Will figure 8's get along with cutcutia puffer

[jbeisen]

Hello everyone,

I have resonantly went to the fishshop and i saw the sadest little cutcutia puffer puffer fish (the store called them freshwater puffers?) i think i identified him as a cutcutia puffer.

Well naturally i asked the guy working if they will get along with my figure 8 puffer i have at home. He insured me that they would. SO i popped them into the thank (30gal) heavily planted but with room to swim ext. I noticed right away that the one was nipping alot at my figure 8 (who is twice as big) and i took him out of the tank. The other one (who seems much more peaceful) is still in the tank and there has been no more signs of fin nipping.

My question lies can these two types of puffers get along? or should i find a new home for them?

thanks for all your help I have had my F8 puffer for nearly a year now(named hootie)

[Pufferpunk]

I wouldn't even keep 2 of those cutcutia puffers together, never mind with a different species... Isn't your F8 in brackish water?

[jbeisen]

Yeah my figure is in slight brackish but the man at the fish shop said they should be fine together... (im beginning to think this dude is not very knowledgeable )

I read articles about the f8 and that it can be in both brackish or not... so i decided slight brackish would be best? Am i wrong to assume this? and yes i think i might have to rehome these new fish...

[jbeisen]

thats a pic...

[Pufferpunk]

Difficult to tell the species from that pic. Compare to pics in our Pufferpedia, found under the Learn tab, above.

library/puffers-in-focus/fig8/

[jbeisen]

Yeah, its not a figure 8, it has red eyes and has a the slight markings of one but has a big dot on its side.

[jbeisen]

this is a better pic

[defool89]

2$ its a fangs

[Pufferpunk]

Looks more like this fella: ug.php/v/PufferPedia/Freshwater/C_salivator/

[defool89]

Yea could be..very cool fella I would keep em

[bertie 83]

They need to be seperated right away or you will end up with dead puffers. The pure fact that different water chemistry is needed for these two fish tells me the person you saw in the shop is braindead

[Pufferpunk]

Not brain-dead, just misinformed & uneducated in the world of puffers, as are most LFS employees! :/

[sgtmyers88]

Sad but true.

[PufferGhoti]

Not brain-dead, just misinformed & uneducated in the world of puffers, as are most LFS employees! :/

Basically I agree, but we should find out who does the ordering and go back to them and educate those people rather than passively sitting back and criticizing. So many times I have been told there are no fresh water puffers... so the non "boss" types say that's what they were told (irrespective of reality), We try to engage the decision makers on the ordering side and get them a basis on Puffers and their needs otherwise the mistakes are repeated. Personally I prefer the phrase "ignorant" in the true sense of the word rather than "uneducated" which is condescending. I believe its our duty to educate and engage staff if we have the knowledge and in real life suggests they do not have the omniscient boss and so they can be "educated" as the buck stops there... rather than the temporary non-invested person you are likely to be talking to.

We all are in learning mode and its better to educate when you can make a contribution rather than declare people "uneducated" in the dark secrets of pufferdom..

Please do not take this the wrong way but Puffer education will lead a better situation rather than chastising people as "uneducated in the way of the puffer"

Dr PufferGhoti BSc, MSC, PhD, but still a enthusiastic "Learner" at pufferdom, despite keeping many puffers and often beyond the size of known species and being asked to identify new imports. Its an ongoing challenge or do we not keep "pets" ?

[Pufferpunk]

I give my LFS all the info I can about their stock.