Male or Female?

[ryanm19]

hey
not sure if this goes with brackish water or breeding, sorry if im wrong here

ive got a couple of figure 8 puffers, they are doing very well and have had them for a couple months now. i was just wondering how do you tell male from female? im not looking to breed cause i know its hard with figure 8's but i was just wondering how you tell exactly

thanks for the help

oh yeah and another question. how far can you stray from 1.008 salinity with figure 8's?

[Pure]

What do you mean by "stray"? I mean are you planning on not keeping them at the proper salinity? I don't know why you would go through the trouble of adding salt and testing salinity with a hydrometer if you don't intend on meeting brackish conditions?

To answer your questions, When the chance breeding has happened it was and is completely at the surprise of the hobbyist. No known distinction between the sexes is known. They can tolerate conditions from complete fresh water to marine for a short amount of time, but should not be kept there very long.

[f8fan]

Welcome to MFT, ryanm19!

Breeding Figure 8 Puffers in an aquarium style setup hasn't happened yet. We can't tell the difference between males and females...there is no known sexual dimorphism.

Personally, I keep three figure 8's in a 55 Gallon Tank and I vary their salinity between 1.005 and 1.010. The "norm"..., 75% of the time...being 1.008 salinity.

[ryanm19]

k thanks, and what i meant by stray is how far off can you go from 1.008 if you do accidently mess up the salinity

thanks

[Pure]

Hydrometers are too cheap to not use one to ensure you don't mess up.

[f8fan]

Originally Posted by Pure

To answer your questions, When the chance breeding has happened it was and is completely at the surprise of the hobbyist.

Oh my, I didn't know that it has happened before! I wish mine would. I've tried everything, candles, Teddy Pendergrass music, dim lighting, covering the other tanks so the geckos & other fish couldn't eavesdrop....to no avail.

I think before Fishgeek shipped them to me she turned them into wussies while they lived with her!

[FishGeek]

LMAO!!! I did no such a thing.....but mine did live with Mollies for a time Maybe that did it.

[f8fan]

Well, just keep that in mind with Wyatt...you do want to be a grandmother someday, dontcha???? HA HA.

[FishGeek]

Not anytime soon.