NOLANANO

I would feed much less. Like once every other day and small in amount. The more you feed, the more ammonia you are adding to a tank that already has ammonia issues. Once the tank cycles, you can up the feeding.

They have been released into the tank. I took a video but it’s telling me the file is to large to upload. but here are some photos photos:

THEY HAVE ARRIVED!!!! They look active and healthy in the bag. I’m going to get them acclimated and then I’ll try to video their release. For warning, I’m going to pour the water from the bag into my tank. My Puffer Sensei @mountaintoppufferkeeper told me that keeping them submerged is important and since I’m going to treat the tank anyway, I feel like the risk in minimal.

I didn’t know about the eggs thing but my thought was that I should fully dose the paracleanse because parasites seem to be the most likely issue.

I have all the med trio stuff and I got enough Para cleanse to do a second round if it seems necessary.

I have thought about doing a small salt water tank in my 29G a few different times but every time I price it out I get sticker shock and bail on the project. I think my main issue is that I live in South Louisiana and we get hurricanes that can knock the power out for several days (sometimes weeks) and I would be distraught if I lost all my fish and coral because of it. With freshwater it would also be sad but it would only be a fraction of the cost to replace. I also find that freshwater youtube is much better at explaining the basics than saltwater youtube is. I'm sure there are some good sources out there but I have never found am aquarium Co Op type channel that will explain everything in palatable 5-10 minute videos.

Hello everyone, I just ordered a group of 5 Amazon Puffer fish that should arrive tomorrow. Since it seems like I may be the first on this forum to buy these fish, I thought I would start a journal about them so I can document everything I learn along the way. This is my first delve into the world of puffers and since I only have 1 tank, I elected to go with the "community" puffer. These puffers will go in my planted 75G tank. They will be housed with 10 Neon Tetra, 8 rummynose Tetra, 8 Panda Cories, 1 gold ram, 1 Julii Cory (rescue), 1 Bristlenose Pleco, and 2 Pearl Gourami. The Pearl Gourami are the only fish that I think might have issues living with the puffers as they are slower swimming and have nippable fins. I thought about rehoming them but figured I'd give it a shot and I can always move them if it doesn't work out. Based on research, Some possible issues that might occur: 1) Parasites: Given that they are wild caught, Amazon puffers often come with parasites or other issues. To combat this, I plan to treat with Med Trio upon arrival. 2) Picky eaters: I have frozen blood worms and Frozen Brine Shrimp ready. I am planning on getting some frozen beefheart to add to this mix. I will also try repashy mixed with crushed oyster shells to try to get a harder food in their diet to wear down the beaks. I will also occasionally feed live mealworms or some snails if I can find some for cheap. I have been told that I should mix up the foods so they aren't completely reliant on one type of food in case that food becomes unavailable for one reason or another. 3) Glass surfing: I have read that this particular species sometimes glass surfs ALOT and if this becomes an issue, I plan to black out the 2 sides of my tank. This supposedly cuts down on the reflections and allows the puffers to relax. Just like the Gouramis, I am going to give the puffers a chance prior to just blacking out the sides. I am very excited about these fish and can't wait for them to get here. I also hope that some of you will come along for the ride with me.

I have been picking @mountaintoppufferkeeper's brain a bit as I prepare for the puffers. He (or she, I guess I shouldn't assume) has been quite helpful. I was recently talking to my wife about the research I have been doing and I referred to him as my Puffer Sensei lol.

I have never medicated any fish before but this time I am getting Amazon Puffers and I have read that since they are wild caught they often come in with parasites and other issues so I figured I'd run the med trio on the tank when I get them just to be safe.

I read the ACO article on the med trio and noticed it said not to feed the fish during the treatment. I plan on ordering some fish online and I know that the dealers often times don't feed the fish for a few days prior to shipping to lessen the ammonia in the bag during transport. Should I/Can I feed the fish right when they get in my tank and then start the Med trio later that day or the next morning? I am just worried about the fish not eating for 8-10 days combined.

My Fish Brain: Me trying to be rational: Fish Brain talking myself back into it: Rational me again: Fish Brain again: Results:

I am relatively new to my company (6 months) so i am waiting until I have a little more sweat equity to bank on but I plan to get one of those rimless book shelf aquariums and doing a shrimp tank in my office. Not sure if it'll work since the building shuts off power every night and temps can rise or drop depending on the weather outside.

@nabokovfan87 I plan on getting some Amazon puffers within the next couple of months. Would you care to elaborate on the special care needed? I have done research and know that I need some harder foods to trim their beaks and plan to try to farm meal worms as well as feed frozen blood worms. Anything else I should know?

Bird can correct me if I'm wrong but I think those are pics of the same fish. I think he said that the other fish won't come out of the skull.

Keep whichever you think looks better but the one in the skull is definitely the less dominant one. You may want keep the less dominate one anyway since the tank is on the small side. If you are only going to keep it in a 10G, I highly suggest only keeping a single Ram. You might get lucky and the male you get will pair with your female and all will be fine but I fear that they will look at the tank as too small and feel the need to claim the whole tank as their own. This will lead to fighting and in a 10G, there isn't much space to hide and get away. I'd try to get a 20G if you want a pair. As far as the sand sifting, they do pick at the bottom but I have never really seen them do much more than that. A gravel bottom is perfectly fine for these fish but as you said, sand is more natural.

Yeah I am going to exclusively feed the sample packs until they are gone and see what happens. Maybe it'll be like my dog who gets wet food on special occasions and after eating the wet food, she ignores the dry food for a couple of days hoping to get more wet food. Maybe the fish will eventually accept the legit.

I got the free samples and…. It was a complete flop. My fish didn’t care for it at all. My tetra literally spit it out when they took a bite and it eventually settled at the bottom. My cories sort of grazed on it but didn’t swarm it. That was the regular food. The sinking pellets are still sitting on the bottom of the tank untouched after 45 minutes. I’ll probably have to remove it by hand. Glad I gave it a shot but sad that it didn’t work out. I really wanted to like the food cuz I like the idea of the company. edit: it took a little over an hour but the fish are at least eating the sinking pellets. They aren’t attacking it but they are eating it. Maybe the food needs to be softened first? I’m gonna pre soak them tomorrow and see if that makes the fish eat them quicker.

What fish do you plan to keep and will the tank be planted? I agree that cannister filters are best but they can get kind of pricey.

I second this method. If you think about it, in the wild there is no heater in the water that keeps it the perfect temp for the fish. If it rains the temp quickly drops. If its a drought, the sun may raise the temp several degrees in just a few hours. I think setting your heater to the new temp and allowing the water to adjust on its own is perfectly acceptable.

I am just curious but when my tank went through this I was told to avoid water changes because it basically feeds the bacteria that are blooming. I was told that the water would clear up over a week or 2 when the bacteria consume all the "food" in the water and die off of starvation. My cloudy water went away using this method but was I misinformed?

To add to this, some cories excrete a poison or venom when they are stressed and can sometimes accidentally kill themselves in the bag. Well poison themselves in the bag and die over time it seems based on your story. I have no idea if this is what actually happened to your fish but it adds up. My suggestion is to plop and drop. Temp acclimate them for 15-30 minutes and then just put them in your tank. The idea is that the least amount of time in the bag the better. any stress caused by water parameter differences is still less than the stress from being in a bag. I have switched to the plop and drop method and have not lost a single fish on acclimation in over a year.

Thats what I am thinking but like you said, its hard to tell for sure when they are washed out.

They are definitely GBRs, they are just washed out either due to being in a new environment or maybe the water parameters not being exact. They may also be washed out because they are stressing each other. When I have a group, I usually get 2 males and 3-4 females. I try to get the males to be of equal size so they can stand up to one another. I'm rambling a bit now but what I was going to say is that I always find that each male colors up and if they pair with a female, the paired females color up but any unpaired females remain washed out. This also happens to subdominant males. They remove their colors to try not to draw attention to themselves. I can't tell for sure from these pics because the dorsals blend in with the back ground. If I had to guess, I would say you have 2 females but I definitely could be wrong. If the pic below, you can see the extended dorsal fin of my Ram, thats a good way to tell a male. Its not fool proof though as some males don't have very extended dorsals and some females do have them. But I'd say that its at 75% true that males have the extended dorsal. Also notice that the black spot is solid. There are no reflective scales in the black spot for males. Females will have reflective scales in the black spot. I have found this method of sexing GBRs to be fool proof. This is why I think you have 2 females. While they are washed out, I think I see reflective scales in their black spots. But its def hard to tell for sure when they aren't colored up.

They certainly could both be males but its not definite. If they were opposite sexes and either doesn't find the other to be a suitable mate, that could also lead to bickering. I can't tell for sure based on the pics provided. If you can get a pic of both flaring their dorsal fins or a pic of them colored up then I can give a pretty good educated guess.

Java Moss. I used to have a ton more but it got out of hand so I ripped it out and this is the result of about a year of regrowth. I amthinking about adding some to the limbs of the new piece of wood but I am worried about the over growth as before. I guess I could always add it and when it gets out of hand rip it out again. The issue with Java moss, and any moss I'd assume, is that it impossible to get out of the tank once its in there. Every trimming send strands all over and some get attached to other plants and rocks and wood and then it just grows there. below is a pic of the moss when it was getting to be too much. This is actually a time when the tank looked its best.