What ph do red eye red tailed puffers like? Ive read that they like 7.5-8.0, but im not really sure if this is right. I was thinking about using soil as substrate and to have a piece of driftwood in the middle of the tank, but this will bring my ph down to about 6.0 i believe. Just wanted to know what the ph was in their natural habitat so I could try to compensate with crushed coral.

In common with most other freshwater puffers, the pH and hardness couldn't matter less. Anything between pH 6-8, 5-20 degrees dH will be fine. In the wild these puffers are found in soft, acidic blackwater streams alongside things like rasboras.

Bogwood doesn't do much to water if you have a high carbonate hardness. I always recommend monitoring the carbonate hardness because what fish don't like are pH changes, and a moderate amount of KH will help here.

Cheers, Neale

This post has been edited by nmonks: Jul 5 2008, 09:46 AM

Well, I know about pH and hardness dont really matter, but I was just curious on what it was like in nature. I guess if they are from acidic waters anyways my tank will be pretty damn easy to set up and it saves me a few bucks.