Where to buy

Dawgz · Post by **Dawgz** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 1:51 pm

HI im new to puffers, i have a 30 gallon long tank with two red belly piranha's @4-4.5"....no im not gonna place the puffers there haha

i have a 10 gallon tank witch used to house 4 guppies and 4 ghost shrimp but i gave the guppies to the lfs for free after i saw a F8 puffer they have, i paid for it and its on hold for me while i get the tank setup with the salt and everything else, i had two questions, ..one of them is, is there a online site i can buy puffers from? second question is...Can i keep two of these puffers in a 20 gallon that ill be getting soon, or are they best kept alone? the store i go to has about 5 in the tank and three of them are very small, and are sold =\ so i baught the bigger ones, he looks almost fully grown, the other one that im thinking of buying has his tail fin bit off, itll grow back but can i buy that one too? can two of them live peacefully in a tank? i can feed them snails and other things, snails from my piranha tank cause my piranha are pretty crazy, they leave one snail alone and eat the offspring that snail gives off, they seem to be harvesting snails ahahha...so if i can get some outa their tank and put it for food on the puffers that would suffice, so about 1-2 fully grown snails a week, the rest of the week it would be fed small dried shrimp u can buy at the pet store, ghost shrimp and cichlid pellets....that im feeding my piranhas right now. its made of while salmon and other fish and other ingredients.

Post by **RTR** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 8:14 pm

Very few puffers will eat "prepared" foods (pellets, tablets, etc.) and that would be insufficient crunch to keep their teeth worn down in any case. Like rodents, puffers need to wear down their incissors regularly, and while F-8s are not the worst, they definitely have fast-growing teeth. Lots more crunchy food are needed, one or two snails a week won't do the job.

If this is to be your first puffer, you probably would be better off sticking to a singleton. Cohabitaion among puffers is highly risky.

Dawgz · Post by **Dawgz** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 9:47 pm

iite, ill just get one then..

side note, when i put the salt into the bucket of dechlorized water, and mixed it then i put it into my tank, some of it is sitting on the substrate..(black gravel)...is that okay? and i set the heater to 78F, have the filter running with no media rite now.

Post by **Pufferpunk** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 10:45 pm

Buy a cheap powerhead to mix the salt & keep it mixing until all is dissolved. Otherwise you won't get a true reading of salinity. Are you cycling the tank as BW? Is that what the puffers are kept at in the shop you will be buying it from? I'd check.

Dawgz · Post by **Dawgz** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 11:35 pm

yea im cycling it as Brakish and the shop has it as Brakish, he did a salinity test right infront of me and it was about wat im puting mine as, i have to go buy a hydrometer tommrow. but i did 1 Cup of salt for every 2 gallons, so about 5 cups. Disolved it into a bucket, mixed it, then poured it into the tank...i really cant cycle the tank for long, i have to pick up the puffer tommorow

i hope it doesnt shock it that much......

........anyone know what i can do? i already paid for it on Sat..and i have to pick it up tommrow the latest.....

Post by **Pufferpunk** » Tue Oct 11, 2005 12:58 am

Please do not buy that puffer tomorrow! You have way too much salt in there & it takes weeks to cycle a tank!

Post by **Pufferpunk** » Tue Oct 11, 2005 1:11 am

If you get a hydrometer & match the specific gravity to the tank you are buying it from (should be extremely low, around 1.005), you could try adding Bio-Spira with the puffer (don't let the shop sell you anything else!). This will instantly cycle your tank. Otherwise, there is no way--you'll have to forgo that puffer until you have a cycled tank for one.

Dawgz · Post by **Dawgz** » Tue Oct 11, 2005 7:25 am

how much do i put in for a 10 gallon tank?

Post by **Pufferpunk** » Tue Oct 11, 2005 12:53 pm

It depends on what SG the puffers are in at the shop.

Dawgz · Post by **Dawgz** » Tue Oct 11, 2005 3:46 pm

i brought the puffer home, baught a hydrometer, checked the salinity and it was at exactly where i wanted it to be (what u and the petstore guy said), they didnt have bio spira , but they had another brand i got that, its a small packet for 60 gallons so i put like 5-10 drops for my 10 gallon into it..then i added the puffer, i have some vids , he rides on the air bubbles alot haha...

here he's eating a large Krill

when he eats, it makes a stranger sound, like its sucking on somthing or kissing the food..hahaa ? is that normal. and i didnt buy the other puffer they had because it had that concaved stomach that i read about on this site that indicates a sick puffer...

Heres a video of him....with the bubbles, a close up, and it eating (listen for the kissing\sucking sound it makes)

http://media.putfile.com/MOV0273

Post by **Pufferpunk** » Tue Oct 11, 2005 4:27 pm

I guess I'm not getting my point across, when I posted NOT TO BUY ANYTHING ELSE THEY TRY TO SELL YOU THAT WILL (falsely) CYCLE A TANK! Your tank is not cycled. What SG is the tank at now? You are putting a puffer into an uncycled tank--a sure death for this puffer you seem to care so much for...

Please buy a good test kit & test for ammonia, nitrItes, nitrAtes & pH daily.

Dawgz · Post by **Dawgz** » Tue Oct 11, 2005 5:22 pm

ok, while im comming back from class tommorow ill go get test kits...the salinity is at 1.018

Pamela · Post by **Pamela** » Tue Oct 11, 2005 5:59 pm

The SG's supposed to be at 1.005 to 1.008 for an F8. Dude, with the number of water changes you've got coming up, you need to get that SG down, as it's gonna cost a lot!
Can you take the fish back to the shop for now, as you've got a mess on your hands.
Pami.

Post by **Pufferpunk** » Tue Oct 11, 2005 6:19 pm

Is that really what they have their puffers at the the shop? That's practically marine!

Pamela · Post by **Pamela** » Tue Oct 11, 2005 6:56 pm

Maybe they've chucked them in with some gsps or similar

I think the best thing is for Dawgs to get some Bio-Spira or return the fish to the shop for a bit.
Saltwater B-S, that is...as he's gonna have to take his time reducing that SG unless he can do drip-acclimation and then add B-S.
Pami.

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