Takifugu ocellatus - saltwater?

[Pyratt]

This local place that tends to do a pretty good job (keep their figure 8's and young GSPs in brackish) had a tank of Takifugu ocellatus (fugu puffers, the ones with the bit of orange) in freshwater with the usual bit of "aquarium salt" that they have in all their freshwater tanks (except the newt/snail tank, of course). For those of you in the Chicago 'burbs I'm speaking of Scott's Pet Shop.

Fishbase does mention "anadromous," but that doesn't necessarily imply adults spend their non-spawning portion of their lives in marine (or does it?).

Either way, the young seem to do fine in fresh/brackish (I was impressed at the health of the batch), which must have been where these were caught, just like the other relatively inexpensive species (gsp, fig8).

I guess I'm asking what people think of keeping one in light brackish. Do we assume they should be slowly moved up to fall marine by adult like a GSP?

Also- are these fish really as fish-unsafe as I gathered from some forum posts? No chance I could put one with my fig8 until there was some sort of size disparity (or difference in salt needs)?

http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/species ... p?ID=55081
"demersal; anadromous (Ref. 51243); freshwater; brackish"

Thanks,

-Pete

[Pufferpunk]

Speak to yunachin about hers. I think they are doing quite well for her. They prefer lower temps, so you may need a chiller.

[yunachin]

When I purchased mine he was in a community tank that was freshwater. I would not recommend tank-mates with these fish at all. They are very erratic and it seems when they are alone they are less stressed. I acclimated mine from straight fresh up to 1.012, then I raised the salinity weekly until it reached 1.021. He also lives in 67 degree water so depending on your location a chiller, (like PP said) may be a necessary purchase. I am doing a study on these fish and plan to purchase a few more to see exactly how they tolerate certain conditions based on salinity, safely that is. I hope to be able to put this information into an article one day.

[recombinantrider]

When I got my fugu puffer he's in a freshwater tank. Since I already had a GSP in brackish 1.005 at that point it was what it's first introduced into. I am raising the salinity gradually and now it's at 1.012. Both the fugu and GSP are doing fine and look healthy. The fugu is more aggressive than the GSP and just took a bite of the GSP's tail fin a few days ago though.
joanne

[Pufferpunk]

I suggest seperating them, before he kills the GSP. The fugu are quite agressive.

[recombinantrider]

Hi Pufferpunk. Uh oh. Yeah I see that my Takifugu ocellatus has more aggression than the GSP. I just wished that I had learned a bit more about fugu puffers before taking him home. My GSP Blinky has been missing a piece (~1cm^2) of his tail fin for a couple of days and I couldn't be mad at the fugu puffer Sushi because I knew he's been pissed off for a while. Sushi has just been erratic whenever there's any activity around the tank (me walking near, when i entered the room, turning off the lights, lifting the lid to feed etc.) He just dashes from one end to the other end of the tank, sometimes knocking my sea fan over, jumping out of the water, smashing its head against the sand like a little maniac. I don't know if other people have experienced the same thing with their fugu puffers..... I have just convinced my landlord to let me keep the 2 puffers in a tank and I think I can't really have a second tank for Sushi unless I absolutely have to. I hope they get along until I have a bigger place.... Thanks for your advice!

[t1gerbee]

seen a gsp killed by a taki ... chunks taken out of his side, no tail....

separation needed now, or you may lose the GSP..

[recombinantrider]

Hi pufferpunk, my concern for my GSP's safety in the tank with the Takifugu has grown since you mentioned how dangerous it could get. When I went home today my poor GSP had a visible bite mark on his anal fin and that was it. I decided I gotta take your advice and separate my babies immediately. I moved the GSP from the brackish tank to my biggest stockpot , and my friend is awesome enough to offer to house him in his freshwater tank with 2 smaller GSPs for now, until I find a solution for him. I acclimated in 4 hours from BW to FW in my pot, feeding him his favorite live blackworms in the meantime (which he finished). After we introduced him to the FW tank, he had stress lines for about 15 min. Then he got more exploratory and hungry. We were concerned about the smaller GSPs but they seem to be getting along ok so far, and they've been under observation for 4 hours. Hope everybody will do fine when we wake up tmr morning. I'm just worried he'll not do well in the FW, or that he kills someone.

On the other hand, Sushi, my Fugu puffer who's attacking the GSP in my tank, is doing great now. Acting more at peace than ever. Finally not smashing his head on the glass like a maniac when I come close. I hope it all works out and I can find a solution quickly so I can have Blinky back asap.

Thanks for your advice again!

[t1gerbee]

well done on acting fast...

if your friend stocks his tank with loads of fake plants etc, then the three should be ok for a short period of time...
what size is his tank, you don't want to end up with three dead fish due to overloading the bacteria in the tank...

your friend will also need to begin raising the SG as soon as possible, as GSP's in freshwater can have long term health issues...


glad the taki's doing well, dificult puffer to keep alive, so well done so far.

[julianchan]

Its a 20G tank, no plants in there, but a load of rocks for to run and hide in. But when I woke up this morning, all 3 of them were laying down in the same little cave and came to greet me. No nipped fins, no angry stares, and no one has found a tommy gun dealer yet either.

I do wonder though why the change to brackish this soon? I don't mean to sound rude or anything, I am just really curious. I was going to wait till Elevator got to about 2", but now you have mentioned it, I wonder if I should start sooner.

[Pufferpunk]

Since you added a larger puffer to an already "overstocked" tank, I suggest telling your friend to start doing a minimum of 25% water changes daily, to make up for the extra bioload. Set up a 30g tank for your Elevator & fishless cycle it with some substrate or filter media from the origional tank. Fishless cycling article in our Library.

[julianchan]

Water changes are already underway. Been testing the levels in there religiously. Blinky is going to have a new home very soon!

[Pufferpunk]

Oh sorry, I thought that was Elavator. Hard to remember everyone's pet's names.

[julianchan]

Its ok...i get confused a lot. With simpler things.

[Nick]

The reason is that GSP only do well in FW for a short period, regardless of age. This period is just measured in months with very small GSP, rather than weeks with larger, and I have found much over 1.5" and they have a rough time with much more than a month or so in FW, while low brackish water will certainly do no harm to even the smallest. That's why we recommend brackish as soon as it's possible. A GSP is very, very unlikely to reach two inches in freshwater at all.