Suvatti.....

[OrandaLover]

What can yall tell me about them. Those of you who have owned them. Im lookin at buying one but i want to know more than what the pufferpedia tells me

[Pufferpunk]

Article on them in our Library.

[eieio]

a "search" of suvatti in the "freshwater puffer" forum brings up no less than 224 posts, probably 225 after this one

[Dukeskeeper36]

There was one for sale at my LFS. Verrry interesting fish. Let us know how it turns out if you get one : ]

[Troender]

They are cool fishes, but not very active. They are violent and messy eaters. They are fish eaters, and hunt by staying burried in the sand, and then attack what swims by. They can be pretty grumpy, and they always look like they are. Be careful with your fingers. They are usually nice to their owners, but they can think moving fingers are food. I have been lucky not to test the teeth of my suvattii, and I hope I never will. If you like a very active puffer, you shouldn't choose a suvattii though. Their way of hunting makes them not moving around much. But it's cool watching them laying in the sand, pretending not to be there.

[pufferpuggirl]

I have a little guy, well he's growing, so not as little as he used to be. I have to be honest, when I bought my first suvattii, I wasn't all that keen on them. I thought they were ugly and I wanted that cute puffer look that GSP's have. However, I have to say that I am now very fond of the suvattii.
As Troender says, they are not at all active. My "Fred" stays buried most of the time or hiding in his PVC tube, but he knows when it's meal time and he shoots up the surface as quick as lightning. Fred is really good about taking all different types of foods, unlike the other suvattii that I've had, which I am glad of. When I got Fred, back in November, he was tiny, but now he's getting much bigger and turning into a lovely little puffer.

I have been bitten by a suvattii (although not by Fred), I was putting a piece of bogwood down into the tank, the suvattii shot up so quick I didn't even see it until I felt the pain in my finger, and seen the little suvattii retreating back to his hiding place. I'm sure the bite was confusion, because thinking about it, my finger going into the water probably resembled a piece of shrimp. I definitely would give a suvattii respect when hands are in the water, and that's not to infer that they are vicious -- but they are quick and if they aren't sure what your hands or fingers are, they might just have a "taste".

Again, as Troender says, they aren't very active and if that's what you want in a puffer, then the suvattii definitely isn't for you, but they are interesting. I was successful at keeping 3 very young, very small suvattii with a Palembang that was also very young and very small. They lived together until I had a spate of internal parasites and didn't know much about them at the time and lost them all.

I now have 2 Palembangs and my suvattii Fred, but I don't think I will try keeping them all together this time around, as I think they are past the age of acceptance of a tankmate.

[OrandaLover]

thanks for the replys guys! I ended up getting a turgedis and i really like him! i think he is my favorite of my puffers atm!

[Troender]

If you got a turgidus, you've got a wonderful puffer. They are such interactive creatures. Well, at least most of them. My Tiger definitely isn't.
Good luck with a very cool fish! You won't be disappointed.

[OrandaLover]

thats why i got him they had him labeled as an arrowhead puffer but he doesnt look anything like a suvatti. He looks like a perfect little turgedis. I love him to death VEry glad i got him. I spent 2 weeks trying to decide if i needed him and then finally decided i had to have him so he came home yesterday and hes been alot of fun Ill post pictures soon