The Puffer Forum

Just got my first puffer very excited. I was hoping not to have to have him shipped and just randomly i went to the petco and they had one that they just got in, still in the bag(destiny?maybe) which is nice so i don't have to deal with him getting any diseases from there tank. Just wanted to say thanks to the forum for giving me all the knowledge needed.

royboy wrote:Just got my first puffer very excited. I was hoping not to have to have him shipped and just randomly i went to the petco and they had one that they just got in, still in the bag(destiny?maybe) which is nice so i don't have to deal with him getting any diseases from there tank. Just wanted to say thanks to the forum for giving me all the knowledge needed.

Congrats on your find I'm always amazed when people have trouble finding figure 8s at their LFS. I always see figure 8s and GSPs. I never see ceylons available, though.

ya its a tough find for me, the closest real fish store is about an hour away for all of my reef tank stuff, but petco must of gotten new management or something? they have 2 new 120 gal's one with arowanas,bichirs,tiger shovelnose cats and what not, and the other is a reef tank. very surprising considering all of the other tanks are not realistic. like 30 oscars in a 30long, just ridic stuff.

Congrats on the new puffer!

thank you, he's doing fine just ate some shrimp and he looks happy, but now that i can take a good look at him he's got some bumps and bruises and his colors are a little dull. But i'll give him some love. Is there anything to treat the tank with for some frayed fins??

You can use Melafix to help with his poorly fins.

congrats on the find. i actually got my F8 from a petco too. saw him the day they got him and my mom went back the next day to get him. they stopped carrying them about a week later though, so just be ready for this suddenly wonderful shift to go away if it happens like the one at my town did. congrats on your new little friend though. hope he's happy.

The only puff's that I keep seeing is GSP at wal-mart ( poor fish ) Some times I feel like buying them, just so they don't suffer any more, but I dont have room for more tanks.

For the frayed fins, the best treatment is clean water, but Melafix and/or Pimafix are relatively safe and have been used pretty successfully to ward off infection. I would not treat with meds unless you have to, except for treating for IPs. IMHO, it's best to treat for IPs as soon as you get the puffer (unless captive-bred, which most aren't and F8s def. aren't) because it will still be healthy enough to actually eat and take in the meds. Otherwise, you could risk the puffer getting too sick to eat before you realize they have IPs (like I did at first).

You could possibly have disease from the supplier's tanks, but yes, skipping the LFS's tanks is definitely a good thing if you can. Good luck with the new guy!