Mixing F8s

[James B]

hi guys
at the moment the only thing my f8 gets mixed with is dinner but is there any other brackish fish he can go with like a bumblebee goby or simalar thanks james.

 

[nmonks]

Some people have indeed kept them with bumblebee gobies. But they are somewhat territorial, so I'd tend to be cautious about mixing them. In a large enough tank, I daresay wrestling halfbeaks and glassfish would co-exist peaceably for a while, but there is always the risk of fin-nipping at the very least, so a watchful eye would be essential. Spaghetti eels, being essentially nocturnal burrowers, would probably be worth a shot, too.

I've read reports of figure-8s being kept with mollies, but to be honest that isn't one I'd try out. Mollies seem to be either overly aggressive or so passive other fish bully them. Either way, risky.

Cheers,

Neale

B)-->QUOTE(James B @ Sep 20 2006, 04:09 PM) [snapback]1317062[/snapback]

at the moment the only thing my f8 gets mixed with is dinner but is there any other brackish fish he can go with like a bumblebee goby or simalar thanks james.
[/quote]

 

[SLC Flyfishing]

Honestly I never had anything with the Fig-8's but I've mixed mollies with GSP's before and there was a little fin nipping but nothing so bad that I ever felt the need to separate them. I eventually did separate them however when I gave the mollies away to a friend, the puffer seemed depressed for a while after that.

Basically you'll hear that mixing puffers with other fish is risky, which it is because puffers have the ability to inflict a very serious amount of damage on a tankmate in a very short period of time. You'll find that you may not even have the luxury of separating a fish from the puffer because he may kill it before you even know.

I've had good success with keeping tankmates and other puffer species but that is only my experience. Be forewarned that it's really a 50/50 whether your puffer will tolerate a tankmate or not. If you do try it, start with a cheap fish that you would be O.K. with losing, certainly don't go out and buy an expensive tankmate to try out.

SLC

 

[James B]

hmm well planning on pu grading from a 15 to 35 40 gallon after christmas so maybe then, thanks for the help guys will keep you posted.

 

[Flumpus]

I keep two mollies (one is a baby) and knight gobies with my figure 8, without incident. In fact I was paying close attention to my big molly this morning, and there's no evidence of fin nipping at all. I've found that with my knight gobies, they prefer to stay in caves and in the rocks, so they don't really interact with the puffer at all, other than feeding time, which is exciting, but never really gets out of hand.

I also keep a couple mollies in with my GSP, and haven't had any problems there either.

 

[Aleksander]

B)-->QUOTE(James B @ Sep 20 2006, 08:09 AM) [snapback]1317062[/snapback]

hi guys
at the moment the only thing my f8 gets mixed with is dinner but is there any other brackish fish he can go with like a bumblebee goby or simalar thanks james.
[/quote]

Figure eights, although sometimes slightly agressive, are some of the easiest brackish puffers to mix with other fish. Archers, scats, monos, knight gobies, (perhaps mollies and glassfish as previously mentioned) are usually mixed without problem.