The Puffer Forum

I got a 30 gallon tank for 50% off for my f8. Super excited but not sure where to begin. I should got the puffer by October because I want to start culturing snails for three months or more in advance. What should my water parameters be like for the puffer?

If using aragonite as the substrate..than an sg of 1.003...if not..then an sg of 1.005...I think it goes something like that RTR is the guy to ask about F8's.

i dont think thats right about the substrate, its really preference i like keeping my F8 tank at a 1.005 with aragonite as my substrate

Also, you dont really need 3 months, buy a 2-5 gallon fish tank, buy a few pond snails and they breed like crazy. Give it about a month the snails only need to be the size of the eye.... Make sure you use some non foaming ammonia to keep the tank cycled as well!

My HD PVR wrote:i dont think thats right about the substrate, its really preference i like keeping my F8 tank at a 1.005 with aragonite as my substrate

I'm not sayin you can't have aragonite substrate and an SG of 1.005..it's just they do best at an SG of 1.003 and a high KH..which is where the aragonite comes in to play..it increases the KH of the water..so does the marine salt, but also increases the SG (among others)..but according to RTR (I think, don't quote me on this) F8's do better at 1.003 with aragonite...

well, we have to wait until RTR speaks up

Snails produce waste just like any animal, you don't add ammonia to a snail tank to keep it cycled.

im talking about the 30 gallon,..

Why not start by reading the F8 article in our Library? it tells you pretty much everything you need in there.

buy a few pond snails

actually I was thinking of ramshorns.

For me, F-8s do best with a specific gravity of 1.003 and with aragonite substrates. But it is difficult to read any significant long-term difference (15 years+/-) between 1.003 and 1.005, both with aragonite. The odds are that for F-8s, low salinity (1.003 to 1.005), high water quality (nitrate not over 10ppm) and stable alkalinity (KH, which also means stable pH) all appear equally important. My F-8s all got diets of ~95% owner-bred &-reared snails, mixed common pond and ramshorns. The water (filtered tap, not RO or RODI) was made up w/Instant Ocean marine mix, and had at least 50% partials weekly. The replacement water was prepared at least two days in advance and in holding tanks at temperature with current until use. All fish were housed singly with views of other F-8s in adjacent tanks.

HTH

Ramshorns get too big, and therefore you only need pondsnails they breed quicker as well

Told you so!

pond snail shells are very thin. how else am I supposed to keep the teeth in check?

so should I just go back to breeding pond snails for my puffers then? i wanted to do only ramshorns... but this topic is making me change my mind now lol! could i put them in my spare 2.5 gallon to breed both kinds? i was only going to do ramshorns because i thought puffers preferred them...