The Puffer Forum

1) Your water parameters -

Nitrites and Ammonia, zero. Nitrates, between 5 and 10.

2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants.

30 gallon long, 2 F8's, 1 dragon goby (as of two days ago)

3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)

I feed once a day a variety of meaty foods, raw shrimp, mussel, clam on the half shell, crab pieces in the shell; water changes at least weekly and if parameters are not good; currently at 1.002 brackish with marine salt; add a water conditioner to new water;

4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.

I added a 6-inch dragon goby two days ago.

5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.

The aquarium has been up for 3 weeks. Cycled with old Tetra Safestart, filter media from an established tank (a 5-gallon I've had since end of March), and other plants and rocks from that tank. Waiting to get Dr Tim's cycling bacteria in the mail to make sure its okay.

So my two F8s are about 3 inches each. However, the quieter, slower one has always been thinner. Not too thin- just not a round monster, like the other! The bigger, more aggressive one gets to the food first and eats most of it. The dragon goby has been fine the last few days, keeping his own. No marks on him from the F8's. The smaller F8 is missing his left side fin! The whole thing is gone! I had wondered why he was swimming slowly and strangely. My guess is the other F8 had a munch. Will it grow back? I doubt it.... I have some pimafix I can add just to help, if it would...

Ok well I'm gonna reply to my own post.... lol

After I posted, I called the lfs where I"d bought him. The owner answered. He said he thought the two F8's weren't compatible and I could either keep things how they are and watch them- that the fin would grow back, separate them somehow, add more fish to disperse agressions, or return one of them.

I decided to take Pirate- the injured one- back to the lfs, even though he was bigger and nicer than any other F8's they currently have there. There's no more room for more fish with what I've got, and they'd end up getting chased all day by 8Ball and stressed to death.

I syphoned some tank water into a fish bag, put Pirate in and closed it up just like they do at the lfs. I got in the car, put the bag on the passenger seat, started the engine, then felt sad and had to have one more look at him. I lifted up the bag, and there he was, staring at me, swimming, BOTH fins going, saying "What? Where are we going, nice human? Adventures??" WHEW! I put him back in the tank and he swam up to 8Ball and it was like they were saying "Where did you go?" "I went on this adventure! Human took me!" Then they swam off together.

Awww! Yay!

He might have sucked it into his gill porthole - I've seen pictures of this, it's pretty odd, nobody is sure how they manage it, or why they do it, but it seems totally harmless. I suspect they may do it just to freak us out.

I hear this one all the time. Reminds me of Al Bundy, resting his hand down his pants.

It's a conspiracy. Moon landing, the single shooter and the grassy knoll, the CIA planning 9/11, puffers sucking in their fins.....(I'm getting out my tin-foil hat!)

THE BOTTLED WATER CONSPIRACY!