Figure 8 puffer tank setup and feeding?

Hi im thinking about going brackish and getting a figure 8 puffer Before I turn my tank brackish I wanted to ask a few questions about the puffer.
1. Do they like a high/ low flowrate?
2.I saw another thread on a different forum about a F8 puffer eating live plants. Is this common?
3.I am prepared to feed it frozen bloodworms and live bladder snails. Is this a good enough diet or should I add some more things?
4. I plan on feeding live snails twice a week is this enough to keep the puffer's teeth worn down enough? An on those 2 days should I feed the snails morning and night or only once a day?
5.Ive heard they can be pretty aggressive and obviously it depends on the puffer but what would be the best-suited tank mates if any?
6.Is there anything else I should know about the tank (setup, food, etc) or the puffer before I commit?
Thanks for your help

 

1. Low/medium flow will be fine.
2. I doubt he was actually eating them (although I've seen puffers do stranger things). Most of the time they're hunting little bugs and such off of the plant, rather than going after the plant itself.
3. I'd pick up some clams on the half shell, some krill, and some grocery store raw frozen shrimp. A varied diet is pretty important for these guys - a little bit of everything is better than a lot of a couple things. Feed the krill especially sparingly, as it's known as "Puffer crack" - they love it, but it can cause issues like lockjaw down the road.
4. Usually a good feeding once a day is enough for puffers. Their bellies should nice and rounded. I'd make shelled foods their regular diet, not a special treat. Bloodworms really aren't a great food choice, IMO, if for no other reason than they're low in nutrition and have no shell for the puffer to crunch through.
5. Tank size is all-important here. Even then, it's going to dependent on the individual puffer you have. I've got a Green Spotted Puffer who lives in a 40 gallon by himself because he's a jerk. I used to have a GSP that allowed other fish to live with him. They're all different. In larger tanks (40+ gallons) I'd say you could do more F8's, maybe some large sailfin mollies, or maybe some Knight Gobies provided you have plenty of hiding spots.
6. Filtration is important. They're a predatory fish - everything in their diet is meat. I'd make sure I had plenty of filtration, and add some salt-tolerant plants as well. Java fern, some Anubias, Java Moss, Anacharis, and a few crypts are all tolerant of salt levels up to 1.004 or so, which is exactly where most people keep F8's. I'd grab a refractometer for measuring salt, as it's going to be difficult to read such low levels on most hydrometers - they can be somewhat inaccurate, as well. Getting to know your particular puffer is going to be important, as they will absolutely dictate what the tank will look like going forward. Have one that doesn't mind other fish? Fill it up with larger brackish-tolerant fish. Have one that murders for fun? Probably plan on keeping it by itself. Also, the occasional feeder ghost shrimp would probably be a good idea. You could even buy them a dozen at a time and release them all into the tank, as they should survive just fine in brackish. Most stores sell Paleomontes Vulgaris as ghost shrimp, which are actually brackish shrimp.

 

1. In my experience they prefer lower flow.

2. I've never seen mine do it, but then I do also have one puffer that loves algae wafers so it can be an individual thing.

3-4. Nutrition-wise I'd be worried about feeding bloodworms as a staple and snails twice a week, IMO bloodworms should be a treat and snails (best) or krill (preferably with vitamin soak) the staple, feeding once a day. Variety is always better though. When you get them they're usually too small for it to be worth feeding clams and stuff since you have to chop it up into tiny bits anyway, defeating the point of the shell and it's messy.

5. Bumblebee gobies are a popular tankmate, and mollies or other gobies/killifish (or more f8s) for bigger tanks.

 

1. Low/medium flow will be fine.
2. I doubt he was actually eating them (although I've seen puffers do stranger things). Most of the time they're hunting little bugs and such off of the plant, rather than going after the plant itself.
3. I'd pick up some clams on the half shell, some krill, and some grocery store raw frozen shrimp. A varied diet is pretty important for these guys - a little bit of everything is better than a lot of a couple things. Feed the krill especially sparingly, as it's known as "Puffer crack" - they love it, but it can cause issues like lockjaw down the road.
4. Usually a good feeding once a day is enough for puffers. Their bellies should nice and rounded. I'd make shelled foods their regular diet, not a special treat. Bloodworms really aren't a great food choice, IMO, if for no other reason than they're low in nutrition and have no shell for the puffer to crunch through.
5. Tank size is all-important here. Even then, it's going to dependent on the individual puffer you have. I've got a Green Spotted Puffer who lives in a 40 gallon by himself because he's a jerk. I used to have a GSP that allowed other fish to live with him. They're all different. In larger tanks (40+ gallons) I'd say you could do more F8's, maybe some large sailfin mollies, or maybe some Knight Gobies provided you have plenty of hiding spots.
6. Filtration is important. They're a predatory fish - everything in their diet is meat. I'd make sure I had plenty of filtration, and add some salt-tolerant plants as well. Java fern, some Anubias, Java Moss, Anacharis, and a few crypts are all tolerant of salt levels up to 1.004 or so, which is exactly where most people keep F8's. I'd grab a refractometer for measuring salt, as it's going to be difficult to read such low levels on most hydrometers - they can be somewhat inaccurate, as well. Getting to know your particular puffer is going to be important, as they will absolutely dictate what the tank will look like going forward. Have one that doesn't mind other fish? Fill it up with larger brackish-tolerant fish. Have one that murders for fun? Probably plan on keeping it by itself. Also, the occasional feeder ghost shrimp would probably be a good idea. You could even buy them a dozen at a time and release them all into the tank, as they should survive just fine in brackish. Most stores sell Paleomontes Vulgaris as ghost shrimp, which are actually brackish shrimp.

I have lots of java fern and anacharis in the tank. I will defiantly stock up the different foods you mentioned. The puffer would be going in a 15 gallon so probably no tankmates besides shrimp. I already plan on getting a refractometer. Thanks for your help!

 

Shrimp + gsp = dead shrimp

 

1. In my experience they prefer lower flow.

2. I've never seen mine do it, but then I do also have one puffer that loves algae wafers so it can be an individual thing.

3-4. Nutrition-wise I'd be worried about feeding bloodworms as a staple and snails twice a week, IMO bloodworms should be a treat and snails (best) or krill (preferably with vitamin soak) the staple, feeding once a day. Variety is always better though. When you get them they're usually too small for it to be worth feeding clams and stuff since you have to chop it up into tiny bits anyway, defeating the point of the shell and it's messy.

5. Bumblebee gobies are a popular tankmate, and mollies or other gobies/killifish (or more f8s) for bigger tanks.

I will definitely look into a better diet. My tank is the minimum size for them so I think tank mates are a no. Thanks fro the help

 

Shrimp + gsp = dead shrimp

That was the plan.

 

Right now im trying to get a colony of bladder snails going. Right now id guess I have about 30 adults (which wont last long) so could I mix snail species like could I get some ramshorns or something and put them in the same tank as the bladder snails?

 

Right now im trying to get a colony of bladder snails going. Right now id guess I have about 30 adults (which wont last long) so could I mix snail species like could I get some ramshorns or something and put them in the same tank as the bladder snails?

Should be fine - they all breed in the same fashion.

 

Should be fine - they all breed in the same fashion.

Sounds good. How big of a colony should I have before I get the puffer?

 

Yeah that works

 

Sounds good. How big of a colony should I have before I get the puffer?

Honestly I wouldn't worry too much about it. I pull pond/ramshorn snails out of my FW tank every few days for my GSP, but I don't have a colony going for them. I find that, in general, feeding crunchy frozen foods (like I mentioned earlier) with the occasional live feeder snail/shrimp keeps their beaks well-worn.

Plus, it's been said that certain individual puffers are more prone to overgrown beaks than others. I've only ever had issues with one, luckily - he was a Valentini puffer. He got the same diet as every other puffer I've ever had (even other valentinis) and he was the only one who ever had beak issues. YMMV.

 

When you said figure 8 puffer I thought u meant an $$800,000 puffer, lol.

 

Honestly I wouldn't worry too much about it. I pull pond/ramshorn snails out of my FW tank every few days for my GSP, but I don't have a colony going for them. I find that, in general, feeding crunchy frozen foods (like I mentioned earlier) with the occasional live feeder snail/shrimp keeps their beaks well-worn.

Plus, it's been said that certain individual puffers are more prone to overgrown beaks than others. I've only ever had issues with one, luckily - he was a Valentini puffer. He got the same diet as every other puffer I've ever had (even other valentinis) and he was the only one who ever had beak issues. YMMV.

How can I tell if the beak is too long? Thank you for your help I really appreciate it

 

How can I tell if the beak is too long? Thank you for your help I really appreciate it

Of course

It's usually really obvious. If they don't eat, or try to eat but have issues getting any into their mouth, that's usually your best clue. Sometimes you can actually see the upper beak plate touching the lower one, or they'll have an under/over bite. Here's an example of a Valentini puffer with a beak that needs a trim:




All that said, I wouldn't fret too much about it. Feed him the right things and you shouldn't have too many issues - puffers, for the most part, are just as hardy as other fish. Usually when you see overgrown beaks it's from an improper diet. There are always exceptions (like the Valentini I had), but it should be a none-issue.

 

Figure 8s have much slower growing teeth compared to other species so it's not too much of an issue. Also if you have 30 snails, chances are you have a hundred babies or eggs on the way.

You'll see videos of GSPs crunching snails by the mouthful, but with a young f8 you're likely going to have to feed only baby snails or crush up adult ones for them. One good-sized snail will make a puffer plump for the day so it's very sustainable.

 

One more question, how should i go about deworming or what preventive meds should I use if any at all?

 

One more question, how should i go about deworming or what preventive meds should I use if any at all?

Every puffer I've ever had has gotten at least two rounds of Prazipro and two rounds of Metroplex. The same medications are also found in General Cure, although I find that soaking the food in Seachem Focus and Metroplex works better for internal worms.

 

Do you think i could put a nerite in the tank with the puffer or would it get eaten?

 

Do you think i could put a nerite in the tank with the puffer or would it get eaten?

I have nerites with my puffers and they ignore them. But puffers have been known to be peaceful for years and suddenly start killing stuff so I can't really guarantee anything when it comes to their capacity to let things live, especially combined with their unique personalities.