need help with fish only tank set up

[fishyfish]

Hello. I am particulary fond of puffers and want to get a dog faced puffer most likely.

I understand that it will need to be in a 100-ish gallon tank within a year or two and have a 46 gallon bowfront or a 55 gallon that I would like to to use to get started.

My questions are: 1.Would this be ok?
2. If this is ok, which tank should I use? The bowfront is my 1st choice as it looks like it might have a better swimming area, but maybe I am wrong.
3. I have talked to the petstore folks and am confused about equipment.
What equipment do I need? What type of filter, etc.

To be totally blunt, my budget sucks! I lost my good job due to the economy and am now working part time as a cashier. I don't want to keep putting this off but maybe I have to.
Any money saving ideas will be most helpful.
Thanks.

 

[bjohanson1234]

Welcome to the site.

The #1 way to save money is to check craiglist for people tearing down their tanks. YOu can get real good deals.


As for the needs of a puffer, I am not sure since I never had one. But dont skimp on the skimmer, buy the best you can afford. No point in buying a cheap one then having to buy a better one once you figure out the cheap one doesnt work right.

 

[OhNoNemo]

CL is awesome,i got my brand new 125 gallon for 125 bucks...had to drive 2 hours,but it was worth it....there are a few here who go without a skimmer,i'm one of them...

 

[Smitty]

Hello and welcome to the site...glad to have you.
It would be better for you and the puffer, if you put him in the 55gal. More space for him to swim, and easier maintenance for you, more water volume, more stable conditions.
Like mentioned, check craigslist, if you can't find anything, the 1-2lbs of rock per gallon is general rule, and the amount of sand is up to you, but a good inch or so will do just fine.
A skimmer is important, but NOT needed. If you don't have one, just make sure you do weekly water changes. If all you're having is one or two fish in there, you can get by with an hang-on-back filter, just clean it every week when you do a water change, then your bio-load shouldn't be bad.
Oh, and DON'T use tap water, instead, use ro/di water. You can find it at some fish stores or some supermarkets.
Feel free to ask questions along the way. :)

 

[fishyfish]

:bowdown:Thanks for all the ideas and keep 'em coming! I can use all the help I can get for certain. I will be working on this as I would love to get it cycling so that maybe, just, maybe, I can get my fish for Christmas.

 

[fishyfish]

What type of sand should I use?

 

[Bifferwine]

Go with aragonite sand. You don't have to buy live sand. Just dry aragonite sand is fine (the grain size is really up to you and your personal preference).

 

[Kazarko]

The most difficult part of owning a puffer is feeding. You must feed him hard shelled foods because they have fused plates for teeth and those teeth don't stop growing. If you don't do this you will eventually need to go hand trim his teeth with clippers or he will probably be unable to eat due to the size of the teeth and properly and starve. You might want to start with vitamin enhanced krill or soak frozen krill in vitamin suppliment such as selcon. Do not use fresh store bought shell fish without freezing. I've lost fish to flesh eating bacteria this way. Puffers are notoirsly hard to get eating the first day. It took me about a week. The first puffer I had died of starvation after refusing food for about 1-2 months when I got him, probably had a parasite or other illness. Puffers are messy eaters so get lots of live rock.