F8 Questions

[dixaisy930]

I have been wanting to have puffers again for sometime (I use to have a DP tank). I would like to try a brackish type this time, and I think the F8 would be the best choice for me.

I have read conflicting info on minimum tank size. I am hoping that a 10 gallon will be ok, since I have an empty one right now. Would I be able to add any gobies if they were in a 10 gallon? I'm curious if most people have positive experiences keeping gobies with F8, or do the F8's eventually eat them?

Are there other things I can feed them besides snails to keep the beak trim? I would think the snails would not survive long in brackish water. Would ghost shrimp work?

All of my lfs around here have their F8's in FW. How long can I expect it to take to acclimate the F8 to the proper salinity (I mean, not just dumping it in the water and the fish adapting, I mean using the drip system)? My tap water pH is around 8 or 9. What pH does the F8 require?

As for filters, do Whisper filters do alright with brackish water? If not, what kind would you suggest? And when I set up my tank, can I use a filter from an already establish tank to transfer the bacteria, or does different bacteria live in brackish water?

What kind of substrate is best for F8's? Oh, so many questions...

 

[j0rzeh]

I have been wanting to have puffers again for sometime (I use to have a DP tank). I would like to try a brackish type this time, and I think the F8 would be the best choice for me.

I have read conflicting info on minimum tank size. I am hoping that a 10 gallon will be ok, since I have an empty one right now. Would I be able to add any gobies if they were in a 10 gallon? I'm curious if most people have positive experiences keeping gobies with F8, or do the F8's eventually eat them?

Are there other things I can feed them besides snails to keep the beak trim? I would think the snails would not survive long in brackish water. Would ghost shrimp work?

All of my lfs around here have their F8's in FW. How long can I expect it to take to acclimate the F8 to the proper salinity (I mean, not just dumping it in the water and the fish adapting, I mean using the drip system)? My tap water pH is around 8 or 9. What pH does the F8 require?

As for filters, do Whisper filters do alright with brackish water? If not, what kind would you suggest? And when I set up my tank, can I use a filter from an already establish tank to transfer the bacteria, or does different bacteria live in brackish water?

What kind of substrate is best for F8's? Oh, so many questions...

ok illput the answers down as quick as i can so forgive spelling mistakes etc.. im late to fit a customers new FX5 filter.

ok F8's need 15 us gals each or less if your keeping them alone so the 10gal is fine they should be ok with gobies such as bumble bee gobies and fast moving fish like large tetras like congo's.

shrimps should keep the breaks down but krill is cheaper to use.

take 4 weeks to bring the salinty up to .008 - .001 per 3 to 4 days some times take even longer and make sure you have a cycled tank before keeping them.

also external filters are better as we know under gravel is not as good for ur puffers there to messy at eatting

puffers like between 7.2 and 8.3 ph 8 is fine also you might want to use R/O water really as i find the f8's do better with this type of water and use lots of vitimin sups

hope this helps hehe

 

[chris_1127]

would you go for an sg as high as 1.008 - 1.010 for figure 8's? Also congo tetras are freshwater

 

[j0rzeh]

You can only keep congo's if you keep them fsw but if he does go brackish water then gobies only mollies will be eaten you see.

1.008 to 1.010 is fine for F8's but i only keep mine in 1.008 i find they do better i have a small tank with a fig 8 in freshwater and he does well but doesnt eat as much or often as the brackish water setup

 

[dixaisy930]

You can only keep congo's if you keep them fsw but if he does go brackish water then gobies only mollies will be eaten you see.

I'm definately going with brackish since it seems that's what they are meant to be in.

3 to 4 days for it to acclimate, huh? Will it do ok in a bucket with a air stone for that long!?! Is there a better setup I should consider?

What exactly is RO water (I know it stands for reverse osmosis, right?)? I've only heard of it a few times, but never really looked into it, since it seemed to be for things like saltwater fish. What exactly is the benefits?

I live in Colorado, which has very dry air. I'm worried about evaporation in this tank. Even with my other tanks covered, I still seem some evaporation. I know I shouldn't just add water to the tank to top it off. I would assume that when the water evaporates, the salinity in the tank will rise since the same amount of salt is still in there? Or not? How can I deal with this problem? Maybe a larger tank (20 gallon maybe) will not be so sensitive to this?

 

[Little Fish]

I'm not an expert but here is my 2 cents worth.

Most owners agreed on 10 gallon per F8. I read a lot of people have good experience keeping Bumble Bee Gobies with F8. However, in a relatively small 10 gallon tank, the F8 may be more hostile.

I feed mine with snails and ghost shrimps. I read others use clams (shell opened) and chopped up pieces of shrimp (with shell).

If you are starting with a new tank, why don't you cycle the tank in FW mode first. After the tank has been cycled, you can add the F8 and raise the SG slowly. Since you said your lfs keeps the F8 in FW, this may be the easier approach. If you already have a brackish tank, here is my experience. I have successfully acclimated one of my F8s from FW straight from the lfs to SG 1.004 using a hose drip in about 3 hours. I did not look up any reference though; the optimum time may be shorter or longer. For PH, I think around 8 is ok. 9 seems a little high for me.

I use a canister filter in my open top tank because I have red mangroves growing in the tank. I don't want salt water to splash out so I don't use power filters without a cover. However, I think a canister is overkill for a 10 gallon tank, even if you can mount the plumbing in the relatively small tank I think any AquaClear, Penguin, or Whisper power filter would work fine in a 10 gallon tank.

As for brackish bacteria, I don't know if such exists. Even if they exist, how are we going to acquire them? Someone more knowledgeable may be able to answer this question I think in a light brackish tank for F8s, the regular FW bacteria would adapt and survive.

I use sand for my F8 tank, but most people would recommend aragonite for the benefit of PH control.

F8s are very hardy fish in my opinion. Small variations here and there would not bother them too much. The key is to keep the tank/water clean and they will be healthy. You definitely don't want them to get sick because there is very little medication you can use on them.

 

[Little Fish]

3 to 4 days for it to acclimate, huh? Will it do ok in a bucket with a air stone for that long!?! Is there a better setup I should consider?

What exactly is RO water (I know it stands for reverse osmosis, right?)? I've only heard of it a few times, but never really looked into it, since it seemed to be for things like saltwater fish. What exactly is the benefits?

I live in Colorado, which has very dry air. I'm worried about evaporation in this tank. Even with my other tanks covered, I still seem some evaporation. I know I shouldn't just add water to the tank to top it off. I would assume that when the water evaporates, the salinity in the tank will rise since the same amount of salt is still in there? Or not? How can I deal with this problem? Maybe a larger tank (20 gallon maybe) will not be so sensitive to this?

I don't think Lewis meant acclimation for 3 to 4 days. Lewis is referring to raise the SG of the whole tank by 0.001 every 3 to 4 days. As for using a air stone in a bucket during acclimation, it is highly debatable. My friends that keep marine fish never use air stone during acclimation because they said it will increase the PH in the water too fast. I don't know if it holds truth in FW. However, I don't use air stone in a bucket because it creates too much turbulent.

RO water is one of the best you can use for your aquarium. The system in essence applies pressure to force tap water through a semi-permeable membrane (or multiple membranes). In the process, bigger particules such as heavy metal, carbonate, etc will be trapped. Only pure water and some small particules such as silicates or phoshate can go thru (some better systems can filter these also). The result is almost pure water that you can add additives back to match whatever water parameters you want. Since RO systems cost $300 and up and the fact that you have to re-condition the water afterwards, I would say they are for the experts only. I don't think it is economical to use such a system for a 10 gallon tank.

You are right, salty water evaporates faster and the salt content will be left behind in the tank. So if you don't add water every now and then, the SG for the tank will rise. However, brackish fishes live in environmnents with SG level fluctuation more than we can recreate with just evaporation from our tanks.

I don't know of any way to stop evaporation short of vaccum sealing the tank Also, I don't think there is anything wrong to just add fresh water (not salt water) back to the tank. Marine fish keepers might purchase an automatic top-off system but I will save the money and just inspect the water level whenever I feed the fish. If I just need to top-off with a cup or so, I just pour in prepared fresh water. If I need a gallon or more, I half fill my 5 gallon bucket with prepared FW, drop a heater, and warm the water to the same temperature as my tank before pumping the water in the tank.

 

[dixaisy930]

Thank you so much for all of your help! It doesn't seem quite so overwhelming now.

I think I'll try and aquire a 20 gallon for a reasonable price. Bigger is always better, right?

Thanks again.

 

[Little Fish]

I think I'll try and aquire a 20 gallon for a reasonable price. Bigger is always better, right?

Yes, I think so, for environmental stability in a closed system.

 

[penguinpimp1990]

I have been wanting to have puffers again for sometime (I use to have a DP tank). I would like to try a brackish type this time, and I think the F8 would be the best choice for me.

I have read conflicting info on minimum tank size. I am hoping that a 10 gallon will be ok, since I have an empty one right now. Would I be able to add any gobies if they were in a 10 gallon? I'm curious if most people have positive experiences keeping gobies with F8, or do the F8's eventually eat them?

Are there other things I can feed them besides snails to keep the beak trim? I would think the snails would not survive long in brackish water. Would ghost shrimp work?

All of my lfs around here have their F8's in FW. How long can I expect it to take to acclimate the F8 to the proper salinity (I mean, not just dumping it in the water and the fish adapting, I mean using the drip system)? My tap water pH is around 8 or 9. What pH does the F8 require?

As for filters, do Whisper filters do alright with brackish water? If not, what kind would you suggest? And when I set up my tank, can I use a filter from an already establish tank to transfer the bacteria, or does different bacteria live in brackish water?

What kind of substrate is best for F8's? Oh, so many questions...

first off a f8 would be fine alone in a 10 gallon but if your planning on adding BBG's id say go for sometyhing like a 20 gallon, but even then the f8 may be tempted to eat some of them, ghost shrimp would be fine as i feed my f8 live ghosties every now and then, yes different bacteria lives in brackish water id reccomend doing a complete cycle, ph is ideally kept between 7.1 and 8, sand is best for the puffer, heres the article i wrote on figure 8 puffers

 

[dixaisy930]

I tested my water today, and the pH is 8.0. I read somewhere that arogonite is a good substrate, since it dissolves and keeps the pH and hardness of the water high. Since my pH is already high (and so is the hardness, I forget what it is exactly), do I need to use this, or will they stay relatively stable?

Which tank would be best...a high, long, or regular 20 gallon? Would twenty be large enough for two f8's and no gobies, or should I go with one f8 and a couple BBG?

As far as decor, I was contemplating trying to set up a saltwater look (fake coral and such). I was thinking maybe if I had the fake coral in there, if I was able to place food on it occasionally, when the puffer ate, it would help keep the beak trim. Or is that just wishful thinking? I've also heard that puffers will "play" in bubble wands...well, the bubbles coming out of them, not the actual wands. Do you seem to have this happen? Also, have you seen those SpongeBob jellyfish that will dance in the air bubbles? Has anyone ever tried these is a tank with a puffer?

Unfortunately, most f8 (and puffers in general) I've seen at my lfs have severly nipped fins/tails, sunken bellies, and usually ich. Should I treat with anything? I've used collodial silver with some severally sick bettas, and it's worked miracles. Will just clean water, proper dieat, and a good environment be enough for them to recover?

Thank you for all of the info and help...it is greatly appreciated (by me and my future puffer)