Ok, ive read everything i can find on this site and the rest of the web and know that the general feeling is that this fish cannot be kept long term in captivity so please dont bash me.
One of the shops i occasionally visit had 5 of these in stock recently but although i know they are said to be impossible i decided to buy one, i figured that its already here and its destined to die anyway so why not buy one (they weren't that expensive) and try to make the short life it will have a better one and prehaps try and learn a bit more about these fish at the same time.
Firstly the fish were in freshwater but despite this were showing brilliant colouring and feeding well so were apperantly in good health, i selected the largest most active specimin (around 3 1/2 inches in length and quite plump) and took it home where i set about acclimatising it to brackish water with a SG of around 1.014 using the slow drip method taking around 8 hours to complete the transition, the fish showed no signs of stress during this time and was swimming in the bucket happily. The fish will be housed in a 80 gallon heavily filtered tank with various other brackish fish (scats, mono's, shark cats, morays) but larger tanks are available for the future if they are needed.
So now for the questions.
For those that have kept them did they show any signs of illness before dying or was it sudden and unexplained?
Are there any thoughts on as to why they dont do well in captivity ?
Is there any known part of their wild diet which is not given in captivity which may be essential to their well being ?
What is the longest known time of someone keeping this species alive in captivity, could it be they are just a short lived species?
Are there any tips for success in keeping this fish alive for longer than average.
Sorry for all the questions but any anwers will be greatly appreciated.
Takifugu occelatus
Thanks for the welcome.
The first thing i did before joining is read the 5 topics bought up by searching for "occelatus", some very interesting reading especially the bit about keeping them at lower than tropical temperatures, which is lucky as i have long been a believer that the standard temperatures given in litterature are probably those at the upper end of the scale as the data was recorded during collecting season when the weather is warmest and so keep all my tanks at lower temperatures than commonly heard of.
But not all of my questions have been answered by my research here or elsewhere, i would especially like some more thoughts on these three
Are there any thoughts on as to why they dont do well in captivity ?
Is there any known part of their wild diet which is not given in captivity which may be essential to their well being ?
What is the longest known time of someone keeping this species alive in captivity, could it be they are just a short lived species?
Are there any tips for success in keeping this fish alive for longer than average.
Thanks again.
The first thing i did before joining is read the 5 topics bought up by searching for "occelatus", some very interesting reading especially the bit about keeping them at lower than tropical temperatures, which is lucky as i have long been a believer that the standard temperatures given in litterature are probably those at the upper end of the scale as the data was recorded during collecting season when the weather is warmest and so keep all my tanks at lower temperatures than commonly heard of.
But not all of my questions have been answered by my research here or elsewhere, i would especially like some more thoughts on these three
Are there any thoughts on as to why they dont do well in captivity ?
Is there any known part of their wild diet which is not given in captivity which may be essential to their well being ?
What is the longest known time of someone keeping this species alive in captivity, could it be they are just a short lived species?
Are there any tips for success in keeping this fish alive for longer than average.
Thanks again.
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RTR
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IMHO, total blank on causes.
Those that I have kept showed no symptoms that I noticed prior to death.
Since we have no info on wild diet, captive diet is pure guesswork.
I am unaware of any first-person accounts of these fish being kept to maturity in captivity (likely a year to a year and a half).
No tips, sorry
Those that I have kept showed no symptoms that I noticed prior to death.
Since we have no info on wild diet, captive diet is pure guesswork.
I am unaware of any first-person accounts of these fish being kept to maturity in captivity (likely a year to a year and a half).
No tips, sorry
Where's the fish? - Neptune
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Pufferpunk
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burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
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RTR is our resident puffer expert. He has been keeping them close to 50 years. If he can't keep one alive, I don't know who could.
The problem w/purchasing these fish to "save" it & give it a happy life (as short as it may be), is that the shop will see that they are selling & buy more, depleting the natural stock, even more. If left to die at the shop, maybe they'd think 2x before purchasing them again. Just my $.02...
The problem w/purchasing these fish to "save" it & give it a happy life (as short as it may be), is that the shop will see that they are selling & buy more, depleting the natural stock, even more. If left to die at the shop, maybe they'd think 2x before purchasing them again. Just my $.02...
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
I agree totally but unfortunately at the price they were selling at (just £20) such an attractive fish will easily sell so surely it is better that at least one ends up in the hands of an experienced hobbiest willing to put the effort in to try and keep these fish than leave them?
20 years ago Discus and stingrays were thought of as nearly impossible to keep but are now routinely kept by even relatively inexperienced fish keepers without much problem and this is mainly down to the work of hobbiests which have gathered experience and knowledge of the fish by trial and error.
I'll do my best by the fish and let you know the outcome.
20 years ago Discus and stingrays were thought of as nearly impossible to keep but are now routinely kept by even relatively inexperienced fish keepers without much problem and this is mainly down to the work of hobbiests which have gathered experience and knowledge of the fish by trial and error.
I'll do my best by the fish and let you know the outcome.
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Pufferpunk
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T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
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Yes but 20 years ago, the most expert pufferkeepers couldn't figure out how to keep these puffers alive & 20 years later they still can't... 
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
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RTR
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Well, over 30 years ago I had tank buddies who were breeding Discus all over their houses, but had a lot of issues with Altums - which is still not infequent.
If I have tried several times with no luck, and Dr Ebert can't keep them either, I don't feel so bad about it anymore. But I am not ready to try again without a lot more info on the fish.
If I have tried several times with no luck, and Dr Ebert can't keep them either, I don't feel so bad about it anymore. But I am not ready to try again without a lot more info on the fish.
Where's the fish? - Neptune
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Pufferpunk
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C coranata
C papuan
C lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
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And unfortunately, there just isn't any.I am not ready to try again without a lot more info on the fish
As long as you have the fish, you certainly can try your best & let us know if you find out anything.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
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onebadpuffer
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As you said, he will get a better and longer life life than at the fishstore and you most likely have a better chance at keeping him than most others that would have bought them. I for one am glad to see that you care enough to research, ask questions, and give him a fighting chance. Maybe one of these days someone will get a breakthrough on them. They are gorgeous fish. Although the prospect is slim, I am giving it a shot as well.
Well so far so good, a week gone and the puffer is still fat and happy. It is accepting a variety of frozen foods but seems to preffer cooked frozen prawns above anything else, suprisingly it shows no interest in food in shells to the point where it doesn't even seem to recognise them as food.
Something i have noticed is that this fish seems to have a very small stomach and high metabolism, just a couple of small prawns is enough to make noticable buldges in the belly and yet the swelling receeds within just a couple of hours so i am now feeding the fish 3 small portions of food a day rather than the usual one large meal i feed my other fish.
Another interesting report is that the lfs manager seems to think these are captive bred in offshore aqua culture farms, mainly for the food market but a few are making their way into the hobby, the fact that there were 5 identical sized specimins in the tank does kind of support this. If this is the case they MAY have more of a chance then their wild caught counter parts if they are being reared on prepared foods, but i cannot find any evidence on the web of this species being aqua cultured to support this claim.
Something i have noticed is that this fish seems to have a very small stomach and high metabolism, just a couple of small prawns is enough to make noticable buldges in the belly and yet the swelling receeds within just a couple of hours so i am now feeding the fish 3 small portions of food a day rather than the usual one large meal i feed my other fish.
Another interesting report is that the lfs manager seems to think these are captive bred in offshore aqua culture farms, mainly for the food market but a few are making their way into the hobby, the fact that there were 5 identical sized specimins in the tank does kind of support this. If this is the case they MAY have more of a chance then their wild caught counter parts if they are being reared on prepared foods, but i cannot find any evidence on the web of this species being aqua cultured to support this claim.
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Jager
