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My Tetraodon Schoutedeni

Posted: Tue Dec 03, 2019 11:09 am
by Matts
I’ve recently started a tank intended for Tetraodon Schoutedeni.
The dimensions of the tank are l:70cm*d:50cm*h:55cm so that’d be around 27,6*19,7*21,7.
With the wood, sand and such it’s about 170L or 45 gallons.

The filter is a JBL E1502, rated at 1400l/h or about 370 gal/h, its filled with eheim substrat pro besides the prefilter which is filled with coarse to fine sponges.
In the cabinet I’ve got an old 20L/5gal tank to breed some snails.
Plants are all African, im’ still waiting on some more anubias and bolbitis to fill the space where the stone is weighing down down the wood.

Some pics a few hours after setting the tank up:
Image
Image

So now come the actual questions.
Currently I’m cycling the tank, so I have some time to adjust it and off course find the fish.

The animals I’ve found so far in the Netherlands are wild caught animals, its only a 1hour drive away, so that's alway an option.
But I’m still trying to find some tank bred animals in Germany, no luck so far. (I'm from Belgium, the only breeder I found was about 4hours away)

So I was thinking if I manage to find some tank bred fish to get 3, in hopes that a pair will form and sell one afterwards. Would it be possible to keep 3 animals in a tank this size for while?
Or should I stick with one?

How are these puffers with other tankmates?

I was thinking of getting a small school of 7 of alestopetersius caudalis or enteromius fasciolatus. Or a bigger one of Enteromius hulstaerti or Ladigesia roloffi, but maybe these are too small to keep with this puffer?
For the top layer I was thinking about an epiplatys species. And maybe a smaller species of Congochromis or Nannochromis on the bottom if I only get one puffer.

Any thoughts, opinions and suggestions are more than welcome!

Re: keeping Tetraodon Schoutedeni

Posted: Tue Dec 03, 2019 11:42 am
by Pufferpunk
3 would be fine in there. Nice setup!

Re: keeping Tetraodon Schoutedeni

Posted: Tue Dec 03, 2019 3:33 pm
by Matts
Pufferpunk wrote: Tue Dec 03, 2019 11:42 am 3 would be fine in there. Nice setup!
Thanks!

I hope I'll be able to find 3 tankbred puffers, for wildcaught i'd have to pay around €400 (+-$440 or £340)
So if I can only find wildcaught I'll probably stick with one...

Re: keeping Tetraodon Schoutedeni

Posted: Tue Dec 10, 2019 2:47 pm
by Matts
So I'm getting one female and one male on the 21st, according to the fish store.

Yesterday I picked up around 300+ Seminole Ramshorn snails, so that should cover the puffers need for snails for a while.

Are there any supplementary food recommendations? I’ve got Bloodworms, white mosquito larvae, black mosquito larvae, daphnia, artemia, cyclops and mysis in my freezer.

Sadly no shops near me sell live foods, I’ll take some with me from the shop where I’m getting the puffers if I can.
There might be a fishing store nearby which sells some bait earthworms and stuff, maybe that’s an option?

Re: keeping Tetraodon Schoutedeni

Posted: Tue Dec 10, 2019 5:58 pm
by Pufferpunk
I buy earthworms from Walmart weekly. How do they know the sex?

Re: keeping Tetraodon Schoutedeni

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:23 am
by Matts
Pufferpunk wrote: Tue Dec 10, 2019 5:58 pm I buy earthworms from Walmart weekly. How do they know the sex?
I'm not certain, I'll ask when I go to pick them up.

It's a store that gets them in a few times a years, they told me they could sex them.
They specialise in oddballs and rare fish and have built a pretty reputable image in the region, so I trust they would tell me if they can't sex them and let me swap if that proves necessary. (they are on YouTube under the name Utaka)

"The males seem to
show a more contrasting pattern and to have longer snouts." according to this importer: https://www.aquariumglaser.de/en/fish-a ... tedeni_en/

Re: keeping Tetraodon Schoutedeni

Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2019 4:00 pm
by Matts
Would a 15gallon tank suffice to quarantine 2 puffers if I add a divider and filter over purigen with if necessary daily water changes?
It’s the biggest tank that I currently have empty, I’d prefer not to buy another aquarium just to use a couple of weeks…

Re: keeping Tetraodon Schoutedeni

Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2019 9:48 am
by Pufferpunk
As long as they are small, it should be fine.

Re: keeping Tetraodon Schoutedeni

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2020 1:43 am
by skink
I have 5 living together in a 35 gal (~1.5" juveniles). the pay no attention to each other, or any other fish in the tank, including some fish smaller than them. They eat tubifex, bloodworms, brine shrimp but nothing else. I'm working on a snail colony as they get older.

Re: keeping Tetraodon Schoutedeni

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2020 10:57 am
by Pufferpunk
I would give them 15g each, MINIMUM. More, if adding tankmates.

Re: keeping Tetraodon Schoutedeni

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2020 11:19 am
by Matts
The thank they'll end up in is around 170l or 45 gal so that should be fine for 2 puffers and some dithers fish.

They've been in the 15 gallon quarantaine tank for 25 days now, it's going fine. There have been some conflicts, mostly some tail flaring and mock attacks.
I've only seen 2 or 3 fights where there was actual biting involved over some snails where one tried to grab a snail out of the others mouth, even though there where like half a dozen snails laying around to be eaten :roll:

But I'll still be glad when I can put them in the bigger tank, it seems like they're almost getting a bit bored in the quarantine tank.

Re: keeping Tetraodon Schoutedeni

Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2020 12:57 am
by skink
The 35 gallon is a tank to raise them in. I have a 60 gallon tank with a similar setup (tons of driftwood and plants) ready for when they grow up. Right now then seem quite content in the 35 and are slowly gaining size. I'M planning to get pics again soon; I think they are dimorphic like Carinotetraodons but i have seen no documentation of that yet. Someone bred them or there wouldn't be so many juveniles on the market at once..

Re: keeping Tetraodon Schoutedeni

Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2020 9:29 am
by Pufferpunk
Yes, lots of folks are becoming successful at breeding these guys, which haven't been seen in the aquarium market for over 20 years.

Re: keeping Tetraodon Schoutedeni

Posted: Thu Jan 16, 2020 10:11 am
by Matts
Today I gave bloodworms another try, but this time I soaked them in some Vitachem and garlic guard(that stuff stinks, had to air the room afterwards :lol:)
and added a drop of de-worming medication.

Like last time they picked at it a bit so I left and went to have breakfast myself but this time when I came back everything was gone, and the skinny puffer now looked more plump than I've ever seen her. :D

So I'm going to try some other foods they ignored with the garlic guard and vitachem, hopefully I'll be able to get some more variety in their diet that way.

Re: keeping Tetraodon Schoutedeni

Posted: Sun Jan 19, 2020 12:14 pm
by Pufferpunk
Yay! Isn't it weird that fish prefer garlic-flavored foods?