figure eight puffer

Question
QUESTION: i have two figure eight puffs and i put in feeder guppies and they didnt eat one and now he has been in this 20 gallon tank for one week i was wondering if i should consider him a pet or sumthing else and i was wondering if you know how to sex puffers and how many i should put in the tank? thank you

ANSWER: Hi Alex,
Figure eight puffers shouldn't really be given feeder fish as their sole source of food. They may accept it, but it's not in any way a complete diet. Your puffers may not be eating because the feeder guppies are too fast or the puffers themselves may not feel like eating. If you have recently gotten the puffers, this would be considered normal because most fish refuse food if they are in a new tank. But please try other types of foods. Freeze dried foods like Krill and shrimp are good for puffers. Be sure to pre-soak any freeze dried food before feeding to prevent stomach problems in the puffers if they swallow dry food. You can also try frozen foods like worms, also clams, mussels, ghost shrimp, daphnia, krill etc and shrimp as well. There is a huge variety of frozen foods available now and feeder fish just aren't necessary anymore. For your puffers now, I'd be on the safe side and check their water quality just in case there might be something going on that causes them to not feel like eating. Make sure the ammonia, nitrites are ZERO and nitrates are 20 or less. A good-sized water change of around 30-50% would be great as a precaution.

If these puffs were new additions I'd give them some time and try several different types of food to see what might tempt them.Figure eight puffers can be finicky eaters. Try any of the frozen meaty foods and if they don't accept it, just keep trying. Another food that figure eights are known to like really well is ghost shrimp. You can find feeder ghost shrimp at most petstores. Feeder fish is actually really dangerous for them, they can bring in diseases due to the poor care that feeder fish receive. But ghost shrimp are safe. Also remember that puffers must have snails in their diet to keep their teeth trimmed down. Like a rodent's teeth, they keep growing and must be trimmed down by eating snail shells. Raising a tank of ramshorn snails usually works really well for keeping puffers supplied.

I think your tank is pretty much full if you have two Figure-eights in a 20-gallon. These fish really do best in slightly brackish water also. A salinity of around 1.005 is fine for figure eight puffs. Brackish water is best made by using Marine salt and you can measure the salinity with a hydrometer with a low-reading range.

Also unfortunately there is no way to sex figure eight puffers, these little puffs very rarely breed in captivity.

I really hope this helps and I hope your puffers start eating soon!
Karen~



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: thank you and dont worry i only put the feeder in there for a treat not monthly and i got these puffers awhile a go but thank you for the help and i was wondering i feel like i want to get a 30 gallon tank i was wondering what i should put in that if i get one

Answer
Hey Alex, you're welcome!

So the puffers won't eat anything? Sometimes fish flucuate, I would be sure to try several things to get them to eat again and you just might get lucky. As always, check the water and make sure that's alright just as a precaution.

As for the 30-gallon...I'm not sure what to tell you. It's more your choice than anything. I do know some stocking schemes for a 30-gallon from a really good fishkeeping book called "The simple guide to freshwater aquariums" by David E. Boruchowitz. I don't know if his stocking schemes are your taste, but I'll list them here. The numbers of the fish listed are for a 29-30gallon tank and the first fish listed are those that are used for cycling. Then the other fish listed are the ones who are gradually added later on after you get ZERO reading for ammonia and nitrites...
Here they are:

Stocking scheme 1# a "typical" community tank
This stocking focuses on the beauty and form of the fish and how well they look together. And it makes a colorful if eclectic display.

*3 Platies are used to cycle the tank
*8 Zebra danios are later added
*8 Leopard Danios are also added
*6 Lemon tetras make up another school
*4 Corydoras catfish call the lower levels of the tank their home and they complete this stocking scheme of a typical community.

Stocking scheme 2# An Asian Accent
This fish stocking theme is made up of fish from Southeast Asia. This setup will provide a lively, colorful tank of small fish.
*6 White cloud mountain minnows cycle the tank
*8 Harlequin Rasboras are later added
*6 Gold Barbs are added also
*1 Pair of Dwarf gouramis completes this grouping

Stocking scheme 3# Barbs, Barbs, Barbs
Sometimes barbs can be nippy, but this is usually minimized if they are kept in a school. Barbs are a very interesting group of fish whom are bold and colorful and very lively!
*6 Cherry barbs cycle the tank
*6 Black ruby barbs
*6 Tiger barbs completes this grouping

Stocking Scheme 4# A Tetrad of Tetras
Tetras are very popular fish and many have very colorful iridescent markings on them. There are many different species and fortunately most all of them are peaceful schooling fish.
*6 Black neons cycle the tank
*6 Bloodfin tetras
*6 Glowlight Tetras
*6 Serpae Tetras completes this grouping

You may also be interested in the colors of the livebearers. And there is a stocking scheme for them also:

Stocking scheme 5# Livebearers only
*2 pairs of Fancy guppies cycle the tank
*1 trio of Swordtails
*6 platies
*1 Bristle or bushynose pleco (Although not a livebearer these algae-eating catfish stay small at around 4 inches and do a great job as an algae-cleanup worker)

Stocking scheme 6# Teeming with Tinies
This tank is unique because it contains fish that are very small, only one species may grow to 2 inches but that is not common. The one drawback to this is some of the fish may a little harder to find unless your really lucky. Here they are:
*6 Leopard danios are used for cycling
*6 Dwarf Chain loaches are added later (these are a very tiny under 2 inch loach who what is lacking in size makes up for in energy, they are an attractive and playful fish who often play games of "Tag" with each-other also, these fish are constantly rooting around for food and taking up any tidbits that the other fish leave behind)
*8 Dwarf Pencil fish these fish barely top 1 inch!
*5 Pygmy Corydoras are a great bottom dweller fish, but they also like to swim in the upper regions of the tank also
*6 Pristella Tetras are later added
*1 Pair of Pygmy Gouramis (these are delicately marked fish with florescent blue highlights and a shy nature, they are only about an inch and a half and they should do well with these other fish. Its strange why these lovely fish are not offered for sale very much, if you can't find any, you can substitute a pair of Honey dwarf gouramis)

~There you go, I really hope this helps!
Best of luck,
Karen~