Any advice? I've been letting the tank sit for 2 weeks, used a biofilter starter, and neutralized the water too. So today I got a puffer fish. He's cute and sorta reacts to light by shining blue and black.

I realized about 5 minutes ago when i went to lookup my particular species and see if there was anything special i should know. I have completely forgotten the name of my puffer species. I am a tard, if i post a picture maybe someone could identify it for me? I'm so retarded.

2/20/2006 9:44:22 PM

i dont know the answer to your question, but the thread title got my attention, so i clicked. but good luck!

-ZiP!-

2/21/2006 12:23:10 AM

yeah,if you post a pic I will try to identify it. Sounds like you did very little research before you started the aquarium.

This website will become you best friend.
http://wetwebmedia.com/marine/index.htm
Read as much as you can.
and this is a great forum
http://www.reefs.org/phpBB2/

The classic book to own is "The conscientious marine aquarist" by Fenner, R. (2001).
buy it and read the entire book as a starter.

2/21/2006 12:50:48 AM

i would suggest taking the fish back and waiting till you know how the chemistry of a salt tank works so that you won't kill fish left and right

he may look happy, and he may live for 2 weeks, then one day he'll be dead just like that. it's happened to me several times, just by stressing a fish too much.

good luck, and hope you have deep pockets if you continue on like this.

2/21/2006 1:43:16 AM

http://www.reefcentral.com/ This place is huge,lotsa good information. Good luck with your new tank.

2/21/2006 7:15:15 AM

i miss my tank

2/21/2006 7:20:40 AM

Wow! A puffer in a tank after 2 weeks of cycling. Good Luck. How big is your tank?

2/21/2006 10:24:35 AM

^If I recall she said 55. I was rather suprised by the puffer myself.

2/21/2006 1:32:11 PM

if it's saltwater, you need to let it cycle for 6 to 8 weeks, not 2. you need a hydrometer to help with salt levels.

are you sure it's a marine tank and are you sure you got a marine puffer fish?

[Edited on February 21, 2006 at 5:10 PM. Reason : ]

2/21/2006 5:08:36 PM

i actually did a little research on the saltwater tank bit and on puffers themselves. I just haven't researched the species of puffer i got. I realize that the tank is a little under cycled but i plan on watching it very closely. I'm usuing a sump system from an already established and healthy saltwater tank. I've been testing the water everyday and adjusting accordingly.

The little guy is so cute. The guy at the pet store said he would be fine for a 55 gallon tank because he would only get about 4 inches long.

HOWEVER, after doing some research and finding the bag the puffer came in, i know what species it is. The label at fish world was neon line puffer, and what the guy said is apparently true about that breed. BUT my roommate is convinced that is something else. Apparently the puffer kind that he thinks i have gets to be 10 inches long and is very agressive.

I'm a little bit worried.

I think he's a type of toby or something lke that because he has a very sharp nose/beak area.

He's soooo cute I'm definately going to take good care of him.

2/21/2006 6:45:07 PM

nah he's gonna die, soon!!!!

2/21/2006 6:46:38 PM

roommate says he's a stripped puffer and that there are only 3 different kinds of puffers and that the stripped one is the one that gets huge and is very aggressive.

I think my puffer is a type of toby. but i dont know what exactly that means.

2/21/2006 7:03:31 PM

The new tank saga! We'll be tuning in for puffer updates.

2/21/2006 8:34:07 PM

i took some pictures of my fishy but i'm gonna have to wait to upload them later. He's really hard to capture on film.

You can see the black spot on him but not really the neon lines that go all over his body.

he's almost the cutest fish i've ever seen. I saw this one puffer at ripleys aquarium in myrtle beach...he was freaking HUGE.... that was the cutest fish i had ever seen.

Oh and to settle the concerns about my being re re. I know hes a saltwater puffer, i got him frozen shrimp to eat and i have tested the salinity and do so daily. I also test ammonia, ph, and nitrates. I used a sump system from an already established tank to help with the biofiltering in addition to adding a new tank starter with bio filter. I have ammonia nuetralizer, a calcium, and a nitrate neutralizer, i am prepared to take care of this fish.

I do have a little question tho. All of the stuff i've read says that when introducing a new fish and new tank you should feed the fish every couple of days. That way you don't overload the system before it gets the good bacteria. HOWEVER my roommate says that I should feed the fish 2 times a day. I'm really worried about this, and i need some extra help here so i can know what's true. My roommate doesn't ever think he's wrong. I hope that he's right so that thing won't go wrong, but all that i've read says he's wrong. He's been feeding the fish without me.

[Edited on February 21, 2006 at 9:16 PM. Reason : extra]

2/21/2006 9:10:47 PM

tell him that if he touches anything to do with that fish again, you'll drown his ass in that very aquarium

2/21/2006 9:26:44 PM

tell him to keep his hands off, and if he thinks you are wrong then he can just deal with it. it is your tank to take care of, your tank to make mistakes on, not his.


i had a friend try to tell me I was doing everything wrong when I staretd my saltwater tank, it annoyed the hell out of me, it's been over a year and my tank is doing just fine! *knocks on wood*

[Edited on February 21, 2006 at 11:01 PM. Reason : stupid know-it-alls]

2/21/2006 10:58:44 PM

Both you and your roomate are correct. The puffer needs to be fed twice daily, yet feeding that much in an unestablished tank will overload it--feeding less at first will help the 'good' bacteria multiply, which helps to break down the waste. A cycled tank and established tank will have enough bacteria to keep all the levels down. Hopefully, your pre-used sump will speed the process along.

2/21/2006 11:22:59 PM

I guess fish world is making up there own names for fish now.
Is it a Valentini Puffer?
They will say anything to sell a fish.

2/21/2006 11:25:06 PM

My fish doesn't have those 3 big stripes. His neon blue stripes are like the other light brown strips cept their all over his body. He has a big black dot (false eye?) near his dorsil fin. It's outlined in a thin blue that reacts to light.

2/21/2006 11:46:32 PM

^are you sure it's a "true" puffer. I can't recall anything fitting that description or name.

[Edited on February 22, 2006 at 12:22 AM. Reason : ""]

2/22/2006 12:18:10 AM

Why dont' you just post a picture so someone can identify? also same subject but different. I would love to have a salt water tank. I've been diving since I was in 7th grade (now 23). I now have convict cichlids in a 30 gallon tank. I am thinking of buying another (newer) tank. How much harder is it to have a salt tank? I know the fish are way more expesive. Also I've never grown my own plants. What is the major problem with salt water tanks? cost? or mainting? I know I want to have one oneday, just not sure if now is the right time. Do the "experts" suggest you keep fresh water fish for a certain period before you keep a salt water tank? Ahhh marine life is amazing & oh soooo beautiful. Breath taking atcually!

2/22/2006 12:42:43 AM

^not much* harder, just more time consuming and expensive. Any person can do it, but fewer are successful. They think they can ignore it like a freshwater tank.

Thoroughly research what kid of set-up you want first. Otherwise you'll be buying and selling a lot of shit. Follow the links given in this thread and get the book I mentioned--(it is a must and written by a very well known and respected person). Specifically, http://www.wetwebmedia.com has a wealth of info.

Quote :

"marine life is amazing & oh soooo beautiful. Breath taking actually"

True. It's so interesting to look closely at you live rock and watch all the *creatures* come crawling out--especially at feeding time. Just yesterday, I noticed that I have about 5 tiny sand shifting star fish hanging out at the bottom of one of my rocks.

2/22/2006 12:58:23 AM

^I have an equally amusing sponge outgrowth epidemic on my supposedly dead rock.

2/22/2006 9:22:42 AM

so it is a Blue Spot puffer?

2/22/2006 9:49:57 AM

^I have never heard that called a blue spot puffer. the problem with common names is that there is really no standard. I always get the scientific name when I buy a fish I am really not sure about.

I suspect the problem is that the fish you have is not a true puffer in the strict sense. I beleive what you have is a "Canthigaster compressa" or a "Compressed Toby" or "finger print toby".

They are a subfamily of the "Tetraodontidae" family.

I guess Fish World decided to call it a (made up name) puffer, cause a lot of people would be like "wtf is a toby?".

So is this it? Everything fits --even the fact that it is had to see the blue lines in the picture.





or is this it------???



[Edited on February 22, 2006 at 2:26 PM. Reason : image 3]

2/22/2006 1:58:00 PM

In the grand scheme of things, that isn't very cute. I showed her that picture a few days ago and asked if it was a toby though. *shrugs*

2/22/2006 2:06:36 PM

why don't you just post a picture of your damned fish on here?

2/22/2006 3:38:38 PM

i'm getting on that, i just keep forgetting.

My fish looks like all of those fish, actually. I can't tell the difference between those fish and my fish. Well, there is a little differnce, my fishes beak isn't so AS sharp as all of that. I'll get the pictures up soon.

2/23/2006 12:16:17 AM

At Fish Wolrd they still have one of yours and it was called "Neon Line Puffer."

2/23/2006 7:49:25 AM

There are about 4 species of toby that look very similar. The good news is that they only get about 4 inches long.

Quote :

"my fishes beak isn't so AS sharp as all of that"

You can't use that to determine species. It will grow over time. If you don't provide food that will help wear down the teeth then they will grow too large. At that point you'll need to take a rotor tool and file it down. My advice is that you provide the proper food before it comes to that.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_2/cav2i1/puffer_dentistry/puffer2.htm

[Edited on February 23, 2006 at 11:45 AM. Reason : .]

2/23/2006 11:45:13 AM

^yeah, i got frozen shrimp for the puffer, i thought that the shells on the shrimp were enough to grind down their beak.

if not i can get better food.

I've read that in some cases the puffers will gnaw on rocks to grind their beaks down, but it's not always true.


^^yah i already said that it's called that, but i can't find any information on that type of fish on the internet. Someone in the thread mentioned that maybe they made the name up.

2/24/2006 7:53:48 PM