mountaintoppufferkeeper

Looking great leo

8 october 23 : Today we tried the first frozen thawed raw "bait" crayfish today. We are still learning how to eat this food item but they are fans it seems. The hope is to have this food be in regular rotation as they grow. A still of the first taste of crayfish here. These four cross rivers are very food defensive. My current strategy, to limit their need to defend food against each other, is to position even more coop planters and plants so that each member has a sheltered location to eat frozen meals which is blocked from the view of the other four "feeding stations" across the 270 gallon.

Looks great im glad the "kelp" has been decent for you

This evening: two of the four Tetraodon pustulatus cross river puffers. 4 of 8 extra large amazon swords added to the coop easy planters 4 still floating. If these puffers arent full they are looking for food any time they see me. Small fish are limia vittata who serve as their "clean up crew"

thanks for the heads up @nabokovfan87 @Vanessa K congratulations on the spotted congo puffer colony. I can only speak to my personal experience and process. For my puffer acclimation I generally do temperature acclimation by floating puffers in their bags for 30-45 minutes with the lights off, especially when they travel for a while I dose the tsnk with water conditioner then just cut the bags open and release them, water and all, after the temperature acclimation.I leave the lights off the first couple of hours after release. My preference is to have a bunch of snails in the tanks so they can start eating at their own pace once settled. I do offer food after the lights are turned back on as well; generally puffers are quick to adjust and be ready for food in my tanks. I do not worry about parameter acclimation personally and am more concerned about the ammonia spike risk in the bag water once I expose it to air. I defer to those that use it for their processes for specifics on how to do that method. In the distant past I have rarely cut open the bag at the top and add the tank water to the bags a cup at a time every 5 minutes for about 15 or 20 minutes before release into the tank. But I have found that unncessary for my new arrivals. I do treat the tank with a water conditioner when they arrive with Fritz A.C.C.R and use live plants. I worry less about any ammonia spike issues in my situation due the dillution of the bag water into the main tank volume of water, the live plants, and the conditioner that neutralizes any ammonia which is present. A single 1/8th inch (3.18 mm) long mekong puffer fry once inflated in a net and get air stuck. That batch had 1 of 300 to do that.... rare but possible. That puffer was a around this size (an earlier batch). It was my one experience of a puffer fry inflating with air and it being an issue. This is a Pao palustris mekong river puffer F1 fry. The light smudges are baby brine shrimp I believe, based of my own learning experiences, that older puffers have less trouble expelling air than younger fry. for my comfort I avoid the risk personally and accept the risk of adding a small amount of bag water to the tank. I keep them all under water when they arrive its a personal preference Spotted congos displaying Spotted congo fry growth up here Congrats on the new puffers I look forward to any forum updates of their progress.

Fed the aquahuna purchased algae shrimp ....some extreme algae flake I got from the coop. As suggested on the forum this is an attempt at a polyculture with neocaradina in the floating german breeding ring abive. The spotted congo fry. The intent to have shrimplets for baby puffers when the sizes work out One of the F1 spotted congo fry. Still growing just the 4. Post puffer room reset the adult spotted congo group hasnt yet thrown eggs into my collector. Big fan of sitting on the leaves next to a shrimp that left the breeding ring Another of the four f1 fry. They like tiny snails and whiteworms currently And the four cross rivers got a billiondy'ish 🙂 earthworms tonight

Managed to get decent photos of 2 of the 4 cross river puffers. They are a pretty cool interactive species. This has been the hardest project so far but they are beginning to find their calm with eachother. Lots of plants, lots of food, lots of space, and even more plants and coop planters Less decent of the other 2

@Fresh Princess Cool congrats. The Ziss box is safe for the sterbai and puffers i have hatched in them. It is a very fine mesh (0.7 millimeter = 0.0276" = 22 gauge) sterbai eggs are typically laid at 2mm so way larger than the mesh and the fry here have been bigger than that once they hatch out I have done the ziss most often for sterbai. I generally roll the eggs onto the plastic portions of the inside of the box so that other fish do not try and eat them through the mesh. The mesh is small enough that puffer fry dont get out maybe a little bigger than a new hached baby brineshrimp. ThIs is a breeding ring but same idea. I will feed in the ziss or ring until i think they are ready to be released. The ziss has great flow ive hatched a high percentage of sterbai eggs just with that. I also have used the specimine container and 2 drops of methelyne blue i will hang it inside the tank to keep temperature if i do that method and start changing water as soon as hatching begins I am a big fan of java moss in the breeder box for cover and some micro food options for the fry

1 point for each aquarium you currently have running.14 1/2 point for each aquarium that you have empty "just in case". 2 1 point for every 40 gallons of water currently in your tanks. 20 1 point for each variety of prepared food you regularly feed. 5 2 points for each variety of frozen food your regularly feed. 10 3 points for each variety of live food you regularly feed. 15 2 points for each variety of water you regularly use in your aquariums/fish room that require some kind of preparation other than dechlorination (e.g., RODI, brackish, salt, hard water for African cichlids) 1 point for each tank with CO2 1 additional point for each tank where CO2 is regulated (i.e., not yeast-based or chemical generator) 1 point for each species of fish you have raised to maturity.8 1 point for each "grow out tank" you keep 7 1 point for each species-only tank you keep.6 1 point for each 100 comments posted on this Aquarium Coop Forum. 1 point for each cycled filter you have on hand, just in case. 6 1 point for each aquarium you have built yourself. 12(repurposed drilled and did bulkheads) 1 point for each aquarium stand you have built.12 5 points if you have a multi-tank auto-water change system. 5 points if you have a air supply "loop" for many tanks. 10 points if you have structurally modified your home to accommodate your fish tanks. 10 points if you been collecting in the wild. 1 point for each city you've been to and visited the LFS as a tourist activity.10 1 point for each $100 you've sold of fish in the last year. 2 2 points if you regularly attend a fish club auction. Award yourself one point for taking this quiz. 1 ...... 130 ish without the comments points. Nermish i suppose lol Unless i missed it Id say an add could be 1 point per live plant 10 points if you have made on coop order 15 if you subscribe to the youtube channel

Day 12 Still need more plants but have added 18 coop plants plus something like 20 from other tanks to this "pond" All four cross rivers have posed tonight a bit. They ate pretty well yesterday. Their demeanor is more like fsirly interactive bull sharks in my set up. They rexognize me but when not full they are a little "sassy" and when hungry and food arrives they will chase and defend their meal. So far the plants work well and we have figured out our spots in the colony dynamic. I even caught two sleeping next to eaxh other this early am (no photo unfortunately)

I personally do pond snails, ramshorn snails, new hatched mystery snails, trumpet snails, and cherry shrimp culls for my spotted congos and other species. If its the right size it is eligible for feeding. I havent noticed a pain issue with trumpet snails but all the puffers ive had will use different tactics on mts or bigger snails vs right sized or thin shelled snails. They will normally go for the trumpet snail while its moving. If the shell isnt worth their effort and they can just go for the snail when its out and moving..... mine will pick the easy button. They also do that to ramshorns and mysterys if the shell diameter is too big for their mouth. Earthworms, whiteworms, frozen bloodworms, and small dubia roaches are also rotated into feeding schedules fpr them up here.

As far as I have found not yet. They were a little fired up on release but all good today and less establishing of a pecking order from the behaviors on night 1. So far so good. I will be filling the cart with plants today for a bit of help in more plant provided sight blocks. They basically have 80% of the live plants and coop planters in the fishroom now😁

The fun has begun. I have started with 4 wild caught cross puffers they landed late last night and were added to their tank tonight. My big puffer learning curve has begun Initial observation .... 1. need more plants and sight breaks 2.they are active hunters 3. Have bigger appetites than expected 4. they posture and display a bit more than any other species ive kept 5. This could be a short thread .....but hopefully it goes for a long time 🙂

Anyone know if HDPE mesh is fish safe ? I was considering options for DIY dividers in the 270 gallon tank. My current plan is 3/4" pvc frame and zip tied 1" mesh HDPE fencing to size

Puffer signal recieved @mij. I defer to @Preston John for all things spotted congo but i have had decent success having just one bunch of plants and putting those plants and eggs in the plants in a breeding riing to hatch naturaly no MB. When I have done the container and MB it was with palustris. I ran an airline and rigid tube to keep a little flow and break the surface tension. I also added cube of the badness absorbing polyfilter cube (to absorb any badness) 12 to 24 hours after starting it for a visual on water quality and add a new cube every 12 hours and pull the oldest one about every 24 hours (or as needed) while eggs and fry are present. Polyfilter cube after 12 hours ish Polyfilter cube corner air flow about 1/2 way up the container works for me and about that rate of bubble

@CJs Aquatics ..... i have joined you ... gummy worms below and a 4" worm lure mold above

Installed two 600 watt heaters. Getting closer to the new project ...... Oh man 😁. They will get a nice view of the backyard. About time for a few more coop plants i think

Is a 15 gallon 24"x12"x12"? I'd give a 1 male 2 female red eye red tail puffer a shot in a 15. Of course more space is always better. 2 males and 3 females worked for me in a 20 prior to sending the group out. I always run some live plants like subwassertang etc to allow for the ability to hide when they want to. i never had a split fin in that group.

It seems like the female redeyes are rare to be sent by the exporters but there are some spots that get in females regularly; I assume the exporters try and send nearly all males to stores; the color on the males may be be more desireable to most buyers than the smaller less colorful females. Puffers are pretty awesome. Im a little biased though :).

Thanksfor the puffer signal @Fish Folk :). @Gannon When in quarantine this pufferfish did pick on a cory cat before they were seperated so obviously this fish's compatibility with other fish is in question. I have never had success with puffers and bottom dwellers of any kind. Those types of fish seem to freeze vs flight and the puffers will "investigate" them non-stop. ......ember tetras or something similar. Would these be fast enough that the puffer wouldnt be able to pick on them and get bored of chasing them?Or is that just unrealistic? In my limited puffer keeping experiences they have been more likely to view small faster peaceful (non fin nippers non territorial) top and midwater swimmers as generally tolerable tankmates. If its too fast and too aggressive they will pick on the puffer. I personally view everything in a puffer tank as a tankmate subject to what the puffer decides. The puffer may just decide one day,and without warning, it would be more fun to hunt than have tankmates. Would it be better to just leave him alone, or would it be beneficial or at least worthwhile to try something like a couple of my endlers in the tank to see how he reacts to faster, harder to pick on fish I am partial to puffer groups the behaviors are noticably different and interesting for me up here. I did keep 2 male and 3 female red tail red eyes in a planted 40 breeder longterm without any trouble and for a couple of weeks in a 20 high prior to shipping them out to share them with a friend. Having a few females in there with him and some plants could get you some really nice behaviors and keep your puffer engaged and displaying that courtship coloration and displays. 40 breeder red tail red eye colony:

@Mothball nice to meet you.

Finished 5 days of maracyn for the new Pao abei colony; did a water change and filter cleaning and caught some footage of them I also got to see the Pao leiurus colony running through their courtship dance for the first time since arriving. Not the same as palustris but similar movements

In addition to @Beardedbillygoat1975 from @nabokovfan87 ill add @Furfinsandfire , @Gannon , and @MAC i did have two males and 3 females in a 40 breeder and temporarily in a 20 high without issue. Ive personally found more space helps keep any group of puffers more calm and comfortable. My red tail redeyes have been traded in a fishroom retool but heavy plants were one of their preferences and i found them very relaxed as a group. . Mysis shrimp Female adults (much smaller) They get about 1.7 inches which should work for 1 in my 6.7 gallon half-moon tank. If theye are Carinotetraodon irrubesco my males were maxxed out at 2 5" TL that 1.7 must be nose to base of tail. I think id try one in a 6.7 gallon with live plants - Like most puffers, they are personable and will interact with you. Mine were in my tanks - Ambush predators so enjoy heavily planted. I didnt notice ambush but they did actively hunt and were comfirtable in plants - Having just 1 in a tank is fine. Ill defer to the experts on that but probably and likely more personality with the owner as a single. - In regards to feeding, which is usually a major thing with puffers, the LFS has been feeding them freeze dried blood worms, frozen foods, occasionally ramshorn snails and juvenile endlers. I'm considering freeze dried blood worms, frozen krill or bbs, I have ramshorn snails, guppies I can pull fry out, and shrimp I can pull culls out. Frozens : Mysis shrimp, krill, bloodworm Freeze dried : bloodworms, krill Live: earthworms, whiteworms Rarely : ramshoorns they would hunt and grab vs biting shells Mine ate everything I never had other species of fish but assume fry could be an occasional meal

Awesome. Nice to meet you. Im not at that 11 level thats amazing. Maybe someday :). I do almost exclusively freshwater puffers in colonys and work on breeding, raising, and sharing them one way or another. Im always curious how my higher altitude, at 9,100 feet or so, changes behaviors and processes in the puffers vs other setups. My current fishroom family members are colonys of .... 1.Pao palustris mekong river puffers 2.Tetraodon schoutedeni spotted congo 3. Pao baileyi Hairy puffer 4.Pao abei Abe's Puffer? (Probably based on their relatively good nature to this point) 5. Pao leiurus Target puffer 6. (Pending) I am plannning a slightly larget puffer project in a 270 beginning some time next month The forum is full of great people. we even have a few puffer and oddball keepers like yourself. Oddballs is the page I shop for fish on pretty much everytime 🙂 Welcome to the community.

Captured a decent hairy puffer colony photo. Pretty sure these are the pair 🙂