My First puffer (Joe) and need help with identifying it

[Mother Yoda]

I bought it today at the LFS for $10 but the reason I bought it was because it looks like a Monotrete Abei or Monotrete Cochinchinensis. I suspect it's the latter, but aside from that the reason was that I can easily have the tank capacity required for the fish, (I have a empty 24 gallon) as it's in a 10 gallon tank as of now.

The puffer has a very green look to it, is extremely active, has a (natural) black spot near the end of it's tail. Here is a picture of what it looks like.

But you may ask why it only cost $10 for the fish well the problem is that the tank it was formerly in was a less then desirable habitat to say the least. I am dead certain that some of these puffers had some type of illness/sickness/infection or whatever.

Staff-member who was with me to help assist in getting the fish had knowledge in what he was doing and he took the time to feed several times the puffers krill to see which one(s) were the healthiest.

But the puffer does have some signs and symptoms that worry me. It's eyes look foggy and grey, it has a blood veinish wormlike (I am not saying it's a worm) that it looks like it's on the inside. It seems to be breathing rather fast but I am not sure if that's the norm for this type of puffer. Lastly it has a circular shape with a s shaped ridge inside of it.

But other than that it seems to be in good health is very active.

So I ask
1) Do you know what type of puffer this is?
2) Are the symptoms somthing that I should be worried about or are they somthing esle?
3) If any of those things are in fact symptoms of a health issue what should I do about it?

[edmlfc1]

Can you post any pictures?

[Myaj]

Look here for a very large variety of species to see if you can identify it:
http://www.thepufferforum.com/PufferPedia

Do you know much about fish, as in testing their water, etc?

If this is a brand new tank setup, that means there is no bacteria in there to process the fish's waste, so it is being poisoned by its own waste. This results in irritated skin and gills, which would be why you are seeing bloody veins and rapid breathing, and cloudy eyes are a usual sign as well.

Clean water is best, remove some, add new, clean water. Do this several times over the next couple of days, especially if the fish is looking unhealthy. If you are on city water, you'll need to dechlorinate with something like Amquel or Prime. I don't know what country you are from, so you may not be able to find those products where you are.

Once you know what species you have, we can figure out if it needs brackish or freshwater.. if its in the target group it will be freshwater though, so that's easy. The target group can be hard to get a positive ID on, but if you get us a clear photo we usually can figure it out.

[Mother Yoda]

Do you know much about fish, as in testing their water, etc?

You mean like how the water conditions are in the tank now? Last time I checked (which was when I was the day I got it) it was completely perfect according to the test kit. It had to be the water that the puffer was kept in originally.

If this is a brand new tank setup, that means there is no bacteria in there to process the fish's waste, so it is being poisoned by its own waste. This results in irritated skin and gills, which would be why you are seeing bloody veins and rapid breathing, and cloudy eyes are a usual sign as well.

Alright thank you for telling me, that helps. Although it seems to be just sitting on the bottom, in a semi-hidden area (but there are much more concealed areas within the caves that I created with driftwood).

Clean water is best, remove some, add new, clean water. Do this several times over the next couple of days, especially if the fish is looking unhealthy.

How much should I change the water by (as in the percentage)?

Here are some pictures of the fish I have right now. Sorry I can't post the pictures directly to the site, it makes the picture too large and cut off the edges.

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj31 ... tagain.jpg

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj31 ... Puffer.jpg

[Sponge bob]

Brown puffer?Please correct me if i aint right

[Dadof4]

It looks like Monotrete Abei.ug.php/v/PufferPedia/Freshwater/T_abei/?g2_page=2

[Dadof4]

Brown puffer?Please correct me if i aint right

The brown doesn't have the red spot, more like a green spot that changes color with mood.

[Sponge bob]

i thought that to.

[Myaj]

Well, its certainly of the target group. I'm usually wrong when I try to say which one, but I'll guess Abei ug.php/v/PufferPedia/Freshwater/T_abei/

Its not turgidus, they don't have the red eyespot. Though otherwise it looks a lot like a turgidus. I'd love to see some really clear photos of it someday, that red spot is VERY bright.

Either way, the target group are all about the same size/behavior. Require 20 or more gallons, are more of a lurker species but abei's can be more active swimmers than the other targets. Freshwater of course.



As far as your test results for your water, telling us they are "perfect" tells us nothing. We need actual, numerical results for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate to be able to help you.

But clean water is always a good thing for puffers, so don't hesitate to do water changes as often as you want. We recommend a minimum of 50% each week, but if your tank isn't cycled, you'll want to do them more often to keep the "bad stuff" diluted.

[Jase]

looks like T. leiurus
http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/Species ... p?id=16134

as for WCs it depends on the parameters. I wouldn't ever do more than 80%...
50% should be good.

EDIT:
It may be Abei, I've just never seen one that dark...
red eye is more abei-like for sure.

[Myaj]

Ah, good call Jase.

What the heck is going on with the Pufferpedia.. I swear species that used to be there are just gone without a trace. Hrmmm....

[Jase]

yeah, I could have sworn leiurus was in there...

Myaj, do you remember if leiurus has a red eye? the fishbase pic is a little unclear as well...

[Jase]

oops, no I'm sure it's leiurus.

here's some reference:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=15018&st=0&sk=t&sd=a
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4650&p=49456&hilit=+leiurus#p49456

[Myaj]

But leiurus doesn't have the red eyespot.

Okay, we're going to need Corvus, Sean, Martin H, etc on this one...

And a list of what species are missing! I thought we had everything in freshwater/brackish and still need to add a bunch of saltwater, but lately there's been some freshwater species not there that I swore were there.

[Jase]

actually it can have the red eye spot.

We'll need to hear from Corvus the magic puffer knowledge man