The Puffer Forum

I just bought a tiny Congo. It is about 1" including the tail. Really tiny, really cute.

The thing is, when I bought it at the store, it was orange.
I bought it without having prepared a tank for it, so when I reached home, it ended up in a black and bare bottom tank.
The congo turned a dark brown a few seconds after being released into the tank.

I know it's the bottom of the tank, from some reading up in past threads. So I went out and specifically got some reddish brown sand.
It is actually the JBL Manado, which is pretty costly.
After washing and placing them gently into the tank, the puffer lightened up a little, but remained brown!

How should I get it to change back to its orange? The belly is still fiery orange, just the top that is brown.
Would pure white sand be a better choice?
It doesn't dig much either, but is an active guy swimming around.

The good news is that it takes food right from my hands! Frozen shrimps, fish meat, etc.
So I'm really happy.

I'd try to post some pictures later.
And sorry for the long read.

I used 1/2 red gravel & 1/2 black sand to keep the bright red of the puffer in my avatar.

In a 1:1 ratio?

What about using complete white sand? Will the color become washed out?

Is there a need for decorations?

Thanks! That's really quick!

Congos are probably the most adept at camouflage than any puffer. They will do their best to match their surroundings. I used that ratio (actually, I think it might have been 3:1 ratio, black sand being more prevalent) so she could still get in & burrow. She also liked hanging out under the plants i had in there.

How did you cycle that tank?

Sorry to ask .... but you did cycle this tank didn't you before putting this puffer into it? I have to say that in my experience with Congos I have noticed that when they are not well they tend to darken.
I have 2 orange Congos and both are in regular sand, nothing special and in both tanks the sand is near whitish, yet my Congos are both a nice colour of orange, especially Orangey (the big one).

I took the water from my snakehead tank. The sponges for the sponge filters are also from the same tank.
I've plans to proceed to setting up an OHF when it gets slightly bigger. I don't want the water to be too turbulent while the congo is still a baby.
So basically it is a last minute set-up.

It's also a 1" puffer in a 2X1X1 ft tank. Which means plenty of water.
The only other tankmate is a ramshorn snail, about 3mm in length.

And much as I enjoy feeding it lots, I have to control myself, to minimise the waste it produces.
And thats about all I'm doing at the moment.

Maybe I'd not mess around with the substrate and wait.

Sounds cycled to me then. Please add at least an inch of sand for the fellow to burrow into.

Thank you Pufferpunk!

He has more than an inch to roll around in.

As mentioned earlier, here's a picture of him during acclimatization.
You can just compare her size to a cotton bud!
He was of a pretty orange coloration too!



It's now buried itself and hard to take pictures of him.

Congrats bsplenden he/she is adorable im sure it will have you well trained in no time

Oh that little puffer is so adorable!! I've never seen them that size before and I thought my little "Biscuit" was small when I got her, but she wasn't that small. I think they are so cute when they are little. My big Congo is lovely, but something nice about those little ones!

That is just sooooo cute!

Omg s/he is soooo cute
man after seeing that pic I am even more torn between getting a GSP and a Congo

I just think it would be impossible to get a Congo without ordering one b/c I don't think any stres around here carry them

does anyone know of any good sites to order them from?

Anyway good luck with your new little guy

I want a congo... Adorable.

Thanks for the kind compliments.

I'm sure she'd be happy if she knows how cute she is!

She's also changing her color now and then. She has different colors when she's sleeping, eating, swimming around, etc. So I guess she's a little different from my previous brown congo puffer.

It's pretty hard to order fishes in my part of the world. So I have to chance upon them, and quickly snap it up before someone else does so. Hence the unprepared tanks. I guess luck plays a part in getting fish in my country.

agree! she is really cute!!