Figure eight puffers

[tigerstyle]

enybody ever kept these guys? I got a pair today and wanted some more detailed info on them. I couldnt find their profile on the site. Thanks much

[JamisonBWolsh]

Watch out...these guys are Fin nippers.. they also prefer some salt in the water. They are not 100 percent Freshwater fish. There is one type that is, but the name evades me for not. If you want, I can find out.

[rjl420]

I have 2 fig8s right now in my 50 gallon brack tank (until my salinity gets too high for them). I'm currently at 1.0010. like most puffers they can be nippy at times and are best suited in species tanks when they mature. when young they can be kept in groups but eventually, if they don't have enough area, they will bother each other.

all puffers need to eat the occasional "hard bodied" creatures. like snails, shrimp, crayfish/crawdads, krill, crabs etc... I feed my puffers ~a dozen snails a week and occasinal baby crawdads. as far as daily foods, I use freeze dried and frozen krill, bloodworms and brine shrimp. they will occasionally eat flake food if its moving in the current, but I don't think that is enough food for them.

HTH

edit: Jamison, there are several completely freshwater puffers. Dwarf puffers, T. Fahaka/T. lineatus, C. Asseslus are a few that come to mind.

[RTR]

Figure 8 puffers are brackish fish, one article on their care is:

http://www.aaquaria.com/aquasource/8puffer.shtml

An excellent site on puffers in general is:

http://www.pufferfish.co.uk/

HTH

Edit: add'l FW puffers include Congo, Congo spotted, T. mbu, Carinotetraodon lorteti and similar sp., etc.

[vfrex]

I've also heard of big puffers taking down clams. Doubt its part of a freshwater puffer's natural diet, but who doesn't like seafood :)

[rjl420]

RTR-

What would you say the ideal salinity would be for fig8s?

[RTR]

I consider them light brackish, so definitely below 1.008-1.010, I keep mine at ~1.005+/-. I do use aragonite substrates to keep the pH and alkalinity well up though. I suspect but can't prove that pH and alkalinity is as or more significant to these fish than the salinity. These are the only puffers I've been able to keep to the late teens in the past, I hope the current ones will go longer.

Edit: the first article I ref'd above is my Fiure 8 care.

[JamisonBWolsh]

I was at the LFS and they were selling some REALLY NICE puffers that were about 5 inches. Really nice. They costs between 29-49 dollars. I dont know what type they were, but I was looking at the beaks of those guys and they would tear apart ALL my fish in my tank. Even the Albino Tinfoils :D

[Mattimeo]

I personally like chelonodon patoca, tetraodon lineatus (fahaka), tetraodon mbu, tetraodon suvatti, and the takifugu sp.

All those puffers are large and tempermental.

My word of advice: never underestimate those *******s. Even the most peaceful puffer can be in a foul mood and snap at tankmates, wreaking havoc.

[rjl420]

thanks as always, RTR