick wrote:Several huge schools of small fish look awesome - I bet a big group of glofish danios, both regular and black neon tetras, and maybe a larger tetra school would look awesome.

Oh, and I have thought a bit about having more than one kind. I've never had only one kind of fish in a tank until Mr. Harry.

I keep thinking one big school of the same kind might be awesome, bt maybe I should consider different schools in the tank. It would draw the eye to the different behaviors of the different fish like when I had the barbs and the tetras together.

Hmmmmmmm

Nick wrote:Several huge schools of small fish look awesome - I bet a big group of glofish danios, both regular and black neon tetras, and maybe a larger tetra school would look awesome.

[/quote]

Be careful when choosing barbs.

From what I heard Barbs are known to be fin nippers.

I meant more with what type of barbs.

Oh. The lights are on, but some of the rooms are empty.

groovitudedude wrote:I meant more with what type of barbs.

i have heard somewhere that fiddler crabs need to be able to get above water alot

Rope fish will eat anything they can bite. doesn't have to fit in their mouth, cause they do a wicked spin thing and rip pieces off. I have two. so small fish are not a good idea.