hi i was wondering if anyone knows were i could source some fresh water puffers in the auckland region cheers.

Our flatmate recently purchased a pair of Dwarf Puffers from Hollywood Fish Farm in Albany - I don't recall the price, but it wasn't bad.

your LFS should be able to order them in for you

ok thanks for that ill have to make a trip over there and check it out, yeah ive been asking but no one seems to be certain if they can get them or not.

many stores don't like getting them as they really need a tank to themselves, being both bite sized and agressive.

they normally aint to pricey either

Oh yeah , i was thinking of getting 4 or 5 in a 125ltr

lol you probably won't see them much, try 5 in a 75L, or even better 3 in a 45L

best with around 15L per fish, can have a few more if heavily planted (which you will probably want anyways to help with snails and to keep the tank pretty.

don't forget to make a snail farm (read bucket of water full of pond snails) about 2 - 3 weeks before getting them. most will take bloodworm but live snails are the best food by far

Ok sweet cheers i will look into it. Sounds like you have had some previous experience, did you ever try to keep any other fish with them successfully?

didn't try, some people claim bumblebee gobies ( know someone with 3 puffers and 5 gobies in a 50L long tank and it works for them.

also have heard danios do well as they are too fast for the puffers

I would give HFF a call, they should be able to order some in for you. Ive kept 2 dwarf puffers in a 25 Litre.

HFF have them with bumble bee gobies

I keep my 2 in a tank with some ottos.

The ottos are completely fine, puffers aren't interested at all.

Crunchbang is this at the albany branch? Ill have to pop out there this weekend hopefully theyl still be there, yeah im thinking of housing them with either some ottos or bumble bee gobys time will tell i suppose if theyre going to get along or not :dunno:

I keep my 2 in a tank with some ottos.

The ottos are completely fine, puffers aren't interested at all.

:thup:

yep albany

The flatmate who bought them is keeping one in a community tank (I did try to talk him out of it), but so far (few months) it actually seems fine :-/ It's in there with a range of other species, including a fairly large Opaline Gourami that could probably swallow him whole if it wanted to, and it doesn't show any aggression towards any of the others either (Rasboras, Tetras and Loaches).

Thats interesting, i just guess its all luck. How big is the tank your flat mate is keeping them in?

what kind of lighting what you guys/ girls recommend for the tank i am looking to have it heavily planted so something suitable for good growth cheers

what kind of lighting what you guys/ girls recommend for the tank i am looking to have it heavily planted so something suitable for good growth cheers

What sized tank? Do you have CO2? Are you prepared to dose ferts?

its 760 x 300 x 400 95L i think, yeah im keen to use fertilizers, but never have used co2 before

Here's where you make the decision, do you go low tech with low light, liquid carbon and minimal/no ferts? Or do you go high tech with high light, pressurised CO2 and daily fert dosing?

High tech is a bit like a fast car, it costs more to buy, more to run and things go bad a lot faster than in a slow car. You can get nice growth in a low tech tank but it will be slow, the key is to not over do the lights and keep everything balanced and well maintained.

yeah im thinking more towards a low tech lighting system. what would be the best option for the tubes

If it were me, I'd use 1 T8 2ft 6500k tube on a 300 deep tank. If it was 400 deep I would be tempted to use two tubes. Relatively in expensive if you get the ballasts from Bunnings or Mitre10 Mega but the AquaOne AL60D units look pretty good, gives you the option of only running one tube if you get algae issues.

yeah it is 400 deep so would this do the job? http://www.hollywoodfishfarm.co.nz/deta ... le/m/2660/

It's a shame your tank is 140mm longer than the light fitting but yes, that would do the job nicely and appears it comes with the correct tubes too. With that sort of light on for around 8hrs a day, I'd be dosing liquid carbon or DIY CO2 just to keep things in check. Are you planning a whole tank from scratch?