The Puffer Forum

My little fella is currently living in a 250 liter aquarium, and he is now about 15 cm long (and over three years old, has been in my care a couple of months) I am planning on moving him to a 375 liter aquarium, will that be sufficent for him? When he came to me he was about 10-11 cm long, so he has grown, but mostly gotten fatter and rounder. I can also buy him a 540 liter aquarium, if that is better?

I am planning the scape, a layer of fine sand, some claytubes and caves and a really big mangroveroot covered with plants. Not many plants in the sand to help make the cleaning easy.

How should I think when it comes to the filtration? I have a Fluval FX6, and that is really a good filter I think. Should one FX6 and perhaps a big internal filter (Eheim 2252) work? Or should I go for two external filters? I am also thinking of a filterchamber, a chamber made of glass inside the aquarium filled with filtermaterial and with a strong circulationpump, like a really big internal filter in a corner of the aquarium. I can also hide the heater in that chamber.

Thankful for any inputs =)

It's all about the tanks footprint. Min size is 120g, if I were to get another I would likely double that. Filtration should be well tailored to provide fairly strong current along the front and slower areas toward the back ( this will make him exercise at the front and rest at the back) . This is easiest achieved by multifiltering, I use multiple eheim cannisters but a couple of fluvals will be just as good.

Well, the footprint is absolutely bigger in the 540 liter tank, that tank is 150 cm long, 60 cm high and wide. The 375 liter tank is the same length, but 50 cm high and wide. I am thinking of a corner filter, like the hamburger mattenfilter. I will fill the corner with cut filtermatcubes, bioballs and some other small biological material combined with a Fluval FX6 external filter. That would circulate the whole watermass 10 times per hour.

Would it just be foolish of me to put him in the smaller of the two tanks? I do not think he will grow much more, but I am really scared of stunting him more than he already is. I´m asking since it would be nice to move the fish currently living in the 375 liter aquarium to a bigger tank. But, if its what he needs, he will get the 540 liter tank for himself.

He could still grow lots, they never stop growing. If you have seen good growth since purchasing him then give him the best, 60 cm front to back is essential for fahakas as an expected 18" is achievable in a suitable aquarium. Give these fish more and you get more in return, trust me. The filtration seems good in theory so long as you can Taylor flow