The Puffer Forum

Hi all! I am new. Not a puffer owner yet. I have been doing research for some time and am wanting to get a F8 or two. I am on here to gather info for starting.

I will go ahead and say what I am wanting to know on here and if anyone thinks I should move my topic to another location please feel free to let me know!!

I have a dragon goby in a 29gal (brackish of coarse!) at the moment. I plan on putting together a 55gal in three months for him. He is currently about 8-9in long. He was about 3 in when I got him a year or so ago. I am wanting to put an F8 or two with him if possible. What I am wanting to know is if that is a good idea or not. If I can do that now in the 29gal or if I should wait till the 55 is established, or if it's just a bad idea all together. I have wanted puffers for over a year now and have researched but most of the info is full of contradictions. I will wait till my dragon is in the new set up and keep my 29gal set up going for the puffers if need be. However, I would prefer to put them with my dragon if possible. The tank looks empty because he likes to hide in his fake tree trunk or under the coral rocks. I would like something else unusual with him. I know I need more decor first and that's not a problem. There is plenty of ground cover but not much in the way of taller things because the the dragon doesn't care about tall stuf lol. I am also wanting to put a small school (6-8) of Celebes Rainbow in as well but the info on them is contradicting(as to wether or not they are brackish) as well. I will not take my LFS advice. He is saying that they are FW but then again he argued with me about the goby being brackish as well(he says they are FW as well) it's strange that he can be so ignorant about it to me because he has his GSPs and some others in brackish water and even has the salinity levels posted on the tanks so that people know. Even his guppies and other live baring fish are in low end brackish water. Sorry, I know I talk a lot! Anyway, I am hoping for some answers that are consistent. My LFS doesn't carry F8s so he would have to special order them for me. He carries GSPs but from everything I have read I am almost positive that I do not want them in with my dragon. I have considered putting one in a 29 heavily decorated though. I would love to be able to do that!

As a first time (soon to be) puffer owner any info will be greatly appreciated!! Please and thank you!!

hi.welcome...

I kept 2 F8s & a DG in a 29g for many years. The CR are iffy--the puffers may eat them. They eventually ate all my BBGs & all my mollies. Others have had success.

Hi, and thanks. I was thinking about BBGs as well lol. I am wanting to give it a try! Maybe just the puffer for now? Then try to put the CR or some BBG in the 55 when it's established? Have you have any problems between your two puffers? Should I try two or maybe just one since I am not experienced yet? Any thoughts? I am very open to advice from people that know more about the subject than I do.

My 2 got along great. There were 3, until one jumped out.

One jumped out! Ouch!! My dragon jumped out once. Luckily I found him in time!! Since then his tank has been well sealed. I am not even sure why he jumped out. His water was fine and he was the only one in the tank. He did have a habit of hugging the glass in the corner when I got him and was jumpy for a while. The LFS had the DGs and the GSPs in the same tank and there was nowhere to hide. Luckily the idiots had the black mystery snails in as well so they got most of the abuse. My little Gimpy(his name lol) was the smallest most picked on one in there. I felt sorry for him and honestly didn't expect him to live. The store clerk even told me I should get a different one because he would die soon. That is kinda why I got him though! How could they stand there and tell me that it wouldn't live, to get a different one and yet at the same time not do anything about it themselves!! It angers me. So anyway he was real jumpy for a long time. Still is a tiny bit but not much. I googled DGs right there in the store before buying him to make sure I got everything I needed. I had never even heard of having a BW set up before then! Since they had him in FW anyway I figured it didn't matter if I went ahead and got him since I would have to transition him anyway I figured why not do it with the tank? I had my 29 set up as a sick tank for my tetras but never used it. So I got the DG some instant ocean frozen bloodworms and went home. As it turns out he was the coolest impulse buy I have ever gotten!! Lol.

Was your puffer still alive when you found him? Or had he already died?

I googled DGs right there in the store before buying him to make sure I got everything I needed.

I'm impressed!
Actually, I've stupidly forgotten to close the let a couple of times & lost 2 F8s that way.

That's sad. Its hard losing something that you care about.

I am not sure why you are impressed about me goggling the DG but I will take that as a compliment to be sure! I learned at a young age to research before buying anything. I was only about 8 then I got my first aquarium. It was a disaster! My mother didn't know anything about fish but I had wanted fish for a while! I still remember what I got! I didn't know what they were at the time but I do now. It was only a 10gal. Undergravel filter no heater and to many fish! One male betta, one white molly, one black molly two neon tetras, two guppies, and two albino corys. Oh! And a snail. The Molly died first and so on and so forth. I ended up with just the betta in the end. I was heartbroken!! After that I always had a betta. Then when I moved out after high school I started doing my own thing. I have always been a big fan of tetras. I also had African cichlids for a few years but finally got tired of always having one in a sick tank and the fact that I couldn't set up the aquarium the way I wanted because they would move things and knock them over. So I went back to tetras a couple of years ago. The more research I did the better I got at keeping them alive. I don't care what they say. Tetras are not beginner fish! With the exception of neons maybe. They are such fragile fish the smallest change can wipe out a whole tank. Lol, I know I talk a lot! I just love fish and can talk about them all day!

Any ideas on good things to put in my BW tank that will provide good cover for the puffers? As I said earlier about half of the bottom has different kids of ground cover for my DG but I want taller stuff for the F8s when I get them. I am going to go ahead and get two of them.

I like the fake mangrove roots that Petsmart sells.

I will check those out thanks!