Arothron hispidus & Arothron meleagris?

[sezzy5889]

Thought i'd post a couple pics up of 2 of our puffers!

This is my little buddy Arothron hispidus (white spotted), he was sold to us as a A.nigropunctatus (black spotted dog face) lol
He was just about 2 inches when we got him about 6 months ago (when these pics were taken), hes now almost tripled in size! hes such a placid, loving character but also a bit shy at times, he lives in my main marine aquarium with all my non-puffer fish because hes so laid back and gentle at feeding time






and this is what i believe to be Arothron meleagris? if anyone could confirm that!
He was a bit of a rogue when we first got him, but through no fault of his own, his tank was being setup at the time and he had to go into the main tank, but he did not like other fish company and so got very aggressive and stressed out, he developed a bit of ich at the time and spent most the day swimming up and down biting the glass, he ripped a coral to shreds in his anger and hated the cleaner wrasse who nearly got chomped on several occasions!
I was at my witts end and was going to take him back to the shop, but my partner said give him a chance in his new tank and see how he copes, well i'll admit was wrong, as the moment he went into his tank he settled right down, and within a week he was the most calm and docile puffer, a totally different fish altogether. He hasn't got annoyed since and is really quite friendly. He shares his home with a small dog face puff, a rabbitfish, wrasse, hawkfish, coral catfish and a shameface crab, and they all get on well
Hes currently 7 inches.

[trekenk]

Beautiful pictures and beautiful puffers. I believe you are correct that it is indeed a Arothron meleagris / Guineafowl Puffer and the top guy commonly known as a Stars and Stripes. Are you aware of their requirements. 180 gallons for each by themselves ( larger if you have other fish with them). Here is a great article on feeding.


library/feeding/feeding-your-puffers/

Welcome to The Puffer Forum.

[lilacamy931]

Having seen this and your other pic post, you have some amazing gorgeous marine puffs, Im so very very jealous! Just one request, more pics!

[sezzy5889]

Thank you very much, we really do love our puffer fish and would love to expand and keep more in the future when we are prepared financially

Trekenk, i am aware of their requirements, and we are already planning their future, for now they are ok, but we know in the next 12 months max, an upgrade will be necessary for them

They had a HUGE Arothron meleagris in my LFS not long ago, he was stunning, he has Metallic Green eyes, i couldn't stop looking at them! and he was so friendly, just a tad bigger then ours, about 8 inches sharing a tank with a dog face the same size.

Sadly the silly owner had an Emergency Naso Tang come in with no where to put it (also massive) and he thought being an ex-pet that it would be ok...but goes to show how wrong you can be because we went in the week after and every fish in that tank had died within a matter of days, wiped out by some illness So sad, RIP gorgeous chunky puff puffs

[trekenk]

Nice to see someone who is aware of their requirements and willing to accommodate. Arothron meleagris at 8 inches just a baby still lol they grow to max of 19 inches.