NoMore Fees

[BHinAK]

I was going to ask a question tonight and found that I had never let everyone know about Ms. Puff. After what seemed to be 2 months and 3 small bottles of fromalin 100 gallons of water changes other medications full blown pop eye not eating for days after days she is 100%. The $9.00 fish that cost about $50.00 to make well.

She eats like the little piggy puffers are.

Her photo is posted along with Mister All-American.

I now have a 6 species of Puffers, 2 triggers and 1 sail fin tang in my 72 Bow

The many stories I could tell just from the past 4 months. Everyday theres a story we as reff keepers could share with others. Like the 2 triggers I have now because they were inside the LR I just bought. The Bursa was out of water for, I S you not for 1 hr. Then 2 months later I hear the sound of fish out of water flipping around in the plastic bag in my bucket on the floor of the truck. He dry landed it for the 20 min ride home.

Now to my question ! The sharp-nose puffers have totally depleated the cocopod population in the tank, they do also eat blood worms/krill/brine shrimp they are healthy and strong but Can I buy a mass quantity ( 100's) from somewhere and maybe raise them safety.

Will be back more often
P.S. How much do 125g megaflow tanks go for down in the states.

[Woodstock]

Good news about Ms. Puff! You have a very large bioload for your aqurium and the sailfin requires atleast 4 feet (or more) of lateral swimming room. I am thinking the water changes alone are what healed the puffer... keep a very, very close eye on water quality and keep the trAtes as close to 10 ppm as possible. Fish can 'live' in higher nitrates but it will really stress their ammune system. A 125 would better suit your fish load for sure.

I don't know about feeding puffers, sorry. Check this thread out regarding raising copepods... Culturing Live Food

[Cougra]

One thing to keep in mind about puffers is that their beaks continuously grow and they need something to help wear them down. Some will chew on rocks to help keep the beak from gettting too large however most will need some of their natural foods like shellfish, clams, and snails that they have to break open with their beaks before they get at the food inside. If they don't get this eventually their beak will get too large causing them not to be able to eat and they will starve to death.

As for growing pods in a safe environment, a lot of people use a refugium with a lot of marco algae. I know that if I pull a handful of my macro out of my sump it's litterally crawling with bugs. I simply rince it off in the main tank and my clownfish goes nuts looking for the free meal! Perhaps you can try setting up a small tank maybe 10 to 20 gallons with a light, it doesn't need to be very powerful as I'm only using 2 regular 24" flourescents on the sump. If you can run a slow flow of water from the main tank with the higher nitrates through it the algae will thrive and the pods will soon follow (you may need to get a peice of LR to inoculate the ref and wait a couple months before you see any major colonies of pods.

[BHinAK]

With 6 diffrent species of puffers beleive me i've been reading up on them. The 10g refugium is easily done, i'd like to at least find out if someone sells live stocks to start off with. I've already purchased a bottle of dt's from my LFS. Its not that i have to do it because they eat every thing i feed them.

[BHinAK]

I just answered my own question. SeaCrop a sponsor here sells refugium kits that have AMPHIPODS. The sharp nose guys love pecking them off the LR.

[KimPossible]

Good to hear on Ms Puff!

That was a good visual for me Cougra!

This will be the next step for me in providing a healthier environment for my livestock and tank. I currently have 2 "love nests", basically, pvc pipe pushed into the substrate to raise my copepod population for my mandrain.

I spent some time building a 20L Sump/Refugium about 6mo. ago. My intention was to put it in my stand, but I really didn't give my self enough room. It will fit, but I didn’t think about needing room to work around in …..ohhh well.

You have rekindled my desire to have a fuge. I simply need to make a smaller one.

I'll put the 20L in the back room, where my fish paraphernalia begins to grow