The Puffer Forum

I just got my first puffer awhile ago.I wanted to put some plants in his tank. He is in a 29 gallon with some driftwood and assorted plastic plants.. I want real plants.. is this possiable or will he destroy them? he is a humpback puffer.

You can put real plants in. I don't think they will be destroyed. Don't take this as a final answer as I am not 100% sure.

What kind of puffer?

What is your substrate?

What is the lighting?

It is written that it is a humpback puffer.

the substrate is Sand, the puffer is a humpback and i have access to whatever kind of lighting i need

I don't know about growing plants in sand - but the puff will love live plants.

They are lurkers mostly - so don't worry about them eating up your vegetation. Mine likes to sit in the java fern.

From what ive read( and from a little experience) it is very hard to and not a good idea to keep live plants in a sand bedded aquarium, as it makes stirring the sand very difficult, and any roots that begin to rot can turn anoxic very easily. I tried having live plants in my 29 gal sand bedded tank, and i by RTR's advice i decided to move them to a different tank. Just not worth the difficulty. im not 100% sure on this, im sure RTR will have more info.


-John

hmmm really? cause i have another tank that is sand and is nothing but live plants and doing wonderfully. Have not lost a single fish in that one yet.

Beth - Sand tends to be highly controversial and avoided by many fishkeepers that I respect.

That said, I have a wonderful planted tank with a sand bottom and have been running either sand, or crushed coral/aragonite sand, on my tanks for many years with no problems. I don't use too deep a bed - never more than an inch, and I tend to have some (used to have a lot until the dojo loaches moved in) malaysian trumpet snails in the sandbed and have never had/seen an anoxic pocket form.

Eric

I am not a fan of planted sand tanks, but if it is working for you in another tank - and has been for several years - then do not change techniques. If the sand tank is less than a year old, I would consider alternate substrates - IME there are rarely issues with new/young sand tanks. Puffer tanks I set for minimum ten year life/use.

Palembangs do not seem to care what the substrate is, as they do not burrow as some other lurkers, especially Congos, do.

To simplify your life, I'd not use more than 2 up to maybe 2.5 W/gallon, but that is also affected by the type of lighting fixture/tube or other light source chosen. PC fluorescents or T-5 tubes are more efficient than NO tubes and may have much better reflectors associated (as with AGSupply's Miro reflectors for their PCs), which lowers the lighting requirement a bit below those figures given.

You never can tell; I had a F8 that was a biological hole punch to plants... she shreaded anything she could get her beak on. However, my congo and dwarves are fine with plants, so you may try to add a few and see how your puff reacts to them.

I had several planted tanks with sand substrates running for 3+ years (moving made me break them down, grrrr). I am careful to use either plants with thick, tough roots (vals and crypts mostly) but I do keep some areas bare and mix them as "normal" when doing water changes.

I also "shade" some areas with driftwood covered in java ferns/moss. I then stir up the sand underneath every other water change or so.

Using a hose with a small opening (like a python with the big vaccum removed) allows me to get between plants very well and keep gunk from getting built up. I just have to be careful not to suck up all the sand.

Plants will grow fine in sand from my personal experience. The problem I encountered was trying to get the sand enriched enough. The prevention of anaerobic pockets forming was frequent and thorough vacuuming, this had the side effect of not enriching the sand. There are ways of spiking the sand when you first set it up such as adding a layer of oak leaves or various commercial products.

Also, you can have sand and then use plants like java fern and anubias that attach to rocks and driftwood. This would have the benefit of the plants being very hardy and hard to kill.

I actually found a "plant sand". I think this is the stuff:

http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/pro ... ry_id=2429

It doesn't seem to work quite as well as the old fashioned Flourite, but it does the job. (Note this is pure conjecture... I don't have as much light on this tank I mix it with other sand of differnt colors, like red for my wee red congo.)

It is also "soft" enough for my congo to hide in. "Soft" sand is a big deal in my house since I have a congo and a wrasse that both hide in the sand. The things we think about for our finned friends

Several folks in the local plant group have given up Onyx sand due to the same anaerobic areas issues that occur with ordinary sand. As these include some nationally known aquascapers, I will accept their judgement on that as well. Small-grain substrates are fine when young, risky as the setup matures as I said before.

If I want a nice sand bed for my congo to bury herself in should I leave off rooted plants? I could live with stuff attached to driftwood and maybe some floaters...

It's easier with marine tanks and deep sand beds. You _want_ a nice, deep, undisturbed layer of sand. I'm beginning to feel as though my reefy tank is easier to take care of than my freshwater planted tanks...