The Puffer Forum

Hello! I love puffera and am new to them! I have been reading up on puffers and tank set up, but I'm still pretty clueless

Any help as to articles on how to get started, equipment needed, and the best puffer for a beginner would be great! Please keep in mind my puffer (and setup) might be a year away or more, but I don't want to be an uninformed oaf not knowing what to do or what to want! I plan to slowly acquire my tank and supplies to make a nice home for my future puffer friend!

I chose a Freshwater tank to start because when I was 10-12 we had a pretty nice 30gal tank with lots of nice freshwater fish that my Mom and I would take care of. However I am now 25 and don't quite remember everything we used to do to keep our fish nice and happy @_@ plus they were a lot more low maintenance than puffers!

TIA everyone!

Start by looking under the Learn tab above & read everything in our Library & Pufferpedia.

Pufferpunk wrote:Start by looking under the Learn tab above & read everything in our Library & Pufferpedia.

Thank you! Any help as to the type I should fall in love with would help too. I'd hate to fall in love with a breed thats for an intermediate puffer parent.

On the freshwater side of things the most common ones would be Dwarf puffers and SAP's, less common but very striking are the Congo puffer and the Fahaka but those require larger tanks.

For a beginner I might suggest the Dwarf puffers. They are cute, relatively easy to keep and house in smaller tanks 15-30 gal for multiples and they will tolerate some tank mates

You would need a 15 to 30 gal tank,...keep it well planted so a good set of dual T5 lights would be best, sand substrate and some snails and shrimp for snacks. I suggest 2 smaller filters rather than one large one so the outflow does whip them around and a small submersible heater.

HTH

Thank you Blaine! Too bad I didn't keep my 30gal tank from my childhood

All this info is very helpful so I can research dwarf puffers! They are indeed very cute too!

What kind of personality do you want?

Do you want something really friendly and active? Or do you want something laid back?

Even as a newb to puffers, you seem committed- I think you could handle any on this page
ug.php/v/PufferPedia/Freshwater/

And just to put it out there- if you are willing to go low brackish (really not hard to do) you could go with an f8. They are easy to find and really friendly.

I like really friendly smiling puffers! All puffers are lovely though.

I found a great LFS here in Portland OR so I'm going to go in there in the next few weeks to check out all their wonderful puffers and to see their fahaka puffer and ask lots of questions.

KariRocksOut wrote:
I found a great LFS here in Portland OR so I'm going to go in there in the next few weeks to check out all their wonderful puffers and to see their fahaka puffer and ask lots of questions.

If you have puffer questions, ask them here!! Puffers are odd ball fish and very few LFS know anything about them (even the good LFSs out there). My favorite pet store knows a great deal about fish in general, but nearly all of there puffer information is out of wack!!

If you want a Fahaka we can help you with that, and we can help you with equipment as well....and please don't go to your LFS and say, "I want a large tank, and a bunch of equipment"...because you will pay through the nose for it!!!!!!!!!

LOL! Portland is a very special city. My son lives there - but does not at the moment keep fish. His lifestyle and travel sort of knocks live pets out. Personally I like the place, but could not deal with the winters - I had rather have snow and sun than all that clouds and rain.

There are lots of good first puffers, but i would second purplecandle's suggestion of a brackish water F-8. They are small fish, but with great personalities,and are quite easy care once you have the concept that puffers are not like other fish. But even if you stick to FW, there are plenty t chose from.

Check back with the local store to find out what puffers they see regularly - availability is not often year-round with these fish as almost all are wild-caught. Also check into what if any live foods they carry. No matter how good the shop may be, do not accept their care suggestions for puffers without checking what is suggested here. Most LFS have no clue as to how handle puffers in captivity.

Good luck!

Fahaka puffers are like big ol puppy dogs of the puffer world but has a darkside...lol. But still worth it. But like the others stated, Beginner puffers for a beginner is best. Some people does start out with the big puffers though.

Thanks for all the helpful information everyone! I will def ask any questions I have here though. I'm still excited to go check out the local selection here in Ptown, just to see the little guys in action!

Yeah I've been looking on Craigslist for a 30-35 gallon tank. I've seen a few nice ones in the area but they all have bases, and I don't need one since I'm going to sit the tank on our dinner buffet. Also our house is decorated modern/casual so a base wouldn't look right anywhere! I'll just keep looking on Craigslist for tanks until the right one pops up! I think I'll ask my friend, who keeps a gorgeous SW tank about filters and if I should buy new or risk Craigslist. He's gotten a lot of stuff from Craigslist and also from the LFS and knows all the good places to shop!!

I'll just slowly acquire everything while I read up on F-8's!