Advice needed - new F8 in a established F8s tank.

[By_a_coo]

Hi all.

Today I bought a new F8. It's tiny (0.8'' - 2cm) and the 2 F8s I already have measure about twice the size (1 1/2" - 4cm). My 2 F8s are not aggressive among them and they already shared the tank with mollies but I'm worried what could happen to the tiny one. I wonder if they will get along fine.

Does anybody have similar experience?
What's the advice?

How long should I let it in dripping method to raise the SG from 1.000 to 1.005?

[jtbadco]

to maintain the bio-filter and not stress the fish, u can only raise the sg by .002 per week...u need to measure with a refractometer

having clean consistent water parameters and a good environment will eliminate unnecessary stress but they will either get along or they wont. if they have tolerated other tank-mates,...odds are they'll be fine.

HTH
Blaine

[JRC3]

Are you going to quarantine the fish before you add it to the main tank? I have a new one in QT right now that is dying from an IP infestation. I'm glad I QT'd him and didn't just add him to my F8 tank, that could've been disastrous. Also QT gives you the opportunity to raise the SG slowly.

Check out the seventh paragraph regarding SG acclimation and QT. http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article84.html

Good luck

[By_a_coo]

@jtdadco - The dripping method is beeing done in a plastic bucket. The main tank, where the other 2 F8s are, already has reached 1.005 along time ago. I'm gonna let the new F8 acclimating for about 5 hours, it gives us ~ .001/hour.

@JRC3 - You really got me worried! I didn't think about quarentining the new F8. I know we can't see internal parasites, but the fish is looking so healthy (eating, normal poos, bright colour).

[JRC3]

@JRC3 - You really got me worried! I didn't think about quarentining the new F8. I know we can't see internal parasites, but the fish is looking so healthy (eating, normal poos, bright colour).

Look how healthy this guy looked (though he wasn't eating).
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk16 ... CI0382.jpg
I have a thread about him if you want to check it out.

He died 2 hours ago. I would at least QT long enough to see him poop a few times, though I would recommend much longer. Either way, good luck.

[By_a_coo]

Wow! I read your thread. What a sad story! Sorry to hear that.

[By_a_coo]

JRC3

Today I will put the new F8 in a QT as you recommended me. In the morning I found the new puffer very skinny but eating.

I'm gonna deworm it and the others before it's too late.

Thanks a lot to pointed that!

[JRC3]

He's probably just skinny because he is due to be fed...He's pretty small and growing so I'm sure the food gets absorbed pretty quickly from his stomach.

[RTR]

Never add any new fish to an established tank without full QT. To do otherwise is to seriously put the supposedly healthy fish at major risk. That is one rule I never break - I have done in the past, and have paid the price, and I never will again.

Even after full QT, adding a new conspecific to an established tank of non-schooling fish is high risk. You are benefited by the fact that all three fish are still immature and immature F-8s do tend to school. But the size and age differences are still to be considered. Immediately before introducing the new fish, do a big water change and totally rearrange the decor in the tank, being sure to add additional refuge/rest/sleep areas to accommodate the newcomer as well as the existing two. Watch carefully several days and be prepared to put in a see-through divider to protect the newcomer if required.

What size is the tank?

[By_a_coo]

@JRC3 - It was very fat at the LFS and the seller told me that the F8 had just eaten. It got skinny after it defecated, now the new F8 is in a QT and already eat a tiny piece of shrimp soaked in mebendazole.

@RTR - Too bad for I have been reckless. Now the new F8 is in a QT as I mentioned. I hope it didn't infect the others during the short time it spend inside the main tank. The tank is a 53G long, there's a lot of rock and wood where the other 2 F8 love to rest and search for bugs to eat, they rarely pace the glass and I sure will rearrange the decor before adding the new one in the main display.

I was very worried about aggressions, believe or not, when the new tiny one was added it put the others to run! That was funny after half an hour everything was back to normal.

Now I'm much more concerned about the risk of disease.

[RTR]

That does sound promising. When they are all still young you have a lot more leeway. Unfortunately, that does not mean that they will still be compatible when they are mature - you just cannot predict. I was never able to keep more than two adults together (even in 75s), and I suspect that those were same-sex critters, but for F-8s it is really hard to be sure of that.

I confess that I never tried to keep a group together in a big tank (120 or 180). I was tempted, but never did it. I think that I really did not want to know - that is a lot of tank for a few smallish fish. I like big tanks with big schools of small fish or big singletons.

[By_a_coo]

That does sound promising. When they are all still young you have a lot more leeway. Unfortunately, that does not mean that they will still be compatible when they are mature - you just cannot predict.

I remember reading that in some of your articles. They can get along fine when they are still young, and we never know how they'll act when they are mature.

I'm trying to add a third F8 because one of two F8 I have acts much more dominat than the other. I hope that the introducing of a new F8 breake that behavior. Let's see waht the future holds.

Off-topic: the F8 that is being quarentined looks very skinny between the feeding-times, he does accept shrimp soaked in menbendazole. Today I just checked his poos and it's looking brownish pellets. I'm really not sure what that means: IF he has worms or he's just underfed.

[RTR]

Short-term, everybody has a hard time telling whether or not IPs are really present, especially with new fish where you have not known them or their care and feeding. That is the big benefit of QT - it gives you time to watch feeding and the results - short term on the output, longer term on the animal's body and activity. With most puffers, there is a great advantage to their body modifications for puffing - the lack of ribs means that you can really see the gut. An empty GI track is dramatic. When the body starts putting on real weight gain, it is not hard to tell.

To me, most pet puffers are overfed. "Pleasingly plump" is theoretically good, but overweight is not - that is likely the major cause of shortened lives in puffers who survive their first two years in captivity. The old saying of "a lean horse for a long race" really applies to puffers in captivity. No matter how complex their environment or how large their tank, our pets do not work as hard in captivity as they do in the wild. protection from disease, predation, etc. is far better in captivity and so the largest difference between wild and captive critters, but to maximize health and lifespan we cannot let them get fat - that is hard on a lot of body systems. So you don't want a chronic sunken belly, but it does take time to restore a "normal" body profile, whether it was caused by IPs or just inappropriate or inadequate feeding and care.