125 Gallon + Football Sized Puffer

[petebsbll]

Hello everyone, I am in need of advice/input.

So I have been planning/running ideas through my head for the past few weeks and decided this is the best way to do this, any replies would be greatly appreciated on what to do differently or any feedback you think would be helpful.

I had a 55 gallon FOWLR tank set up that got a terrible case of ich because I did not quarentine my fish. I was very new to the hobby then and know alot more now. I just purchased a all-glass 125 gallon aquarium. I have an oversized overflow box on it with a mega-flow 3 wet dry filter. My return pump is a mag-drive 12. That is the basic setup.

Currently my aquarium is sitting 3/4 of the way full with water, I had to make sure my floor would be able to support it alright. Tomorrow I will be filling it up the rest of the way and starting up the filter for the two week fishless cycle. My first concern is after I syphon the water into the overflow box how can I control the water level inside of my wet/dry filter? I am a little concerned the Mag may be to powerful and just run the wet/dry low on water due to the sypthon not being fast enough.

Next is onto introducing my Stars and Stripes Puffer Fish. He is around the size of a football and in a tank way to small at a LFS(probably around a 30 gallon cube). I feel very sorry for this fish and want to get him into a bigger home. However I do not have a tank big enough to quarentine him in. Which is why I decided to quarentine him in my display tank for 30 days before adding live sand or live rock. My reason for this is so if there is any parasites I can have the temp high and the salanity low and they will die off with no substrate to multiply in. Also I was considering doing brief freshwater dips if he shows signs of ich. Does this all sound ok so far?

My next question is more for down the road after my Puffer Fish has settled into his new home. What other type of fish would you suggest putting in with this guy? I would really like to go with a very large Blue Hippo Tang but am concerned the puff will just eat him. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

One more thing.. My mag pump has a garden house attached to it (new hose) that will run the water back to the aquarium. Do any of you have any suggestions on how to make the water enter back into the tank better than it just being a jet stream? I would like to spread the entry of the water out a little.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this and help!

-Peter

[Blown 346]

To control the water level in the sump( filter) you can adjust the height of the oveflow box to either take in more or less water.
The lower the box the higher the water level will be in the sump.

If the pump is too powerful, you might want to get a bal valve so you can control the flow.

Since this tank hasnt cycled yet, you have to wait for the puffer until it does so.
The only problem with doing FW dips with a puffer is the stress and him blowing up from air or water. This is real stressful and can cause the fish to die. If you do see signs of any disease, I would treat with Hypo salinity over the dips.

Since the puffer would be the first fish in the tank, it can become fairly aggressive toward any other new commers. I would stick with the more aggressive fish, and make sure they are about the same size as the puffer.
A few fish to look into that are fun to have would be triggers, Harliquin Tusk, eels, even Groupers.

I would get some new hose and use 3/4 inch locline, you will be able to divert the water where you want it, and have more than one exit.

[pnosko]

Peter, I just replied to your other thread with a question, but this thread answers it. Between your two posts, it seems you are still very new to this hobby, and I'm concerned that you're choosing one or two fish more suited for an experienced hobbyist, even if for an honorable reason.

Your other post suggests that your display tank isn't even ready for fish. Admittedly, I know nothing about keeping puffers. But I would urge you to slow down before you jump into this and get over your head and possibly lose a magnificent fish.

We had a couple that was very active here but left the hobby last year. They had a porcupine puffer. They have a brief husbandry guide on their website below. Please take a look at it and please don't move to fast. While it seems cruel to have such a large puffer in a 30g tank, I assume they have been able to keep it alive.

http://www.porcupinepuffer.com/puffers

[Timmy77]

I have a mag 18 on my 125 and have no problems. It is an allglass mega flor just like yours.

[Timmy77]

mega flow that is

[Freed]

Please do not do fresh water dips on the puffer. I believe that is very dangerous for this type of fish, PLUS hypo will kill any ich IF you notice any on it after a few days. Whether or not hypo is good for this type of fish I have no idea but if you do decide to go with hypo then you must perform this method for no less than 4-6 weeks MINIMUM.