The Puffer Forum

It has been a little over a year since I got my puffer. I've been calling her Leo until I found out she was actually a female. She has been laying hundreds of eggs every couple weeks recently. Just wanted to show a before and after picture.

Before (~2in)



After (~4in)

If she's laying eggs, you need a REAL Leo!

I wish. Still waiting for the prices to drop. Don't want to drop a lot hoping for a male...

Here's a couple eggs picture I took awhile back.


Macro shot. This one started to rot and had fungus growing. It suppose to be clear.

She’s awesome looking

She is beautiful and fantastic news on the eggs - if you do get another hope for a male for you.

I have two who are growing well and love to know if I end up with a pair.

I hope you're successful. So nice to see these again. Price is still a little steeper than I'm willing to pay though.

It's because there's been such a spike in supply, yet due to their passive nature demand has barely gone down. Once the hype dies down, and if they are successfully bred in captivity, then they could probably go as low as $50

pufferjw wrote: ↑Mon May 21, 2018 1:41 pm It's because there's been such a spike in supply, yet due to their passive nature demand has barely gone down. Once the hype dies down, and if they are successfully bred in captivity, then they could probably go as low as $50

Don't bet on it too much for the coming 5-10 years as demand is still high and most people don't have reserve if something happened. Also, now they are imported but don't bet on it that this will be normal again as the situation in Africa can easily escalate again + the catching season is almost over for this year.

ramp005 wrote: ↑Mon Aug 20, 2018 7:29 pm

pufferjw wrote: ↑Mon May 21, 2018 1:41 pm It's because there's been such a spike in supply, yet due to their passive nature demand has barely gone down. Once the hype dies down, and if they are successfully bred in captivity, then they could probably go as low as $50

Don't bet on it too much for the coming 5-10 years as demand is still high and most people don't have reserve if something happened. Also, now they are imported but don't bet on it that this will be normal again as the situation in Africa can easily escalate again + the catching season is almost over for this year.

Hmm, I suppose so, but a few people have already successfully bred them in captivity. If that breeding becomes sustainable, it won't matter if there are wild ones available or not.

pufferjw wrote: ↑Tue Aug 21, 2018 11:03 am

ramp005 wrote: ↑Mon Aug 20, 2018 7:29 pm

pufferjw wrote: ↑Mon May 21, 2018 1:41 pm It's because there's been such a spike in supply, yet due to their passive nature demand has barely gone down. Once the hype dies down, and if they are successfully bred in captivity, then they could probably go as low as $50

Don't bet on it too much for the coming 5-10 years as demand is still high and most people don't have reserve if something happened. Also, now they are imported but don't bet on it that this will be normal again as the situation in Africa can easily escalate again + the catching season is almost over for this year.

Hmm, I suppose so, but a few people have already successfully bred them in captivity. If that breeding becomes sustainable, it won't matter if there are wild ones available or not.

Yes, you are right, a few people have had success over the last year. But how many are breeding them? And how big is the demand? I know of 5 people in Northern Europe who are now breeding or are trying too, me included (I have 2 adult male + 2 females, one pair has formed so far). How many offspring can they raise to, let's say 1.5-2 inch before they can be sold? This takes time and dedication and knowledge. Here In Europe there's one breeder that for commercial reasons will not share any info on breeding or how to care for the offspring.
I don't know how many people are trying to breed them in the US or Canada, but I don't think there are many.
Then there's the fact that as long as one can make a quick buck it's OK but once prices drop, only the real hobbyists will continue and the supply will drop again.
With imported animals one must keep in mind that app. 40-50% won't make it in the long run due to diseases, stress, etc.
I know for a fact that if I succeed in breeding them, the first ones will not be for sale, so I can build up a larger captive breeding group and have some reserve animals.
But most people breed and sell and then one of the pair goes to heaven and it stops.
I've been following Africa for many years now as I've been working at an animal import businesses here in Europe. And please believe me when I say that the import won't last and we should cherish what we can get now, whatever the species from that continent. Also import licenses are getting hard to get for many species.
The first import into Europe this spring were app. 2 inch animals. The second one contained only adult schoutedeni. This means that they are hard to find an safely collect while tensions are rising again, who knows what to expect in the near future. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a racist but the people In Central Africa still belong to several tribes, always looking for war it seems, to gain more power. I've been there and saw it with my own eyes. It really isn't a safe place for anyone. Also ebola comes and goes in the region. No one knows where it comes from so it will be around for some time I guess.
I also suspect that in the coming years we will get T. pustulatus again from Zambia, once that republic has recovered enough and limited export will be done again.

@ramp005
If we can get Tetraodon Pustulatus that would be awesome. When I decided to purchase a rare puffer, I went with Tetraodon Duboisi, since it's endangered in the wild and thus more likely to hold its value in the future.

pufferjw wrote: ↑Tue Aug 21, 2018 6:27 pm @ramp005
If we can get Tetraodon Pustulatus that would be awesome. When I decided to purchase a rare puffer, I went with Tetraodon Duboisi, since it's endangered in the wild and thus more likely to hold its value in the future.

Please note that endangered species should be saved so perhaps one should try and breed them.
I'm on the lookout for more puffer species of reasonable size to try and establish a few breeding groups. I had to stop the hobby for almost 2 years due to a serious accident. Since a few months I've set up a few tanks again, focusing mainly on soft water puffers this time. I also have a group of C. travancorius (dwarf puffers) that haven't got much value but still worth keeping and breeding. I've kept and bred many fish species in the past, from small to BIG species.

ramp005 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 21, 2018 8:39 pm

pufferjw wrote: ↑Tue Aug 21, 2018 6:27 pm @ramp005
If we can get Tetraodon Pustulatus that would be awesome. When I decided to purchase a rare puffer, I went with Tetraodon Duboisi, since it's endangered in the wild and thus more likely to hold its value in the future.

Please note that endangered species should be saved so perhaps one should try and breed them.
I'm on the lookout for more puffer species of reasonable size to try and establish a few breeding groups. I had to stop the hobby for almost 2 years due to a serious accident. Since a few months I've set up a few tanks again, focusing mainly on soft water puffers this time. I also have a group of C. travancorius (dwarf puffers) that haven't got much value but still worth keeping and breeding. I've kept and bred many fish species in the past, from small to BIG species.

Yeah, I've considered trying to breed mine, but they're impossible to sex and so hard to find. I've never had much success with maintaining soft water, so the only aquarium I have with soft/acidic water is my 187 stingray tank, and I had to set up an R/O filter to achieve this.