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mountaintoppufferkeeper

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Everything posted by mountaintoppufferkeeper

  1. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    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)
  2. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    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.
  3. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    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😁
  4. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    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 🙂
  5. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    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
  6. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    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
  7. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    @CJs Aquatics ..... i have joined you ... gummy worms below and a 4" worm lure mold above
  8. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    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
  9. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    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.
  10. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    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 :).
  11. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    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:
  12. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    @Mothball nice to meet you.
  13. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    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
  14. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    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
  15. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    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.
  16. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    Captured a decent hairy puffer colony photo. Pretty sure these are the pair 🙂
  17. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    Yeah I figure ill run it with about 250 gallons of water and 150lbs of pool filter sand. That plus the tank itself and the stand is basically the weight of parking a car down there. The fishroom.is in the walkout basement
  18. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    The general idea is this sketch. The difference is the rack will be 3 blocks long then one sideways Using these 16x8x8 blocks And 3/4" maple plywood in 2'x4' sections like the drawing. For this 270 gallon Anyone done this kind of stand ? How far much of an overlap of plywood to block would you do? I am considering doing a cap stone for more surface area and resting the plywood on that vs the open block. Any guidance on this one much appreciated.
  19. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    This arrived earlier than expected.... so much for the 11th at the earliest 🙂. My first bigger tank @ 270 gallons. Now to build the block and 3/4" plywood stand and move it in from under the porch asap. One of the 5 Pao abei with a pretty good food belly tonight
  20. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    Those Red Cherry Tetras look cool. I saw them up in boulder colorado..... Just a few nickles.
  21. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    @nabokovfan87 I would guess more camera trickery more than eye issue. Similar to mekongs /palustris. These are F1palustris with a similar reflection Both new groups will go through the med trio and a few more rounds of deworming.
  22. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    I did a thing again lol ..... Started a colony of Pao abei We are day one pretty recently arrived to the US. We have some deworming etc to run through still. And a group of Pao leiurus He was pretty sure that blood worm cube had a dangerous side. Got a clip of the Spotted congo fry. They are still growing out nicely
  23. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    I suggest looking at whiteworms for pea puffers. I do both grindal and white worms soil-less on scrubber pads they produce a ton of worms no smell and no bug issues. Whiteworms are regularly fed to smaller puffers up here. Thinner species of earthworms would also be a hit im sure.
  24. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    @CJs Aquatics thats even more awesome than i pictured. Great stuff thanks for sharing
  25. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    @Preston John much thanks. Im getting there slowly on the food size timeline for my setup here. I figured once to eating BBS reliably it would be the same process as the Pao palustris from then on. Ill have improve my paramecium, rotifer, and copepod culture skills a bit more for 600 at a time. They have been very rewarding to learn from to this point of growth.
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