Gill Flukes - what is safe for puffs?

[mlefessler]

Thanks for the words, everyone. After feeling a tad reassured, I am nuking the tank today - thorough cleaning, boiling the decorations, putting in aragonite substrate and starting from square one. And to prepare myself while the tank is cycling.

Now, the only thing is......what fish do I want? Evan, my boyfriend, thinks I'm having a very, very bad streak with Green Spotted Puffers and knows my heart is set on puffers in general. Perhaps trying a Figure-8? I do not trust any of my fish stores around my city, so I'm actually thinking of buying one from liveaquaria.com, Dr. Foster & Smith. Safe to buy online? Safe from that company?

 

[Pufferpunk]

I haven't heard any bad stories about that company. Most recently was a horrible one about Saltwaterfish.com. I'd never order from them! IMO though, I'd rather see the fish I was buying, although I know lots of folks that have bought puppies w/o meeting them 1st too. I'd want to pick the roundest, healthiest one, that greeted me at the front of the tank.

 

[SpockthePuffer]

F8s would be pretty neat in that size tank (you are talking about the 55 right) because then you could get away with some bumble gobies and and maybe a knight goby or a dragon goby and still have a two or three puffers.

 

[mlefessler]

PP - I see what you mean regarding the being able to see which one you're getting. I totally agree with that one-hundred percent. I just figured I'd ask about that company since I've never heard anything bad, but thought none the wiser and asked. =) I'm also kinda weirded out by having fish.........alive and kicking through all of the shipping........delivered to your door. How in the world does that even work?! Haha. I just don't trust any of the other fish stores around here that do have them. They're all in pretty bad shape. Even if there's one good one out of the bunch, the rest of them are ridden with ick, or there's 3 or 4 dead fish rotting away at the bottom. Gross. Perhaps I'll look again once my tank comes near completing its cycle.
Rule of thumb for the figure-8, one per 10 gallons, right? With a 55-gallon, I'd be okay with say no more than 2 or three (given it's heavily stocked and such)? I read some other info regarding these guys (only grow to about 3" as adults and are much less aggressive than the GSP). As far as salinity goes....does 1.005 sound about right? Unlike the GSP, they don't require marine conditions as adults, right? They can live happily in a SG of 1.005-1.008 their entire life?

SpockthePuffer - Oooh, bumblebee gobies?? Really?? What would you recommend as far as stocking the 55-gallon, given the situation as:
2 figure-8 puffers, aragonite substrate, 80F temp, salinity of 1.005ish, and two 50-gallon filters? I'm loving the idea of having another tank mate that isn't a puffer! Whee! I must go do research on bumblebee gobies!

 

[SpockthePuffer]

Yes all they need is low end sg for the rest of their life.

With two f8s you could probably get 8-10 bumbie gobies, they are pretty small. You might lose one or two if the f8s try to taste them but I know most people get get away with keeping them.

You could also try and keep a few mollies in there too with the f8s if you wanted to.

Just remember lots and lots of hiding places and plants and broken lines of sight,

this is my tank for my gsp,

 

[mlefessler]

Wow....that is a beautiful tank. I'm actually quite jealous. =P What do you have in there? Looks like crushed coral for substrate? Are those real plants? I like the idea of a plant that curves at the top to provide some shade....never thought of that. What kind of lighting do you have? Hehe, I can see Spock in the left hand corner! He looks like he's got the high life in the bachelor pad there! =D

8-10 bumblebee gobies?! Holy. I guess I was expecting an answer like "Oh, you can have three at the most since they're blah blah blah". Wow....umm...perhaps I should start off with maybe three?

 

[SpockthePuffer]

They're fake plants so I just have normal crappy lighting, cc is the substrate. I actually have that big plant in the middle now so both sides curves to to the sides and there is a lot more cover. I love the big plant just because even when he is at the top of the tank he can explore and such. His name is actually Milton, I just use the name Spock cause I like star trek, lol. A week ago I put a molly in there too and Milton hasn't eaten him.

The reason for so many gobies is because they are tiny, I think around 1/2 inch so in a 55 you can get away with many but you can always start out at 3 and get some more.
Thanks for the compliments on the tank, Milton enjoys his tank

 

[mlefessler]

Ahhh, well then, Milton (any relation to Office Space?)!

As I read more and more about the bumblebee gobies, wow, they really are that small. I had no idea. Plenty have claimed they're fun to watch. Which might be an interesting addition for me since I have just two GSP in a 55-gallon....and I was always looking for them "Where are they? Did they jump out of the tank? Are they hiding? OH! There they are!", 20-minutes later and my heart is pounding because I can't find them. Thanks so much for your input and suggestions. I have made up my mind and will do the bumblebee (perhaps 5 would be a good starting point since they're soooo small!) gobies and 2 figure-8s! Whee...I'm looking forward to this. I just pray there's no more drama with my puffs. Grrr.

An another note, before I rush out and buy aragonite substrate...I see that you have crushed coral. Would you recommend one over the other? Why?

 

[SpockthePuffer]

I don't prefer one over the other. I just like the look of crushed coral and I know Milton likes to bit at it. Its really just what kind of look you like

I didn't think of Office Space when I named him but after I picked out Milton my boyfriend liked the name because of Office Space

 

[Pufferpunk]

Just to ket you know... BBGs never lasted w/my F8s. Mollies' fry get culled in my F8 tank, so it's survival of the fittest ones. Knight gobies & dragon gobies would work too. Don't get sailfin mollies, they bulied my F8s.