I Want A Figure 8 In My Community Tank

[sharz]

I currently have 5 bumblee gobys, 5 dwarf (pygmy) puffers, 4 khuli loaches, 5 cardinal tetras, 2 otos and a fire belly newt. Ive been doing some research on figure 8 puffers and some people say they have been well behaved while others say they are extremly eggresive. I know they should b fine with the bumblebees and if the tetras get nipped i wouldnt mind giving them away to my friend. the main thing i dont want to happen is my dwarfs gettin eaten or the fire bely newt. can i just have some help please and opinions on what u think i shud do if i want to base my tank arround the figure 8. ps i have the freshwater gobys and i have read that figure 8's live in freshwater but do better in brackish, but i am still going to buy it, jus clearin that up because people on this site jump down peoples throats before actualy helping. but thank u guys!

 

[jacko32]

they are a really cool fish most of the time if you supply enough snails for them to eat they leave your fish alone.
theres a vid on you tube of 1 biting a fish clean in half tetras wont last long

 

[Assaye]

I wouldn't risk it. Even a warning nip from one of those will cause major damage. They are best in brackish set ups. Puffers are species only, IMO.

Also - you really, really shouldn't have a fire bellied newt in a tropical tank. They can't tolerate temps much above 23 C and should really be kept down at about 20 C or below. I found this out the hard way - I adopted 5 fire bellied newts who were kept in a tropical tank and ended up with horrible burns.

EDIT - just to clarify, they were in a tropical tank before I had them. They're now in a coldwater tank and are fattening up and regrowing their limbs. However, many of the original group died from the stress, burns and secondary infections before I got them.

 

[josh lock]

i keep my figure 8 in its own brackish set up, i wouldn't it with my community tank. when you see the way they rip muscles apart you would think twice! i know i did.

 

[jennybugs]

Fig 8 puffs thrive better in captivity in low end brackish waters so I wouldn't be putting it in a freshwater tank anyway. You take a risk with putting them in with bbg's as puffs can turn at any time. Some people have success with F8s and bbg's (like me) and some don't, but I personally wouldn't put it in with anything else as mine sometimes scrap between themselves too!

 

[divegirl]

I currently have 5 bumblee gobys, 5 dwarf (pygmy) puffers, 4 khuli loaches, 5 cardinal tetras, 2 otos and a fire belly newt. Ive been doing some research on figure 8 puffers and some people say they have been well behaved while others say they are extremly eggresive. I know they should b fine with the bumblebees and if the tetras get nipped i wouldnt mind giving them away to my friend. the main thing i dont want to happen is my dwarfs gettin eaten or the fire bely newt. can i just have some help please and opinions on what u think i shud do if i want to base my tank arround the figure 8. ps i have the freshwater gobys and i have read that figure 8's live in freshwater but do better in brackish, but i am still going to buy it, jus clearin that up because people on this site jump down peoples throats before actualy helping. but thank u guys!

Poor fish!

 

[jennybugs]

ps i have the freshwater gobys and i have read that figure 8's live in freshwater but do better in brackish, but i am still going to buy it, jus clearin that up because people on this site jump down peoples throats before actualy helping. but thank u guys!

Can I just ask...you're asking for advice but going to get the Fig 8 puffer anyway? Is that what you're saying? I wouldn't want to jump to a reaction if I've misunderstood that.

Having re-read your first comments, you can most likely kiss goodbye to your dp's if you pop a Fig 8 into your tank. In fact, you're lucky that your dp's haven't already shredded some of the fish in the community tank as they are not community fish. One day they will turn into mini velociraptors and start biting chunks out of anything they want to have a taste of. This is more and more probable to happen as they become sexually matured The only fish I have ever dared try dp's in with are otocinlcus and they have been matured in the set ups first before the introduction of the dp's.

I would err on the side of caution and set up a low end brackish specific fig 8 puffer tank with bbg's in if I were you (and make sure the gobies are in and established first before adding the puff/s). You're really inviting trouble into a tank that already has a few little pea sized time bombs waiting to go off in there