Urgent Advice Needed

[justjon]

Hi All,

I keep a 120L Tropical tank with my community (sig below) in it, today whilst out and about I thought I would perhaps look at getting a neat little tank for something.. so I popped into my LFS.

I saw two small puffers (began withh a C?) tropical ones, which I really liked.. and the guy came over and we started discussing the different ones, and that I had spotted the 25L tank they have (Moby Dick 25) with filter that comes with it and a heater/lamp, he said that I could easily fit 2-4 of these little ones in, but that i'd be better off with Figure 8 Puffers which they can order in as they get more colourful with age.

So, to end it all, I grabbed the tank, ordered the puffers (2 of them), spent £11 on a meter for the brackishness of the water, purchased an old coral rock, some sand etc.. brought it home, set it up.. and it's now sat here filtering.

I have got home, and have read up on them (sigh, lesson learnt) to find that most people reccomend my main community tank size for two of them!!

Does anyone think that i'll be fine with this tank? Or is it really really too small?

I'm wondering whether to call the LFS first thing monday and explain it to the manager, saying I was ill-advised and now have a tank sitting here and am £70 down (not including the puffers)...

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, and yes - lesson learnt, I feel rather stupid because i'm usually very careful and research things first, don't know what got into me.

 

[kizno1]

A dwarf puffer would be fine in there but there not brackish. I cant really help you any more though i dont have a clue about brackish.

 

[Davo86]

The tank is far too small for Figure 8s; a 25G would be marginally too small nevermind a 25Litre

In that you might get away with 2 Dwarf Puffers if it is heavily planted

 

[justjon]

So what can I do?

Shall I tell them that i've found out it's far too small on monday, and request 2 DP's instead?

I even purchased the meter and 25g of brackish water for the tank from them.... could I change it to tropical easily enough? It has filter media from my normal tank in it atm.

 

[Davo86]

Maybe ring up the store in the morning and explain to the manager what has happened

ultimately though I would take everything back and demand a refund, as the setup isn't fit for purpose,

 

[nmonks]

Indeed, 25 litres is too little for figure-8 puffers except for the shortest of periods, i.e., a few days. You need to allow about 75 litres for the first specimen, and another 30-40 litres for each additional specimen. Not so much for water quality, though that's a factor, but for swimming space and for territoriality. Like most puffers, figure-8s are loners rather than gregarious fish, and their tolerance of one another varies considerably. Some get along, others not so much.

I wonder what the fish beginning with "C" might have been? Colomesus asellus is the South American puffer, and a fine species in many ways, bit sociable, so needs to be kept in a group. Various Carinotetraodon species are sold, including dwarf puffers (Carinotetraodon travancoricus) and red-tail puffers (Carinotetraodon irrubesco).

Personally, I don't consider 25 litre tanks terribly useful, though they can be used for nice shrimp/plant set-ups. While you can, in theory, keep dwarf puffers in tanks this size, I'd recommend something rather larger, around 40-50 litres, so you can [a] keep them in a group, which is better fun and more value; and makes maintenance that bit easier, especially during holidays when you need to leave the tank largely unattended.

Cheers, Neale

 

[justjon]

Cheers guys.

Problem I have now is i'm worried about any aggro I may get or if the guy will argue the tank is fine for 2 of them!... probably wont let me return as all opened and setup, however - I was going on advice THEY gave me......

 

[lilacamy931]

Really sorry you are in this predicament The lFS has striked again by the sounds of it. I would just ring up and pleasantly and factily explain the situation. Explain that you were going by what the employee has said but after looking into things further, the tank you were intentionally sold for the F8s is not big enough for one let alone two. If you are still after the F8s perhaps request to exchange for the right type of tank. Otherwise request a refund and be firm! A lot of stores can sell the stuff for slight subsidation so they shouldnt turn you down, especially if they have any kind of customer service.

 

[Davo86]

Cheers guys.

Problem I have now is i'm worried about any aggro I may get or if the guy will argue the tank is fine for 2 of them!... probably wont let me return as all opened and setup, however - I was going on advice THEY gave me......

The best advice i can give is to print an informative sheet off the web or better yet find a book in their store which has info on these species, that way if they comeback with a "yes it is a suitable tanksize" you can then ask them to explain why the book/internet says different.

In most cases however i would (like to) think that any senior member would acknowledge the poor advise you were given,

 

[justjon]

Good news guys, i've called them today and they have offered me a refund once everything is dry and packed up

 

[lilacamy931]

Great news! Glad they have offered the refund, are you still going to get another tank or just get refund?x

 

[justjon]

I haven't got room in my place for a tank any bigger due to my main one at the moment... would like to keep them one day though!