The puffers

Dwarf, Red Eye, South American & more. Freshwater puffer talk in here.
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Fishboy92

The puffers

Post by Fishboy92 »

I have a humpback puffer Tetraodon palambangensis and its got to be the most interactive puffer in the freshwater variaties because it will handfeed and follow ur hand it never stays still on ground (sand) and it would let u stroke him if he werent poisonous.
Ive had quite alot of puffers and here some profiles about them

South american puffers-Colomesus asellus these cute little characters get to around 4 inch in captivity .They originate from the amazon basin-Brazil,columbia,peru.These are one of the most peacful puffers so u may house more than one in a tank.They feed on Bloodworm cockles and mussels, earthworms, snails
and a temperature of 24-28*c.

Fahaka puffer-Tetrodon lineatus A larger species which gets to around 18 inch .A very aggressive species intolerent of its wn kind and other fish.Will eat Live and frozen meaty foods: cockles and mussels,earthworms, snails.Temperature of 24-26*c(75-78*f)
Like other puffers these have powerful teeth which can damage alot of tankmates these are primarily used for cracking snails and shellfish shells.

Green spotted puffer-Tetraodon nigroviridis These little puffers require a brakish aquarium with hard and alkaline water and will get to 6inch but usually smaller in aquaria.They will eat bloodworm, mosquito larvae, cockles and mussels, snails and earthworms.They will want a temperatue of 24-28*c.This species is often confused with the green puffer Tetraodon fluviatilis.

Green puffer-Tetraodon fluviatilis Requires the same care as Tetraodon nigroviridis in most respects. Will get to 8inch but usually smaller in aquaria.

Pygmy puffer-Carinotetraodon travancoricus These are the smallest puffer species known and get to a tiny 1 inch .Ideally they need a small planted species setup since most fish would try to eat them or they would try and nip other fishes fins.I actually heard a story of one that did and ght choked a poisoned by the little guy:D.Temperature of 24-26*C .They will eat small live and frozen foods including snails, bloodworm, pieces of mussel and cockle.

my humpack puffer -Tetraodon palambangensis This brilliant species gets to 8 inch.Will require a tank with subdued lights and cover in the form of caves and plants.Will eat cockles mussels earthworms prawns and snails,basically anything meaty but for some reason mine likes cichlid floaters :? wierd.If the tank is large an heavily planted you may be able to keep several of the same species in the tank only resulting in the occasional sparring.They require a temperature of 24-28*c
That is all the species ive kept but here are a few my friend have kept or I know a bit about

Giant puffer-Tetraodon mbu This is the largest of the freshwater puffers and gets a massive 30 inch will require at a bare minimum a tank that is 5x2x2 ft for an adult kept alone.Should not be kept with other fish because they have formidable teeth and will eat most its companions.Will eat live and frozen foods including snails, mussel, cockle and shrimp/prawn, earthworms. A temperature of 24-26*C

Red eye puffer-Carinotetraodon irrubesco This species get to 2 inch.A pair can be kept in a species tank as long as some cover is provided as a retreat. They can also be mixed with selected companions, as long as more delicate, slow-swimming fish are avoided. Provide plants, bogwood and/or rocks for cover. A temperature of 24-28*c .Will eat Live and frozen meaty foods: bloodworm and brine shrimp, cockles, mussel and prawn, snails.
Unlike many other puffers this species is easily sexed.

Figure eight puffer-Tetraodon biocellatus Gets up to approximately 3 inch.
Idealy to be kept in brackish water.Not overly aggresive but will nip at fish with long flowing fins.Will eat live and frozen meaty foods: bloodworm and brine shrimp, cockles and mussels, snails

Sea frog puffer-Tetraodon cutcutia This species gets to 5 inches and likes a temperature 24 - 28C .It will eat cockles mussels prawns earthworms and bloodworm.It can be kept in freshwater or slight brackish.My friend has had a pair of these breed and the babies were like little black dots sadly they did not survive though
There are more species this but i have never kept them so do not know theyre requirments

Hope this helps u lot out

Ben

most Puffers ph is not critical
Last edited by Fishboy92 on Sat Jun 04, 2005 2:37 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Post by RTR »

IME, the sizes given do not match reality. Fahakas when adequately housed will achieve full size as in the wild. As they are fast-growing, this needs to be do from the start.

I have never seen a Colomesus asellus at 6", nor has one ever been reported in the scientific literature. But like most puffers, these fish are very easy easy to stunt.

I do have problem with pushing pH as significant for puffers, it is not. What is more significant for puffers is water hardness, both GH and KH, and the pH will in unmodified water reflect that in the pH reading. But it is not the pH that matters, it is the mineral content of the water. Fish do not read pH.
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Post by Pufferpunk »

At my local aquarium (the John G Shedd), there is at least a 1000+ gal tank w/a gang of SAPs in with assorted SA cichlids. There were at least 30 SAPs. None were over 3".
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

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Post by chriscenter1 »

don't forget about Suvattis(Suvattii?)
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Post by mantisman »

By green puffer,I assume you/he is meaning green spotted puffer. If so, I thought I had understood from reading here at TPF,they were marine as adult. Which, I guess, begs the question, why are they classified under brackish here? I'm not trying to be argumentative, just wondering if I should quit raising sg for my two gsp's at 1.010. I was going up .002 per week, to 1.023 sg. Boy, just when I think I have something figured out...
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RPekka

Re: The puffers

Post by RPekka »

Fishboy92 wrote:I have a humpback puffer Tetraodon palambangensis <cut off> him if he werent poisonous.
<cut off>

Red eye puffer-Carinotetraodon irrubesco This species get to 2 inch.A pair can be kept in a species tank as long as some cover is provided as a retreat. They can also be mixed with selected companions, as long as more delicate, slow-swimming fish are avoided. <cut off>
Unlike many other puffers this species is easily sexed.
You can pet your T. palembangensis if he likes you to because he isn't poisonous. The species is part of a fishy diet in South-East Asia. Link to a reference.

I have 12 C. Irrubescos in a 265 litre tank with Pangios and Otoninclus. I'm currently in a process of moving the Oto's to a South America -tank with Colomesus asellus' and they will be replaced by few small catfishes from SE Asia, suqqestions welcome. I wouldn't put irrubescos to a tank with other "swimming" fishes like tetras or barbs because I believe they'd be de-finned in no time.

One good and easily grown live-food for most puffers I'd like to point out is Procambarus sp.
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Post by Bred »

furthermore, toxin-carrying puffers are only lethal if eaten. neither their bite nor idle contact with their skin can transmit the toxin.

the pictures at the other end of that link made me sad. :(
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Post by RTR »

mantisman - the "green" puffer refered to was ID'd as Tetraodon fluviatilis. Both this puffer, which we refer to commonly as the Ceylon Puffer, appears to be closely related to the GSP, T. nigroviridis, and both are refered to as BW puffers as they breed there. Similar lifestlye to that of Monos and Scats, both of which are full marine as adults, but breed and grow up in BW. In the trade all of these are refered to as BW fish.
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scoerer

Post by scoerer »

RPekka wrote:
You can pet your T. palembangensis if he likes you to because he isn't poisonous. The species is part of a fishy diet in South-East Asia. Link to a reference.
well, i'm not so sure about the humpback toxicity. check this article which appeared in toxicon:
Saitanu et al., Toxicity of the freshwater puffer fish Tetraodon fangi and T. Palembangensis from Thailand. Toxicon (1991), 29(7), 895-7. ISSN:0041-0101
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00410101

send me an email, if you want the pdf.

the paper is actually not so sophisticated and it's also not 100% clear if the really had specimens of t. palembangensis or t. biocellatus. but they clearly state, that the skin of the t. palembangensis is by far the most toxic part of their body!

cheers
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Post by RTR »

It has been reported multiple times and places that the FW puffers tend to more toxin in their skin than the BW/SW puffers.
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