They definitely need heavily planted tanks. Lortetis are a kind of semilurking puffers. Or should I say semi-hunting-openly-puffers.schismy007 wrote:Tell me about the tank you have her in John. Do you have plants in there? I've always kept mine in a tank that's got lots of plants, almost jungle-like because I have found that they enjoy hanging out in the plants, literally in the plants.
They hunt the same way as puffers that does active hunting (swimming around, looking for the food), but they don't like to stay in the open. Active hunters often have a white (or some other light color) bellies, as a camoflage when seen from below (light belly is difficult to see against the water surface). Carinotetraodons have less the white belly, as they use plants and other decoration to hide in between. In my mind, I see them a little like tigers, walking around in the jungle, looking for food, but still is well camoflaged, and don't like to get out in the open. 
I find lortetis a lot more social against humans than i.e. irrubescos. I know you can get very different specimens of irrubescos, but my experience is that they like to hide much. My lortetis, on the other hand, goes glass surfing each time they see me, to beg for food. They really seek my attention. I find them very different from the irrubescos.I also feel that redeyes are a bit social, although I know some people will disagree with me on this ... but I think mine actually enjoy the company of others. Any chance you can get your girlie a boyfriend? Or even another girlie? Might be things to think about. And no, you should not need sand. In fact, I've never seen any of mine digging, but she might be doing that if she feels too exposed, and that's why I said that maybe you need to work on getting more plants, so she has more cover.
When it comes to social with other fishes, I wouldn't keep them with any kind of fish. They can often be kept as a pair, but you need to be prepared to split them. They are aggressive, and different specimens can behave differently. My male lorteti has become more violent with his wife, and I have to monitor the situation further on. If it gets worse, I need to split them. One thing that is very important if you keep them as a pair, is that the tank is heavily planted, so you break up the line of sight, and also give them a good chance to hide. When I first read about lortetis myself, I found information that claimed that there was a danger of the female killing the male. From my own experience this seems to be wrong. Like most carinotetraodons, the male is the most aggressive part, and is the one most likely to kill his mate.
Lortetis are not a puffer species that digs into the sand.
I'll get pics up soon, and the rangeri's in. She's even got a new favorite spot, where the stems connect on a fake plant coming off of my fake log, she likes lying there, like a nest. I'm in love, again.
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