introducing new fish

Question
i have a Picasso trigger and a clown trigger in a large tank now for about 6 months and everything is going great no problems at all, but i want to introduce a puffer... i know this may be tricky. Any suggestions on the best way to do this? i seen people have had problems doing this, what do you recommended? could u send me a response...  thanks

Answer
Hi Josh,

The best way in my opinion is to partition the Puffer fish off, into a section of the aquarium.

You can use a piece of lighting grid. You can find this at your local hardware store.

Get a piece and cut it to fit your aquarium. House the puffer on one side of the aquarium for a few weeks. This will give your trigger fish a chance to get familiar with seeing the puffer fish.

After a few weeks, you may then remove the lighting grid. Keep a close eye on them following.

Note:  Regarding the puffer, don't forget to provide it with live gastropods with shells, i.e. various species of snails to consume. This will help to naturally keep its teeth trimmed down. Otherwise you will have to cut and trim your puffers teeth. This is not a hard task, however make sure to read up on how to properly do it before getting a puffer. In conclusion, the puffers teeth will continuously grow, and if the puffers teeth are not trimmed down it can eventually starve to death, because it will not be able to consume food.

Good luck with all your saltwater endeavors.

Regards,
Dave

All Experts - Editor

Orange County Reef Aquatics http://www.ocreef.com -  Director