sand vs. rock for figure 8

W

Wednesday

AC Members
Mar 31, 2009
9
0
0
43
Spokane WA
Okay guys,

Im just getting back into this hobby, Ive had puffer fish before and I want to start again (hopfully ill be more imformed this time).

I have a 90 gallon (formally a turtle tank) that I want to make a new home for some figure 8 puffers. I have a 29 gallon already set up for my 'feeder tank' it has some guppies and I 'HAD' a bunch of snails in it... but I put a couple dwarf puffers in there... needless to say... I have about two snails left...

Anyhoo! The tank my turtle was in, has kinda small pebble rock.. if I reuse this im a concernded that a puffer might accidentally swallow a piece when hunting...? know what I mean? my tank is NOT set up yet and I just want to hear the pro's and con's on sand vs rock gravel.

Do you guys think I should buy all new gravel? im already buying all new rocks and stuff for aquascaping so i dont mind the cost. it just might take me a little while longer to set my tank up.. thats all.

Thanks for reading my long speal! I hope it wasnt a waste of your time:)
 
Puffers don't really sift sand, and anything large they pick up, they won't eat unless they can crush it up. I have a mix of sand and crushed coral in my with GSP, and haven't had any problems with it accidentally swallowing the crushed coral bits.

I find sand easier to clean, as I can just hover the vacuum over the sand bed to pick up anything on top, rather than worrying about getting every last bit out of the gravel. So, its pretty much up to you, from an aesthetics and maintenance point of view, as it probably won't matter to the fish too much.
 
Go for the gravel- much easier to clean. I keep several puffers FW, BW and SW species. Don't worry about them eating any gravel. Worry more about getting anaerobic areas in the sand if you don't have something to keep it stirred. The tanks I have sand in :
1. for my congo- he buries himself- keeps sand stirred
2. for the green spotted puffers - mid range to hi BW- have 2 flounder in to stir ( may work with Fig 8's - lower BW)
3. for my solandri (SW)- have a bullet goby to keep the sand clean.

Have 9 tanks total with 18 puffers (all single species tanks)- they are messy.
 
Thank you soo much! I think i'll stick to gravel, thats awesome you have so many tanks! I wonder if i will ever get that bad... teehee :) im already thinking of getting a third..and the second isnt even finished being set up yet!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom