15 gallon column pea puffer journal

[vwill279]

If you don't get any by March or whenever it warms up I can give you a bunch for shipping cost, don't have any heat packs or I'd offer to send them now.

Thanks! I really appreciate the offer! I'm in Wisconsin though and it usually doesnt warm up here till June lol. We'll see. I've had my LFS keep an eye on the snails that come in with his plants. I will have 3 sand tanks pretty soon here, so MTS are a must, and since I'll have the puffers, I dont think I'll have to worry about being overrun. Just need to figure out how to keep that tank from becoming a snail shell graveyard lol.

 

[vwill279]

Well, my LFS's puffer supplier is currently out of stock. He's got 3 left from the last batch he's saving me, but I was hoping to add them all at once to cut down on aggression. He did save me 5 otos though, so maybe its for the best. We'll have to see.

On a happier note, my tall val (?) plant just dug a runner in the sand yesterday and started sprouting a new plant! Its only been in there for 2 days, must really like it I also caught 2 of my ramshorns laying a clutch of eggs on that same plant, so good news that there will be more baby snails in that tank for the puffers to hunt for! Driftwood is still kind of floaty right now, but the rocks are at least keeping part of it down. Excited to pick up my fish tomorrow! Would have gone today since I finished my work project early, but there is supposed to be a huge snowstorm, 5-7 inches in as many hours, so I dont want to risk driving in it.

 

[Ballyhoo]

I'd stick with just the 3, there is plenty of personality right there. Make sure they are eating frozen foods before you purchase them, puffs will deplete a snail population very quickly. They also grow more aggressive as they age. I was able to successfully keep three in a 10 gal in a 1:2 male:female ratio. Heavily planting the tank to break up the line of sight willl greatly help will aggression issues.

Best of luck, can't wait to see the finished product!

 

[vwill279]

They will be fed live blackworms, which is what my LFS feeds them. He says they will take frozen blood worms, but arent very enthusiastic about it. Either way, I have colonies of pest snails in most of my tanks so they will have a renewable supply.

 

[TL1000RSquid]

I'd have to agree 3 will about perfect for the tank especially if your unsure on the sex yet. I can't get mine to show any interest in frozen blood worms, just live blackworms maybe if they were hungry enough but I think they've got enough baby mts in the tank that they don't get hungry enough to try the frozen food.

 

[vwill279]

Just got home with my fish! Got 4 puffers and 4 otos. Will upload pics when they've had a bit to settle in. I can tell all 4 puffers apart! Also got 10 ghost shrimp to live with them to test if they'd be ok with some cherries. So far, the ghosties are bigger than they are so we'll see if they leave them alone. The puffers are too young to sex yet, and I dont think I will be adding any more. I also bought 2 corkscrew vals, 1 jungle val, and 3 nano marimos. Might add a sword or two eventually, but since the footprint is so small, theres not a whole lot of room for planting and I dont want to cover the driftwood completely.

Stay tuned!

 

[vwill279]

Here it is! All set up with fish and snails and shrimp. Everyone is still figuring their territories out, and so far Peanut (the bright yellow puffer), has staked the front left corner as his/her own. This is where the filter blows everything, and its where all the blackworms ended up. She did share the worms, but was definitely eyeing up the competitors. The other puffers are Peawee, Peabody, and Bloat (my friend made me name one after the puffer in Finding Nemo lol). They ate at least 10 pond snails so far that I've seen, but have left the ghost shrimp and ramshorns alone. I think the ramshorns are just too big for them right now. The ghost shrimp attacked the blackworms like crazy. It was really really creepy watching them eat the worms. You could see them still struggling inside the shrimp's body after being eaten...

Here's some pics (Bloat is camera shy, every time I tried to get one he went behind a plant)!
Full tank shot

Peawee and Peabody

Peawee

One of the Otos

Peanut

Peawee and Peabody again

Ghost shrimp munching blackworms

 

[TL1000RSquid]

Nice Dropped a few shrimp in with mine a couple days ago so far they've left them alone. Still have a few BB sized mystery snails on the glass they've not gone after, I think they've been targeting the MTS since I always see them pecking into the sand.

Make sure you clean and rotate your marimo's atleast once a week, they seem to foul up quick in sand substrates.

 

[vwill279]

Thanks for the tip! I'll make sure to do that.

 

[Sunn]

is that filter floss on the outside of your filter intake? i have that same filter...does it work well?