Any Puffers?

Any body raise freshwater puffers?

Looking for an idea for a 29g tank occupant, maybe a Mekong or Congo. No fish that will outgrow the tank, no brackish, no pea puffers (just too small)

Like to hear your feed back if you are a Puffer owner and what you would suggest for a 29G.

I have a figure eight puffer in my 50 gallon hex tank along with 4 angels 3 clown loaches 3 dojo loaches an upside-down catfish, a rubberlip pleco, a peacock eel and a hillstream loach. They all do great together. I personally like my figure eight he is a little shy but has a unique personality. Plus it interesting watching him eat snails. Why not try a few loaches and some tetras that would look pretty cool I think.

Thanks for your puffer experience. The figure eight are very nice looking puffers. The research Ive done says they are a brackish fish that can live in fresh. But for best results to raise them in brackish.

I watched a fahaka puffer the other day at A Place for Pets and totally fell in love with the way its eyes moved around and how it changed colors. The little guy even tried to bite me through the glass. This is as owner responsive as my cichlids. This species just gets too big for me, I dont have the room to dedicate another large tank to it.

I found another called a hairy puffer that might work out in a 29g.

Mine is thriving in my tank and it's not brackish, I didn't want to add any salt hence I've read loaches are sensitive to salt idk if that true or not maybe I have just gotten lucky and picked the one puffer fish that likes freshwater lol. You could do a puffer and mollusk as those are brackish fish as well.

Mollys sorry lol

The info on the figure eights is a bit confusing because each website says something just a bit different. Some say definite brackish, others say freshwater that will do better in brackish. Whatever the case, I just dont want to do the brackish myself.

And to be honest the figure eight just looks too good. I really want something more freakish looking like a Congo or Hairy puffer. Something that is almost so grotesque you have to look twice. I know it sounds strange, but Ive already got my 210g set up in the living room with my large colorful cichlids going in there that are sure to impress. This is kind of my own little office tank, a fish solely based on personality rather than looks.

Oh lol yeah I'd go with a hairy puffer then.

Wow there dosent seem to be any other puffer owners here...

Ive seen the Congo for sale along with a Mekong. Have not seen a hairy yet so dont know what kind of price those would be. I really can not believe how predatory puffers can be. I saw a video of one come out from being buried and just tear into a fish. That was intense. Any other puffer owners? Come on tell me about them, even if they are only pea puffers.

i love my grenn spotteds but they are brackish but my favorite my loaches do good in brackish clowns and kuhlies...

I'm on the opposite end of pea puffers. I have a mbu puffer that is currently 6 inches. He now has the 300 galoon to himself besides 2 brochis corydoras and a bristlenose pleco. Tried everything as clean up crew, but they were all too aggressive for him at feeding time. Goldfish would steal scallops, shrimp etc right out of his mouth.

I've had him since 1.5 inches, got him super tame. Too tame really. As he won't fight for food, thus the slow growth since even 3-4 inch goldfish out compete him for food. No problems anymore though. He's now putting on an inch a month.

Puffers? Seriously Puffers?

Just one of those fish I dont see anything cool about them. But thats just me. Enjoy all you puffer owners.

puffers remind me of puppys

For the People out there looking For Puffers, Aquarium Parardise has Several different Species in stock. Indian Dawf Puffer, 3 Green Spotted Puffer, Pig Nose Puffer, Hairry Puffer (short hair), and The Dragon Puffer . That for Freshwater this week tell Thursdy.

madness wrote:Puffers? Seriously Puffers?

Just one of those fish I dont see anything cool about them. But thats just me. Enjoy all you puffer owners.

I still want one! They are cool, see for yourself [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

OK the video was cool. LOL but still didnt convince me.

I know the type of puffer I am looking at are total lumps that just sit there until feeding time. It would be in my office upstairs where I dont need a super active fish. Or I could use the 29g to grow out something...

Hairy Puffer..lol.

Spyral wrote:Hairy Puffer..lol.

I could probably just buy one of those Koosh balls and put it in my tank, it would look just like a hairy puffer and be just as active.

I have a FAHAKA puffer, he's pretty cool, but too dam aggressive.
I had it in my CA tank, it bit most of the CA's tails and fins so I took him out.
I have it separated in a small crate, within the CA tank.

Puffer are fin nippers by nature.

My pea puffer has made me a puffer fan! I can not wait to set up a bigger tank with a figure 8 and some mollies! Even the more active ones are too much fun to watch. Pet Pourri in Everett had a lot of different puffers in when I was last there. And our healthiest pea puffer came from there. All the other ones had IPs...

+1
Pet Pourri has the healthiest puffer stock.

All dwarfs, figure 8, avocados, etc were fat, bright, and shows NO signs of disease.

Glad to have a puffer guy here

I honestly believe pet pouri to be one of the best LFS in western washington.... Midway and APFP is up there as well. Because there further away from me, I dont do too much business with them.... Im going to try and get pet pourri to sponsor us again... this will be my 3rd attempt!! wish me luck

My poor puffer just died I am trying to talk hubby into getting another one. They are the best fish!

uh oh... well that was quick, didnt you just get him two months ago??? what happened?? sure they suppost to live longer than that. lol

Sorry for your loss... Good luck on convincing hubby to get a new one. hope he has good as your last one was.

megpie021 wrote:My poor puffer just died I am trying to talk hubby into getting another one. They are the best fish!

May your memories be your comfort.

They live very long >5 years. I've written a good profile about Dwarf Puffers if you ever want to read it. The profile is not professionally written, but rather a compilation of the knowledge I gained while owning these species in the past and helping other people owning these great fish. PM me if you're interested.

I suspect there is something wrong with the tank... I tested the water and it was fine.... used a different kit to test it was fine... but in about a little over a year we have lost three puffers. From two different stores. They get super skinny like its parasites, but I have no idea where they would get parasites from! I have treated them all for parasites so unless they are picking them up from the snails that live in the big tank idk whats going on. Also I had this puffer for about 7 months. I got my dario dario about 2 months ago though, and they have taken to frozen food like lil champs.

What kind of parasite med did you use, how did you use it, and for how long did you use it?

We used the Jungle internal parasite stuff, the powdery stuff. I soaked the bloodworms and other food in it, they ate some.. but it might have just been done to late. I also treated the tank at first, following the directions on the bottle, but the more I read it seemed a futile effort to treat the tank.

Jungle makes one of the best parasite medicine in the market. I don't think bloodworms soak very well in medicine. I used raw shrimp to soak meds for 30mins because it had more of a sponge effect. It wasn't easy getting my DP to eat raw shrimp, but it worked. I fed her medicated food for 7 days straight. She didn't look skinny after treatment.

well if I am able to convince the hubby to let me get another one and it gets sick lol... Any clue if I am just getting them sick or if the snails that have been breeding are the source?

Snails do not carry harmful disease over to fish, unless they come from the wild.

Try testing for heavy metals.