MBU Puffer Minimum Temperature

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Yoimbrian
Puffer Fry
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Joined: Wed Oct 08, 2014 11:48 am
Location (country): Minnesota (USA)

MBU Puffer Minimum Temperature

Post by Yoimbrian »

All,
FIrst off, HI!!! Long time watcher, first time poster. Second I hate "minimum" questions too, especially for tank size (which this isn't), so take it as a "minimum to be completely happy" question. For my background I've been in the freshwater hobby for years, always with smaller (100g or less) tanks. My wife and I just signed a build contract to build our dream house, and there is a spot in the basement specifically for the fish tank. I can easily afford / fit a ~400 gallon tank and have researched extensively options for it of what fish to put in. However I have ALWAYS loved puffers, though I have never owned one. MBU are my favorite hands down, due to the personality / size / ability to keep them with tankmates (usually...). I realize 300-400 is considered a minimum for them, and I hate a cramped fish, so if I were to go the MBU route I'd get a 10'x4'x30" tank (or maybe even 12' since it doesn't add that much). The aquarium itself would be a few thousand more $$ up front, which is not ideal but manageable, but what I'm really concerned with is heat. Heat load requirement and also heat dumped into the room scales with temperature difference between the room and the tank. So if I keep my room at ~70-72 keeping the tank at 80 vs 75 would approximately double the heat requirement. I think a ~700 gallon aquarium at 80 would not only be a prohibitive heating bill, but also keep it uncomfortably warm in the basement and crank up the cost of my A/C bill as well, where as a 700 gallon aquarium at 75 degrees should be manageable from both fronts.

To further complicate things I do live in Minnesota, USA. So in the winter months I actually wouldn't mind cranking the temperature up, because warming the room wouldn't be a bad thing and it would just be a slightly less efficient way to heat the house. So I could potentially do 75 in the summer and 80 in the winter - the fish would see seasons, they'd just happen to be opposite of the actual season.

Any thoughts on this? Most websites list temperature as 75-80, anyone keep them at 75 no problems? Anyone go even lower than that?

The other thing related to temperature requirements is tank material. Glass has approximately double the heat transfer rate vs acrylic, and as such would be significantly more expensive to operate with. However I have read some of the "window surfing" puffers do they like to show some teeth, which can seriously scratch acrylic. Can anyone with first hand experience confirm this, perhaps even with some pictures?? I found some examples of people saying it was a possibility, but I haven't found any hard data just a "friend of a friend of a friend' stories.

If it matters for tankmates with a MBU I would do smaller schooling fish - silver dollars, congo tetras, maybe some small rift lake cichlids, etc. Basically have the MBU be the centerpiece fish and then have 50 smaller guys swimming around trying to avoid making him mad. For filtration I am going to do a pond style pressurized bead filter (lots of brands to choose from), mostly because they are by far the easiest to clean since the back flushing only takes 5-10 minutes and you don't even get wet, and I'd couple that with a drip system for water changes. With those two things my only real maintenance would be vacuuming / scooping shells off the floor (or maybe I'll just let it go and eventually have a crushed coral looking substrate from the shellfish? Hah!).
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Pufferpunk
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Re: MBU Puffer Minimum Temperature

Post by Pufferpunk »

[welcome]
I think 75-78 would be fine.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
Yoimbrian
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Joined: Wed Oct 08, 2014 11:48 am
Location (country): Minnesota (USA)

Re: MBU Puffer Minimum Temperature

Post by Yoimbrian »

Ok. So anyone keep at 75 then? I know for some fish 76 or 77 is a magical minimum, it's related to fats being liquid or solid at those temps.

At experience on the acrylic question? Can they scratch it with their teeth?

Last question, matters more for acrylic than glass, but do they swim vertically enough for tank height to matter? Is there a big difference between 24 and 36 height?
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luigimbu
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My Puffers: Luigi the 18in mbu
Desmond the Gsp 4in (rehomed)
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Re: MBU Puffer Minimum Temperature

Post by luigimbu »

I do know from research that i. Their natural habitat the water is around 25c all year round so i would go with that
for comparison i keep mine at 25.5 to 26 and he's growing well and very heath and active.
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luigimbu
Puffer Fry
Posts: 44
Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2014 6:29 pm
Gender: Male
My Puffers: Luigi the 18in mbu
Desmond the Gsp 4in (rehomed)
4 large Frontosas
Climbing pearch
Clown knife fish 20inch
And a nice new reef tank setup
Location (country): England dorset shaftesbury
Location: England shaftesbury dorset

Re: MBU Puffer Minimum Temperature

Post by luigimbu »

Yoimbrian wrote:Ok. So anyone keep at 75 then? I know for some fish 76 or 77 is a magical minimum, it's related to fats being liquid or solid at those temps.

At experience on the acrylic question? Can they scratch it with their teeth?

Last question, matters more for acrylic than glass, but do they swim vertically enough for tank height to matter? Is there a big difference between 24 and 36 height?
Mine sulks if the water temp gets below 76.
As for heigh not much vertical movement they temd to glass surf from o e end to the other mi e spends it's time near the surface begging for food and my friends spends all j5s time near the bottom. I would say that as long as the tanks 24 high they are happy.its more about surface area for them really they need the turnig space.
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luigimbu
Puffer Fry
Posts: 44
Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2014 6:29 pm
Gender: Male
My Puffers: Luigi the 18in mbu
Desmond the Gsp 4in (rehomed)
4 large Frontosas
Climbing pearch
Clown knife fish 20inch
And a nice new reef tank setup
Location (country): England dorset shaftesbury
Location: England shaftesbury dorset

Re: MBU Puffer Minimum Temperature

Post by luigimbu »

Ps sorry about all the errors in that last post typed it in a rush
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