Puffer problems...

[chloe]

hey people. dont mean to jump on your thread but i think u might be the people to talk to.
my boyfriend has just jumped deep and hard in to our fishkeeping world. 100L tank, pygmy puffers and american puffers.
i dont know alot about puffers myself so i cant help him. what can u advise?
personally i think the americans will eat the pygmy and then they will die because the tank has only been up and running for a day and hes stuffed it with fish AAARRRGGHHH! but will he listen to me...NO.
what do you advise so he can do it properly??
thanks
chloe (once again sorry for jumping the thread)

 

[lumpaywk]

This isnt really anything to do with the rest of the thread its just chloe's post has made me out to be irrasposable and bad so i would like to clear my name a little, im her ex btw the guy she is ref regards the south american and pygmi puffers, first off they have seporate tanks my pygmis where in a 35l and the SAP would of been in a 100l i use the word would of as she implied i just rushed out and got them this is also inacurate i just asked at the shop and it turned out they all got white spot and died anyways so no saps for me last point i never flooded the tank i did put 2 pictus cats in there a li learly but i did make sure the water was treated and they are fine no problems at all - as for the demise of my pygmi i can only put that down to the harlequins as it was thinking back just after they went in that he had problems and the water is fine i do realise i should of spotted that the problem was that bad earlier but i just assumed he was hideing he was very good at that.

 

[Pufferpunk]

So what do you actually have left? SAPs are very popular for getting ich from transport & should be treated for it immediately, on arrival to a new tank:
TREATING ICH
Before you even consider fiah, you must understand the delicate biological balance of your tank & how to cycle it properly, before you add any fish:
FISHLESS CYCLING

Please try using proper capatilization & punctuation when you post. It's very hard to read all those run-on sentences.

 

[lumpaywk]

Yeah sorry, I was having a bit of a rant and forgot other people needed to be able to read it lol. Due to Puffy dieing (my pygmy) and the SAPs never actually being up for sale due to a white spot whipe out at the shop, I currently do not have any puffers. I am going to wait till I have a bit more expiriance first then I may get some SAPs (providing the fish I have at that time will be good tank mates).

My smaller tank currently has 3 corys an upside down cat some harlequins and the new adition of a beta (now puffy is gone i can have long fins again lol).

My 100l currently has 2 pictus cats, 2 black mollys, 2 paradise fish, some tetras and 3 fish I baught then forgot the names of (I have another thread open someware to id them but as yet cant get a good enough pic).

 

[lumpaywk]

with the above being said though I do want to rant a lil again but i will do it this time in bullet points.

*Dont thumbs up someone who is typing on open forums inacurate information about someone elses fish I will list them now
1. 3 days is not right the SAPS would of gone in at least a month after the tank was setup.
2. I have 2 tanks the SAPs and Pygmys would of had no probs with eating each other unless the can jump the lengh of my room and land in the other tank.
3. I always listen to what she says but I also talk to other people who have or have had fish. Also if I was nasty enough to spill some of her truths then you would understand why i also seek advise from others, but im to nice however, if you knew you wouldnt thumbs up.
4. When I said early it had been over a week and yes i do realise this is still not enough, but i did everything advised and seeked advise and was told so long as i didnt overfill the tank it would be fine, you cant blame me if i got bad advise i asked a few people and they all said the same.
5. As I said before she claimes i stuffed the tank with fish once again not true I do now have a few fish in there but they are all small fish that will not outgrow the tank and even if they would i will be getting a bigger tank when i move. I also added the fish gradually.

Im not saying im right or wrong thats why im on here looking for advise and stuff however im not looking for judgement. I thank everyone that has advised me, however to show support for slander is low to the point of pethetic. I dont really have a problem anymore with the origional post from chloe she was just trying to help but in doing so got the wrong end of the stick about what i was doing and left me slated so i had to respond.

 

[Pufferpunk]

You said you need to do some reasearch & I agree. It sounds to me that folks are telling you it's ok to cycle a tank with puffers, as long as they aren't overstocked. Bad idea. correct me if I'm wrong--if you already have fish in the tanks that are healthy, then the tank is cycled. all you'd have to do is remove those fish (puffers do best in "species only" tanks) & then it would remain cycled for the puffers.

SAPs are especially prone to ich & you should be prepared to treat them for this as soon as you get them. You could keep 2 of them in the 100L, although they prefer to be in groups of 3 or more. I wouldn't add more than 2 in there though, as they are serious swimmers. Lots of decor is necessary to keep them from getting bored & going up & down the glass all day.

3 DPs will be good in the 35L but you need to be sure they are all females or 1 male-2 females. Here is how they are sexed: http://www.**************.com/forum...rinotetraodon-travancoricus-the-dwarf-puffer/ Although, 3 corys an upside down cat (they grow quite large & could easily try to eat a DP, killing them both) & some harlequins, sounds practically stocked to me. DPs have been known to nip the fins off of corys. With the addition of the betta, you can forget about any puffers in there, as you already know.