The Puffer Forum

This is my F8 tank

Woah, how are you making that chunk of pot stay where it is???

I like all the caves. They must have a lot of fun in there.

Wow, I'd say your F8's are lucky little puffers indeed! That is seriously a nice tank, very good use of the pottery there. Really nice. You did really well.

LilGreenPuffer wrote:Woah, how are you making that chunk of pot stay where it is???

This picture is from the back. In the upper right you can see where the bottom corner of the pottery is wedged into the hole on the strawberry jar. The other end is wedged into a hole on the rock. I'm very anal about everything being very secure, that piece isn't going anywhere!

And thank you. I'm getting a little tired of the color "terra cotta", but it is fairly inexpensive and there is big variety of vessels. Plus, with the right tools it's pretty easy to get the pieces to break the way you want. I rearrange their tank maybe every few weeks, trying different layouts and seeing what intrigues them the most. They do like the the caves. They look charming when they are swimming through one, looking up with their big eyes scanning the ceiling. I'll put bits of freeze dried krill in the caves and because the krill floats for some time before it becomes waterlogged, it stays trapped below the ceiling. The two of them go nuts because they know there is food in the tank. They will usually make one lap around the perimeter of the structures and then begin their full on investigation of the tank. If they miss the krill the first time it's pretty much always found on the second go around. We play this game only a few times until they completely quit searching and go right to the cave to get their prize. They learn way to fast.

What a happy F8! Fanned tail and all!

Nice tank!

Did you just go and buy Terracotta pots from Walmart, or do they have to be coated in epoxy first?

The only pot I bought was the intact strawberry jar, the rest have been sitting around for years waiting to be smashed. If you go to a garden supply store or a nursery, you'll most likely find a a wider variety of terra cotta pots. I think Walmart will just have the standard planters. I've never coated the pots. I don't think you have to with terra cotta, it's just clay, there's nothing added to it like stains, dyes or glazes that can effect the water parameters. I think it may considered inert.

Cool, that means I can get some for my tank. : )


Gotta' say it again, beautiful tank!

Good luck, you'll enjoy it!

A couple of tips if you want to start smashing pots:

1. It can get pretty dusty so you may want a mask to cover your mouth and nose. Orange snot is not fun. Be sure to protect your eyes as well, from the dust as well as from any pieces that may go flying when you bring out the hammer.

2. If you want the vessel to break a certain way, try using a dremmel, razor blade or fine tipped file to "etch" the fracture line first. Do the entire line, blow off the dust and and go over the line again, blow off the dust ect.... You don't want to go to deep, maybe a 16th of an inch at most. I guess really depends on the thickness of the vessel. When you are done, use a chisel and hammer to tap along the fracture line you made. With luck it will crack right along that line.

Luck, because there is some science that factors into it; with the clay and air bubbles. However that occurs when the vessel is being made.

NOW, you could probably use a hand saw and just cut the whole thing. I've tried with a fine toothed hand saw but my arm gave out after going down an inch. An electric saw would probably work and be twice as fast. But I think it would take a fair amount of skill to create natural looking breaks with either.

OR, you could just drop it on a hard surface and see what you get.

3. Always smooth down the edges, some can be really sharp. You can use sandpaper or a file. It takes no time at all.

4. Rinse the final product off before adding it to the aquarium.

I can say for sure that terracotta that does not have any toxins such as fertilizers on it is totally safe. Get it new, and you'll be fine.

I'll just smash it.

Thanks for the tips.

What a great tank! Those are some happy puffers. Those are good clay pot breaking tips. Thanks

Brent wrote:I'll just smash it.

Smashing works too! And it's a great stress reliever.

ladyonyx wrote: Those are good clay pot breaking tips. Thanks

Your welcome!

Oh, love the strawberry pot. Very cool. Thanks for posting the tips on how to break terra cotta. I tried on my own with some little pots by trying to just break it where I wanted. Let's just say it didn't work so well. I'll have to try again with your scoring idea.