The Puffer Forum

Hey...my setup:

110liter tank
3 xf8 puffers, 1 1/2 inch in size (roughly 3-4 months old each of them)
1 x bbg (+ - 3-4 months old)
1 x leopard molly (+ - 1-2 months old)
1 x plec (I've read that they don't survive well in any salinity but there have been some cases of them thriving and I keep the salinity between 0.003 and 0.005 - my LFS said I should try it since they've had cases where they do survive and are happy)

Within the month, one of my bbg was found dead sucked up against my filter. He had a couple of bites on him, but no chunks - maybe he swam too close to the filter and just couldn't get away? But I've seen them up against the filter and they have always wiggled away from it so I didn't think it would be a hazard for them since I've seen them escape.
NOW TODAY! my black molly that I added last week was found finless and decapitated...none of the puffers had very bulgy tummies but I swear I could see a guilty look in all their eyes! Now, could it be that the 3 f8's are getting bigger now and more territorial and aggressive and having 3 of them is pushing it to fit them in, but I'm wondering if I should give one or two away ? I know 2 can definitely live together in the size tank I have but I'm worried now about tank mates. Honestly, just having a puffer or 2 is an empty tank and I was hoping to have more gobies and mollies swimming round - they're funny and beautiful. But if the puffers are going to continue to pop a cap in their asses I don't want to keep this up.

It's not like they're starving and have to eat their housemates!! They are getting bloodworm and snails (alternating every other day) once a day.

Should I find a new home for 1 or 2 puffs and add more tank mates rather ?

I'm so sad! Pan and Franz are dead I just hope Hanz and Smooch can survive these little savages.

Can you test the water for us. The plecs produce a lot.of waste.
Fig 8s can be very nippy and dont tend to like others too much in my experience with them.

idk how the water parameters influence the puffers from killing my other fish, but

ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate below 20
ph bout 8
salinity 0.004

First off remove the plec. They are probably just fed up with having another living thing infront of them. If they are killers they should be kept alone. Poor water conditions lead to grumpy or sick fish that's why that question always pops up. Yours seem fine tho

That pleco should NOT be in salty water, period, and if your puffers are killing the other fish, then the only solution is to separate them. That's all there is to it. If you don't, the other tankmates will die too.

k, pleco will either go to an extended family member or I'll take him back to the lfs when I take 2 other puffs back.

Do you think if there's only one puffer left it'll be more tolerable of mollies and gobies again? Or are there cases of single puffers hating any kind of tankmate? If yes...is there some sort of system to get the fish used to each other slowly? Or just plop them in?

Sorry if I came across as agitated, I was not very impressed about finding a headless fish that is less than a week in it's new home.

Woohoo!

If they are attacking bbg's then they will not tolerate any tankmates, bbg's wear a universal warning pattern, if this is ignored no other tankmates will be left alive. Keep the least dominant one and you may stand a chance of some survival, no guarantee though. Mollies are generally not a good puffer tankmate, there are a few exceptions to the rule tho

remove the plec for good , as they need to be in fresh water . Next take out the f8's . Then rearrange the tank decor and add more so that it breaks fishes line of sight from wherever they are in the tank . Finally put the f8's back in all at the same time .
Seriously think about getting a larger tank . If carnage is still happening reduce number of fish , starting with the most aggressive .

sevenyearnight wrote:Woohoo!

i hope thats a typo ???!?

It was meant for another thread

I've never had an success keeping mollies or BBGs with my F8s.

ok, good to know. I see a lot of ppl with mollies, bbg and 1x f8.

I ended up changing decor around 2 days before the molly was taken out, and unfortunately I couldn't tell what happened to the goby as he was so tiny but still pretty much whole.

I have a friend who might want one of the puffers, so I'll start by giving away the most aggressive and keep 2 still. Perhaps your insight might help me determine a characteristic trait:

Out of my 3 f8's, Fig is bigger, but stays near the back of the tank more often, and tends to always hide when someone approaches. He turns away whenever I slowly and gently place a finger near the glass to say hi, but I have seen him chasing the others away from him at times...and try nip the other puffers too.
Paku...is named after Pac-man for a reason, his mouth never stops chomping. He actually did nip Fig's tail when they were first put together, but he has stopped chasing as much as he used to but when I found the dead molly, he was the only one who seemed really interested in the exposed flesh of tankmate.
Tsuki - I've never seen her doing anything other than turning around upon Paku or Fig when they were chasing her around, but she's the only one without any nips in her fins, so what if she's the culprit behind closed doors? !!!

It's so hard to decide who the most aggressive one is. When I'm actually there they all tend to behave. What should I look for?

Pacu most aggro, unamed most defensive. Tsuki seems most personable

Update on this situation:

I returned the plec and Paku (the more aggressive f8) to the LFS, unfortunately my friend could not afford a setup to adopt him. I removed Fig and Tsuki and placed them in a temporary smaller tank while rearranging the decor and leaving the mollies in. A few hours later, with confirmation from Neale - fish expert (WetWebMedia.com), I added Tsuki and Fig again to the big tank. They stuck to exploring the back of the tank, which may have been caused by the mollies following them around a lot. After 40 minutes observation, Fig had tried 3 times to nip/attack the smaller molly. He had been eyeing him out for a while. I have removed Fig again and placed him in the temporary tank again for the night and first thing tomorrow I will unfortunately take him back to the LFS too.

This means that Tsuki (always been my favourite) is a sole f8 now (will probably be happier from what I've read) in a 29gallon tank with 4 mollies and 1 bbg tank mates as of now. If all goes well, I was thinking of getting a few more bbg when the LFS gets stock. But before I do that, I want to check in here. With 1 f8 in a 29gallon tank, how many bbg's and mollies can I have in there without overstocking?