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Got a question. I have a 5g hex with two figure 8 puffers. They're great fish, they even like each other. They've been living in there for about 2 weeks now. I have not added a single grain of salt to it. Is this a bad thing? I haven't seen any changes in them so I guess it would be fine. Another question is too see if there are any tank mates (pref. bottom) that will get along with them in my tank. Thanks

Upgrade. Aquarium. Now.


IMO, they should be kept in at least slightly brackish water to be happy (not to mention at least a twenty gallon tank), although you could keep them in FW for a fair amount of time (don't get me wrong--brackish water is most definitely better). Knight and bumblebee gobies can work with them. I've kept mollies with them as well (this one's kind of a coin toss, as I've heard of mollies terrorizing the figs and vice versa), and they got along just fine.

[span class="edited"][Edited by Klee 2004-08-02 10:07][/span]

I know this post is a little dated but I had to respond to the comment about making the water a little brackish. It is my understanding that these are purely freshwater fish and that if kept in brackish conditions may develop health problems. Not trying to step on any toes or start an argument with anyone. Just trying to pass on knowledge I have obtained.

The expert opinion is exactally the opposite. If you read that article on them, it is written by a guy that kept his in BW & it lived 18+ years! I have read of countless posts about sickly puffers kept in FW, comming back to life when salt was added to make them BW.

Well then someone needs to have the owners of websites such as this one change profile information regarding this species. Nearly anything I have read about this fish talks of it coming from freshwater not brackish or even slightly brackish. Also many fish do benefit from small amounts of salt added to their water, but that does not make them brackish water fish. I am only using the following link as an example because it is from this website.http://www.fishprofiles.com/profiles/fw/profile.asp?id=Tetraodon+biocellatus

Welcome to the internet: The home of misinformation!

Seriously though, there are a lot of sites out there with information that hasn't been thoroughly researched. Once placed online, it is often not gone back to until there are enough complaints about it or the webmaster takes it upon him/herself to correct the information.
The best site I've found for puffer info is The Puffer Forum. The people there have a lot of puffer experience and really know what they are talking about!

(Since Kim corrected me, I removed that paragraph)

[span class="edited"][Edited by puffer_archer 2004-09-06 13:30][/span]

Fig 8's stay brackish.


Kim