The Puffer Forum

i went to go get a tank for what was my furture F8, but I went to my lfs and got some information out of the lady that worked there. She has pet puffers of her own, and she kinda scared me out of getting one now. Im not 100% sure im ready to commit. I mean the water changes and tank levels would be fine but apparently feeding them is pretty hard because of all the snails. I dont want to keep a snail tank. Anways im still thinking really hard about it, but could any of you maybe suggest a fish for me thats just as wonderful but maybe a little less work financially?

snails arent that expensive to buy for just one puffer
and there are other shelled food that can help keep teeth trim
i dont own a fig8, so dont know if they are one of the puffers who need alot of snails
thought they would have been same as a gsp?
hopefully a fig8 owner can advise!
but dont let it put you off, it is worth that little bit of extra work!
have you read the puffer pedia on fig8's? and also the feeding guide?
might help as well
good luck!

there are other foods that you can feed to help with teeth..mussels ( $2.50 a bag at Walmart) and such...

Figs 8 do need their teeth worn down often, but their are worse puffs out there that have more issues with teeth..like modestus..

I you are just getting one figure 8, I think you could manage as far as teeth go as long as you keep up with hard shelled food...but snails would be best.

But, as far as financially- dwarfs would probably work out to be cheaper than F8 because of the salt.

I used a snail tank for 2 months and then id had enough of it. The only puffer I really think you need a constant stock of snails for are SAP's due to the fast growth of their teeth and perhaps single or only a few DP's but only because of food wastage as half a cockle would be too big a meal for a DP.

For F8's use small cockles in shell and the scraping should keep their teeth in check no problem.

I keep two in a 30-long and its not that bad. Honest! Shell-on shrimp will help, as will mussels on the shell. You can get snails once a week or less and that will help for sure. You don't have to breed them.

F8s are fun! Don't give up. Water changes on a 15 are easy-peasy. .

well having a little GF bowl snail breeder tank is easy and = free food

J-P wrote:well having a little GF bowl snail breeder tank is easy and = free food

wait a minute,, goldfish bowl you say??? really?? elaborate please haha

If you just want to maintain a small snail population, and to be able to quarantine snails before you feed them a goldfish bowl would probably be sorta ok..

But I would suggest getting a 1 gallon tank kit that comes with a little filter, light and a LID-the lid is very important!!! because they will try to escape! You can get one for $20 at walmart or on ebay. This would be if you want to keep a handful of snails and if you were not interested in breeding...I would not suggest breeding in a tank that small..

This is a shot of a GF bowl that I got to use as a triops tank. It has a light, heater and a mini pump.

For a snail tank you don't need the heater, and I don't know if you need the light (I doubt it) . You will need that Elite mini filter though. The light is a nice touch. I have it clipped on to a book end.

Easy conversion... to a snail tank.

My puffers get snails about every other month. Easily picked off plants at Petsmart or Petco.

yes, petco and petsmart... and pretty much any other fish store are usually more than happy to give you snails because, luckily, those snails are considered nusiances sometimes they are harder to find, other times they are very easy to find... but when they are hard to find, just use mussels in the shells... no big deal... honest, it wont be too expensive, a bag of shrimp and a bag of mussels will last you FOREVER and they arent very expensive (make sure you get like one other food too tho, maybe glass worms or mysis shrimp, you can find them in the freezer section at petco and petsmart for like 4 bucks for like 30 frozen cubes). GO FOR IT! you will love them. after having 4 different species of puffs, i would never go back to any other fish, the personalities just arent there. puffs always seem to swim by, look at you and say "HI MOM!" *wave* lol. i luvs them

after having 4 different species of puffs, i would never go back to any other fish, the personalities just arent there. puffs always seem to swim by, look at you and say "HI MOM!" *wave* lol. i luvs them

I'm on the same boat.

Im going to do it!! Im going to go get a tank today hopefully. Its most likely going to be a 20 gallon because they dont make 15's here anymore, so hopefully that wont be too hard to maintain haha

If you have not gotten the tank yet, get a 20 long. The puffer will love the bigger footprint. PolishPuff is right, nothing compares to a puffers personality.