The Puffer Forum

Hi everyone,
This is our first post to this forum, and if all goes well, will (hopefully) become a log of our efforts to breed baileyi. As a short introduction, we have kept various species of puffers off and on for years (along with many other species of freshwater, brackish, and marine fish and inverts, as well as various reptiles and amphibians.) Up until this point, my favorite puffer was the miurus, of which we have had several. That was until the other day when we spotted a pair of baileyi at the LFS. They are the ones that the wetspotcx has had up on aquabid. Both are around 4.5" and have been kept together in a 15 gal tank for over 3 months with no signs of aggression! Both are healthy, alert, and good feeders on a variety of live and non-live foods. They often swim together and rest side by side peacefully. We figured that judging by this behavior, chances are excellent that they are a male/female pair. There is a slight physical difference between the two--one has a more rounded body shape and a yellow/brown belly, and the other has a thinner body, with a bright yellow/orange belly. There seems to be no difference in the amount or length of cirri or "hair" between the two.
For the past two days we have had them set up in a heavily planted tank with lots of bogwood and a sand substrate, with several pieces of slate on the bottom. So far the (presumed) male has spent quite a bit of time hovering over one of the pieces of slate, but that is the only possible courtship/breeding behavior that we have noticed so far.
Both are settling in very well to their new home. Both ate within hours of their introduction to their new tank, and come up to hover and "beg" at the front of the tank every time someone walks past.
We are very excited to have the chance to work with this awesome species, and hope to have more updates soon!

Here are a few quick pics--working on better ones

Congrats Medellia, and welcome to TPF.
Keep us updated, that would be very cool if you are able to successfully breed baileyi's.

What a cute couple! What size tank do you have them in? I'd still pack that tank with decor to break up their lines of sight.

They are beautiful!! I'm loving all that hair, my Baileyi has barely any hair on her at all (figures that I'd get a hairless "Hairy" puffer).
I can't wait to hear how things go. Would be fantastic if you could get some breeding between them. I look forward to more of your posts.
Good luck and welcome to the forum!

pufferpuggirl wrote:my Baileyi has barely any hair on her at all (figures that I'd get a hairless "Hairy" puffer).

A bald baileyi?

Thanks everyone for your kind words and warm welcome!

Pufferpunk,
They are in a 55 gal at the moment. That is exactly what I was thinking, to break up the line of sight as much as possible. I know it is very hard to tell from my poor photography skills, but the tank is much more packed with decor than it looks The entire back of the tank is stacked from bottom to top with large pieces of bogwood, and many of them extend almost to the front glass of the tank. Between that and all the plants, the poor puffers have quite a maze to navigate. Plus, I added even more plants today too...by the time I am through, I don't know if there will even be room in the tank to hold water...lol. I will work on getting some good tank shots soon.
Anyway, both are still doing very well. Here are a couple more pics--

the poor puffers have quite a maze to navigate.

Just what I wanted to hear! Those faces are only ones a mother or pufferlover could love...

Pufferpunk wrote:Those faces are only ones a mother ... could love...

and even she finds it hard haha sorry, I couldn't resist!

A quick update on the puffers...
Both have continued to do well, with no aggression toward one another. They are alert and feed well on whatever I put in the tank for them to eat. Of course they spend most of their time 'lurking', but in the morning after the lights go on, they usually buzz around the front of the tank, begging for a meal.
The past few days I noticed that they seemed more secretive than usual, not coming out to beg like usual. They have both been spending a lot of time at the back of the tank behind the wall of bogwood. I have been keeping an eye on them to make sure all is well, while trying not to disturb them too much. Despite not eating for a few days, the female's lower abdomen is huge (hopefully filling with eggs This morning I noticed that the male has excavated a pit in the sand at the back of the tank, down to the glass. He is hovering over it and blowing at the sand to keep the glass clear.
I had provided them with two different pieces of slate, in caves formed by the bogwood, and sheltered by lots of plants, but I guess the male wanted a bit more privacy for his nest.
I have not seen any actual physical courtship yet, but it looks like both are getting prepared for spawning...so far, so good...
Hopefully I will have more exciting updates soon

Ohhh how exciting!!!! *claps excitedly*

Well, that was quick!

That is fantastic news!

That would be fantastic! They are absolutely gorgeous and all fingers crossed for you and them x

That is awesome!! All you need to do now is, put on Marvin Gay - "let's get it on" lol jk

Thanks, everyone....
Here is another update after a long stretch of work. I am pretty sure the pair went through a "practice run" at spawning a few nights ago. They were hovering near the back of the tank where I could not see them very well, and I noticed that the female had turned a weird light grey color that I had not seen before. It seemed similar to the color change in breeding female suvatti. The next morning, both puffers were out begging for food as usual, and the female looked a lot thinner than the day before. There were no sign of any eggs that I could find, and the male was not showing any guarding behavior. So it looks like that was a test run, and hopefully they will have a successful spawning soon...The female has gotten plump again over the last few days, and the male has been paying special attention to one of the pieces of slate. This morning I watched him uproot a plant that was growing next to the slate. He grabbed a few leaves in his mouth and shook his head back and forth until the plant was uprooted and floated away. It was really interesting behavior to watch. I am going to keep a close eye on them over the next few days....