The Puffer Forum

My 30gallon long seems to have officially fixed itself in terms of the ammonia levels. I have my big F8 who is about 3 inches long and a 6-inch dragon goby in the tank. Everything seems to be fine. I am debating whether or not I should add another F8. I hae Tetra Safestart that I can add to the filter if I DO get another. The lfs says they only get smaller F8s in - never the size of mine. Would the bigger one automatically bully the new one? I asked someone at the lfs and all she said was that F8s like to be in groups and I aught to add 2 or 3 more.

I have 2 living peacefully together but they are the same size.

I have two in my 53G Brackish with two Knight Gobies; one is larger (fatter) than the other. They play at feeding time (chase each other, but it's clearly all a game and the fat one teases the smaller one by spitting food at it). No bullying. Not sure about a 30G though. I wouldn't think it would be a problem.

Even with the dragon goby?

I had two the same size and the one died. It never ate- after a while, anyway. It did at first. It seemed to not care to and/or the bigger/current one always got to the food first. The dragon goby and the F8 get along just fine. I also have a handful of guppies of various sizes- keep finding TINY ones!- that pick at the algea in the tank - the puffer never tries to eat them.

I don't think a 30G is big enough for a dragon goby, personally. I believe they can grow to ~15". How long is the tank? I'm guessing only ~2.5' is that correct? An F8 and a dragon goby should get along okay; I think PP has experience with that. Not so sure about the guppies though - I'd have thought the flowing fins would be far too tempting down the line.

I have 4 F8's together and one is really quite large, and the other 3 are a bit smaller, and I've never had any problems with them. They all seem to get on well together.

The guppies are just swimming around eating things off the decor. They seem happy and they're nice to watch as they school a bit and act differently than the puffer or goby.

I just was thinking that the original F8 will say 'MINE!" to the new one. I'm hoping he says "Hey! A Friend!"

This is just a suggestion, but you could try it. If you get another F8, before you add the new one, take the other one out of the tank, move things around a bit, and then add the new puffer. Then add the older other guy back into the tank. Sometimes that helps. It's not foolproof though. It's what I had to do with my Mudskippers, so I thought it might work for the F8's too.

I did it I got another F8. Showing the guy at the lfs a pic of 8-Ball on my cell phone, I asked, "Do you have a figure-8 as fat as this one?" He took the phone from me, looked and replied, "No. This one is either puffed up or VERY happy!" Well, I did get a second F8. They both seem to be getting along. The new one has been following 8-Ball around since it was put in the tank, doing whatever he did. hehe... He has a big "8" shape on his back, unlike 8-Ball. He seems well. No visible issues. I checked! Checked his attitue- came up to the glass to say hello, was active, good color, not skinny. Of course, he looks thin compared to my monster. He has pretty much been checking things out and eating blood worms. He wasn't sure what to do with a snail. (LFS feeds the puffers dried krill!) And speaking of, I can see his teeth, which I've never done with any of my other puffers. They aren't HUGELY overgrown, but I can still see the tips. It seems that 8Ball is going to have to show him the ropes. I hope he gets as fat as 8Ball. I checked my water levels before I put him in and it was good. I added the appropriate amount of TetraSafestart just before I added him, too. Going to try a prawn here, as soon as it is good and thawed.

Yay! They're both attacking the raw prawn with vigor and the new guy is getting a rounded belly! The new guy went back several times. It was like he was saying, between tearing bites, "OMG! Mmm.... This is great! I've never had anything like this!" He ate off the legs and part of the tail. Yay! Good for his beak. I went to take it out of the tank and he didn't want that much. I had to wait until he swam after 8ball to take it away. hehe

That's excellent, great to hear they are getting on so well!

Congrats...I would like to see his big 8

Great! Good luck on them.

Sponge bob wrote:Congrats...I would like to see his big 8

Yah, I'd like to see it too. I'm sure it'd be hard though to get the pic though, so we'll be patient.