New Additions

[emseeKAY]

Unfortunately i had a bad case of Ich which wiped out my community earlier in the month which left me with only my african dwarf frog, he was a fighter and shook it off which really impressed me and yesterday i got two tank mates for him.

I picked up 2 Green Spotted Puffers! they have quite a personality and although they are notorious fin-nippers, they havent at all bullied the frog. they are very messy eaters but have such great personalities. I'm also thinking of converting the tank into a marine as the puffers can vary in salinity. These guys are quite the fish and i would reccomend these little guys to anyone, very different! just watch for the fin nipping!!!

[marvelfreak]

What no pics? Come on you know you what to show them off. Sorry to here about your frogs.

[infernalis]

How can you post this without pictures.??? ;)

[emseeKAY]

haha well ill get some asap! and sorry it was the fish that died not the frog lol hes still in there kickin around hehe, heres a picture from google
i'll get one up of the pair asap lol :)

http://www.allensaquariums.com/puffer/images/fish_GreenSpottedPuffer.jpg

[Aaron_S]

Dude. Those things bite! Try it. Stick your finger in there. They have like a beak so it actually does kind of hurt! You need to add archer fish if you're going brackish.

[infernalis]

You into fish too Aaron??

[Lankyrob]

No good to me if they fin nip - tho i would love a marine set up - is one of my dreams to hace a massive coral reef tank with its own ecosystem.

Currently i only have a community of Guppies - they self manage numbers and i keep a "natural" tank. Apart from feeding i dont touch the tank at all. When fish die i have shrimps and cat fish in there that will break down and eat them. I have snails that keep the glass clean (and reproduce enough young to fit the amount of water) and also the guppies self manage - whenever i get a clutch of young (they live-bear) you get a couple of adults will die off - some of the young dont reach maturity (naughty cat fish!!) and so the numbers stay fairly constant.

[Will0W783]

The green-spotted puffers are actually brackish, marine will kill them. You need to look up how to set up a brackish tank- it's usually like a 5% salinity I think. I would watch very carefully; puffers will eat anything that fits in their beaks, so I would not be surprised if they ended up eating the frog at some point. I had a large freshwater puffer (about the size of a lemon) and he ate EVERYTHING. He ate the other puffer that was in there and I fed him feeder rosey fish. He was awesome though- Bob the Blob.

[emseeKAY]

oh they love to bite! ive decided im giving the frog to a friend who has a very large 100 gallon freshwater community tank just in case, lol i dont know if id want to stick my finger in there Aaron lol do you have archers?

I read online at a few sites that they could manage in marine environments, but then again it is the internet... i was told as they get older its best to convert to a brackish if it isnt already so im planning on doing that as the next step, im wondering how long does it take snails to breed? or will these guys pick them off before there is any chance of that? just seems easier if i had a constant food source to help wear down their beak lol theyre primarily on Krill, Brine Shrimp and blood worms. Hopefully not frog lol

@Willow - bob the blob... thats just amazing haha
@LankyRob - that sounds like quite the community you have there!
@Aaron - do you have many fish as well? (i guess i stole that question from wayne hehe)

[infernalis]

Currently i only have a community of Guppies

You will probably hate me, but I commonly keep huge numbers of guppies, feeder guppies that is.

Rosy reds have an enzyme called thiaminase that blocks thiamin absorption in animals, Guppies lack this enzyme.

I will admit though, there are some really beautiful guppies that I could never feed off.

[Will0W783]

Huh, I did not know that about the rosies. He also ate goldfish and snails and frozen brine shrimp- basically anything he could fit into his mouth, including the other puffer that I got with him..lol. I remembered now, Bob was an eyespot puffer and about 6 inches long. He was HUGE! Here is a picture of what eyespot puffers look like. I think they are absolutely adorable. I'm a huge puffer fan, but after I lost Bob, it will be a while before I try again. I get too attached...lol.

[Lankyrob]

Wouldn't hate you for that Wayne - live and let live. My tank is as much for teaching ecology and "the circle of life" to my daughter as it is for entertaining me. If oyurs are for feeding your other animals then that is fine by me!! I have never been able to form any sort of emotional attachment to any of the fish i have owned for some reason (maybe its cos you cant handle them!!).

[Aaron_S]

I currently own zero fish. I also am currently in the process of thinking of buying a fish tank, and hence, fish. All my knowledge is based on working in a chain pet store some years ago and selling fish. A lot of co-workers at the time came from Big Al's previously so they had a lot of experience with marine. I picked their brains when I could. We had a brackish tank with puffers and archers there.

[emseeKAY]

ahhh, that makes sense lol, ive fallen in love with puffers lol they have great personalities and are quite intelligent, especially when it involves getting at food lol ive been looking at articles on how to convert from freshwater to brackish but like always there is some conflicting info. anyone know any tricks, tips, whatever?

as always thanks in advance! :D

[Aaron_S]

You never want to shock your system so carefully and controlled.

[Will0W783]

In order to convert from freshwater to brackish, you will need to set up the water and tank and let it establish for a week before you put the fish in. Brackish cannot be created with the fish in the water at the time, so I've been told. Part of the reason I went with completely freshwater puffers. But Bob ate all his tankmates....he was a hungry blob.
Puffers are very intelligent- they learn that you bring the food and will come to the front or top of the tank when they see you to get the food, so don't ever put your hand in there or they will take it as food and nibble on it. As Aaron said, they have a birdlike beak and bite hard!

[emseeKAY]

yeah from what ive read ive gathered that insta ocean is probably my best bet and to put about 1 tbsp per gallon into the filter so it will circulate slower, but im wondering would doing that all within one day be too much for the fish? i mean i would only do this say once a month in order to maintain proper bacteria levels and whatnot but should i start out a half a tbsp per gallon or even 1/4 tbsp per gallon at this point? also the fish are in 100% freshwater and have been in freshwater at big als where i purchased them.

[Will0W783]

Yes it would be too much for them if you did it one day. If you're going to do it with the fish in there, I'd recommend adding 1-2 gallons' worth a day at most. But really it is better to have your brackish tank set up and let it run for at least a week and then transfer the fish in.

[emseeKAY]

yeah that sounds like a better plan i must have overlooked your last post, sorry lol. as i read that they are better off in brackish once they get older im planning on purchasing a larger tank which i will let run for a week or so as you said before introducing my little friends haha i hope they dont eat one another :| one seems to be more dominant than the other which makes me assume that he would be the one to eat anyone else in the tank but who knows lol thanks for the help!