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ramp005
Puffer Fry
Posts: 25
Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2018 12:16 pm
Gender: Male
My Puffers: C. travancorius
T. Lineatus
T. schoutedeni
Location (country): Belgium
Location: Belgium
Contact:

NEW here

Post by ramp005 »

Hi,
After many years into the aquarium fish (breeding) hobby, From the smallest to the huge ones, I had to take a break due to health problems. Since a few months I'm back into the hobby and started up a few aquariums again, specializing in puffers.

In my collection now I have:
- 9 adult Carinotetraodon travancorius (Dwarf)
- 1, 2 inch Tetraodon lineatus (Fahaka)
- 4 adult Tetraodon schoutedeni (Spotted Congo or leopard puffer)

With the exception of the Fahaka I will try breeding them and hope to get more species in the future.
I hope to learn a lot on the forum and share my own experiences in future.
I post clips on YouTube of the evolution of my tanks and puffers.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9tqea ... 1c-hMOWSfQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94GFFU67YoM

Image

Image
User avatar
Pufferpunk
Queen Admin
Posts: 32764
Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
Gender: Female
My Puffers: Filbert, the 12" T lineatus
Punkster, the 4" red T miurus
Mongo, the 4" A modestus
2 T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
Also kept:
lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles
Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
Location: Chicago
Contact:

Re: NEW here

Post by Pufferpunk »

[welcome]
Wonderful collection of a nice variety of puffers!
Where did you get the schoutedenis?
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!"
User avatar
ramp005
Puffer Fry
Posts: 25
Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2018 12:16 pm
Gender: Male
My Puffers: C. travancorius
T. Lineatus
T. schoutedeni
Location (country): Belgium
Location: Belgium
Contact:

Re: NEW here

Post by ramp005 »

Pufferpunk wrote: Thu Aug 16, 2018 9:48 am [welcome]
Wonderful collection of a nice variety of puffers!
Where did you get the schoutedenis?
Thanks Pufferpunk ,
This spring/summer we had 2 limited imports from the wild in Northern Europe.
I have 1 (all I could get) from the first import that was sub-adult, now fully grown. Last week I finally got the remaining 3, these are adult and came in around mid June at the importer"s.
It looks like at least one pair has formed out of the 4 of them.
They are lovely but very picky eaters, feeding mainly on snails, earthworms, black worms and red mosquito larvae. I hope to get a few more and looking for hairy puffers and a few other soft water species too.
User avatar
Pufferpunk
Queen Admin
Posts: 32764
Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
Gender: Female
My Puffers: Filbert, the 12" T lineatus
Punkster, the 4" red T miurus
Mongo, the 4" A modestus
2 T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
Also kept:
lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles
Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
Location: Chicago
Contact:

Re: NEW here

Post by Pufferpunk »

They seem to be more readily available in Europe. :( I am hoping as they are bred in captivity, there will be LOTS more available & at much lower prices!
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!"
User avatar
ramp005
Puffer Fry
Posts: 25
Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2018 12:16 pm
Gender: Male
My Puffers: C. travancorius
T. Lineatus
T. schoutedeni
Location (country): Belgium
Location: Belgium
Contact:

Re: NEW here

Post by ramp005 »

Pufferpunk wrote: Thu Aug 16, 2018 1:51 pm They seem to be more readily available in Europe. :( I am hoping as they are bred in captivity, there will be LOTS more available & at much lower prices!
These were the first imports into Northern Europe since over 20 years now. There were a few imported over the last 3 years but never came available to the general public. Prices are high and they will stay high in the next few years I guess. Even though some are being bred, the demand is still higher than there are available.
I was glad to find them again. My father had them in his large community aquarium, over 45 years ago. At that time they were practically the only puffer species in the aquarium trade. I remember they cost app. € 0.5 (50 $ cents). They usually didn't live long in captivity (1-2 years max) as no info on food or good medication was available then. Many died shortly after purchase. Since then, and certainly over the last 15 years or so, a lot has changed in a positive way in our hobby.
User avatar
Pufferpunk
Queen Admin
Posts: 32764
Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
Gender: Female
My Puffers: Filbert, the 12" T lineatus
Punkster, the 4" red T miurus
Mongo, the 4" A modestus
2 T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
Also kept:
lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles
Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
Location: Chicago
Contact:

Re: NEW here

Post by Pufferpunk »

Funny that they were so common (& cheap!) back then & so rare (& $$$!) now.
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!"
User avatar
ramp005
Puffer Fry
Posts: 25
Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2018 12:16 pm
Gender: Male
My Puffers: C. travancorius
T. Lineatus
T. schoutedeni
Location (country): Belgium
Location: Belgium
Contact:

Re: NEW here

Post by ramp005 »

Pufferpunk wrote: Thu Aug 16, 2018 10:22 pm Funny that they were so common (& cheap!) back then & so rare (& $$$!) now.
That's an easy one!
Congo was a colony belonging to Belgium.There was one large importer/wholesaler near Antwerp (is still here but is a importer/wholesaler/retailer now). Everything from the Congo was shipped here and remember we are talking about 45 years ago. When the colony was 'released' and became a republic, all hell broke loose. In short, the different tribes went to battle to get more power again. These civil wars are still thriving there, making it difficult and dangerous to collect. Those who do, risk their lives for a few cents a fish. On top of that, ebola broke out (and still kills people over there). So who would risk his life to get a few cents? But the demand for central & west African fish is still high. Because there are little to non collected, exporters ask high prices. The fish are generally in poor condition and need to go trough a long quarantine process upon arrival (or they should). This and the high demand pushes up prices. To give you an idea, the schoutedenis are sold here between € 175 & 210 (=app. same in $). Yesterday I found Mbu puffers 4 to 5 inch offered in the Netherlands (just above Belgium) for € 795. These were imported by the same wholesaler that has the schoutedenis. I know what the wholesale prices are so it means big business. In the USA the same is going on.
User avatar
Pufferpunk
Queen Admin
Posts: 32764
Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
Gender: Female
My Puffers: Filbert, the 12" T lineatus
Punkster, the 4" red T miurus
Mongo, the 4" A modestus
2 T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
Also kept:
lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles
Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
Location: Chicago
Contact:

Re: NEW here

Post by Pufferpunk »

Yes, I know it was because of the unrest in the Congo, preventing these fish from coming on the market for so long. But what about the murius? They come from the Congo too.

BTW, after this thread, I was dreaming about schoutedenis last night!
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!"
User avatar
ramp005
Puffer Fry
Posts: 25
Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2018 12:16 pm
Gender: Male
My Puffers: C. travancorius
T. Lineatus
T. schoutedeni
Location (country): Belgium
Location: Belgium
Contact:

Re: NEW here

Post by ramp005 »

I understand you dreamed about these guys. I did too when I first saw them on the wholesale list again. Only being able to get one at first was a bummer. For a puffer, they are quite social and not too big.
As for the T. miurus, all depends on the finding/catching places. these are commonly found in smaller rivers and find their way into the trade quite often. The majority of imports however does not come from Congo but from Zambia and Tanzania, from where they are exported with Tanganyika cichlids. These are very popular in Asia, where there are small farms breeding them too.
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