The Puffer Forum

Sooo finally after a crazy journey my lil guy arrived!Thought he was actually dead when I opened the box!... Anyone know how to tell gender? Names?? Anyone??

YIPPEE!!!

Nope, just pick a gender. Definitely treat for IPs. Why'd you think he was dead? What happened with the shipping? I don;t like that substrate at all. Too easy to trap detritus.

Oooo that sucks! O well ... The water was no warmer than 65F and he was i think going into like hibernation LOL Was swimming a bit sideways so i let em sit in the sink with some warmer water and he came too! They only put 1 little heatpack in the box with Styrofoam. Buttttt anyway hes alive and very well... So far he's eaten like 5 snails and a guppy! Hungry lil bugger! Whats detritus?
Treat for IPs? hmmm??

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detritus

AKA too much waste will get stuck in your substrate and pollute your water.

Ahhh icicicic ... thats probably true ... Ive been thinking of changing up the substrate to white sand but apparently its a lot of work especially with a messy eater. I was also thinking larger riverstone. Looks cool but also will probably trap pollution. O well we will see.
Would there be enough flow in the tank with 2 aquaclear 110s or do you figure i should keep my powerhead going?

Your substrate is too large already. Larger will trap more. I prefer 50% sand, 50% med-sized gravel.

Oh. my. word. That is one super stinkin cute puffer.

ILoveLola wrote:Oh. my. word. That is one super stinkin cute puffer.

Thanks - You!! She's awesome!! Still trying to figure out a name... being mischievous as all fahakas are but i think in time ill figure something out

Pufferpunk wrote:Your substrate is too large already. Larger will trap more. I prefer 50% sand, 50% med-sized gravel.

What if I added sand to the mix? White sand? Do you figure that would work better? I think it would look alright...

You should really get the rocks out, they will cause you problems. With as messy as puffs are all the mess he makes will go in between the rocks. With sand everything for the most part will sit on top and can easily be siphoned out. My Fahaka actually cleans up after himself by hunting for and eating all the "leftovers" he missed. Baby Fahaka's also like to bury. Ares is over a year old and 12" and still buries on a daily basis.

Cute puffer!

Did you do a couple of large water changes to avoid a ph swing? If not I would recommend doing it now. Cool puffer

IPs = internal parasites

+1 on removing the rocks. Great pics.

Srkoe wrote:You should really get the rocks out, they will cause you problems. With as messy as puffs are all the mess he makes will go in between the rocks. With sand everything for the most part will sit on top and can easily be siphoned out. My Fahaka actually cleans up after himself by hunting for and eating all the "leftovers" he missed. Baby Fahaka's also like to bury. Ares is over a year old and 12" and still buries on a daily basis.

Shells out Perhaps? Like I said ... mix with sand to fill all loose areas....?