The Puffer Forum

New to the site and new to the "sport". I've been an aquarist for going on 10 years now... ALL of my experience is in African Cichlids and the last 2 years of helping my wife with her 15 year old goldfish. I just reciently came across a 50 gallon 36"x26"x12" Deep tank so, I'm going to convert this tank into a new heavily planted tank and what better to try than to attempt puffers with this kind of tank. I can't say that they were MY first choice... But, my wife has wanted one for about 5 years now and this would be "our" first chance to go about doing so. So, I was just wondering if you all might be able to point me in a direction for species selection. I know she really loves the dwarf puffers but, I must say I really have a liking towards the figure 8's... If anyone would have any ideas it would greatly be appreciated.. *or a site that would show me some pictures/extra info on max sizes and breeding patterns* Seeing I plan on doing ALL live plants FW would be preferable (and I've never done a brackish tank before so I'm not sure how co2/brackish/first time attempting both the fish and the tank/and heavily planted tank would all mesh... So, if anyone has any ideas I'll take them! Thanks all, Jason

BTW. Here's some pics of my tanks that I have running right now... I'm up to 4 and this 50 would be #5 *also have 2 empty tanks in the garage*

http://s99.photobucket.com/albums/l316/Jrmass/

Looks like a lovely puffer habitat! If you haven't done so already, make sure the rocks can't be easily dislodged by a startled or curious fish.

Take a look at The Puffer List: Freshwater Puffers for descriptions including suggested tank size per fish. If you want to go freshwater, you can't have a figure 8. They need a brackish environment. There are plenty of cool FW puffs out there, though, and you have lots of options with a tank that big. Have fun researching!

You can also find more pictures of FW puffs elsewhere on this forum, in the Freshwater Puffer Gallery

I haven't had puffs very long (maybe 4 years total, and for most of that my mom was primary caretaker) and I only recently learned not to believe the fish store about their care. But there are tons of incredibly knowledgeable people on this forum who can help you with your decisions and with fine-tuning the habitat. I'm sure they'll be along shortly once you've had a chance to look at the FW species and narrow down the choices. I've kept GSPs, a Figure 8, and a Red-eye (C. irubesco). They're all lots of fun!

Happy puffing!

Welcome Bud

Like the tank pics.

Well a 50 gallon would certainly house a lot of Dwarf Puffers, but I see you have your eyes on the F8's, an excellent choice.

Looking at the dimensions of your tank I assume it is 36"L x 26"H x 12"W, 3 Fig 8's would be very comfortable, possibly 4 but 3 would have a bit more space to grow.

As it's brackish and you want live plants here is a link to a recent thread keeping plants in brackish water

BW Plants

Obviously there are other puffer options with the space you have, any questions just ask, someone will be able to answer them for you.

Last night I did about 3 hours worth of searching through the FW species. And I think that I'm going to stay the dwarf route. *it's the kind my wife wanted and I've already got 4 tanks she can have this one lol* So, when we set the tank up we'll probably go with the "Carinotetraodon
irrubesco" the "Red-tailed Red Eye Puffer" Doesn't seem like there are any out of the usual requirements and just from thinking last night if I'm going to do a brackish tank I might as well just go all out salt... So, we'll just stick to the fw tank on this one. As I already said the tank will be heavily planted with co2 injection. I'm also going to run eco complete possibly adding just a little bit of tahiti black sand. Filtration will be taken care of by an xp2 Rena canister filtration system as well as underground bubble wands for over-night use only (that'll be run by one of my rena 400 air pumps). I guess my only real question for right now would be about how many of these beautiful puffers can I house in that 50 gal tank?

Thanks again and hope to continue hearing some great ideas,

Jason

*p.s.* if anyone ever needs help with any other fish I'm a member of http://www.fishindex.com Same as it is here... Just ask and they'll help

Well I'd first suggest that before you decide on a particular one, you see what's available. I've not had any luck finding irrubescos anywhere in Wisconsin. If you do happen to find one, please let me know where.

They require 10g each.

Well, I had already talked with my LFS and they told me that if there was anything I need for the puffer line they said 99% of them they can get me... and just about any kind of FW puffer I'd want... So, I'm preatty sure I can get this fish from him... *don't quote me on it... But, I'm preatty sure I can* glad to hear that they need the 10 gal range... I was only thinking 6 as a max. So, I guess that number will just be reduced to 5 instead. I'll check with him to see if he can get me this line of puffer and if he can I'll see about prices and such and list them here

Jason

BTW, I checked out your site and registered. Man, have you guys got loads of misinformation about puffers! But we'll straighten ya'll out.

This is why I registered here... it's genus specific.

So, I'm pretty sure I can get this fish from him... *don't quote me on it... But, I'm pretty sure I can* glad to hear that they need the 10 gal range... I was only thinking 6 as a max. So, I guess that number will just be reduced to 5 instead.

So you're going to get 5 irribuscos? They are best kept in pairs. There was a fellow here that was selling all 6 of his here:
http://www.thepufferforum.info/forum/vi ... php?t=4732

Irrubescos are gorgeous, but they can be really hard to find. I've only seen them once here in Wi. Good luck getting them in, and definately make sure your store understands if they get the wrong type, you aren't necessarily going to buy it.

You do realize irrubescos are NOT dwarf puffers, correct? Dwarf puffers stay a lot smaller and get along a lot better in groups. Cute little buggars.

says their max size is 3" close enough to dwarf for my standards =)

Thanks for the heads up though

I used to have two irrubescos in my tank, both female. They were intensely aggressive with one another. If you want puffs with a good chance of getting along in groups, the dwarf might be better. Irrubescos are beautiful, spunky, investigative, smart, and extremely territorial. Make sure there are more hidey-holes than fish so everyone can claim a territory they are comfy with. And it might be a good idea to have an extra cycled tank handy just in case you need to separate out a couple of meanies.