Carinotetraodon salivator questions

[aclockworkorange]

Hey everyone!

Over here visiting from MFK... I've got a 20 gallon long tank I'm upgrading the current fish in to a 40 gallon, and want to do my first puffer tank with the old 20.

My LFS carries quite a few unusual puffers, and are actually out of dwarf puffers "until winter."

We managed to ID one of them as salivator:
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forum ... p?t=354824

I've read all the info available online about them and still have a few questions...
Would it be possible to keep more than one in a 20 gallon long, heavily planted?
What would the ideal setup be: male and female pair, two females, one male, or one female? Why?

I've read all the other info about puffers (frequent water changes, dentistry, etc) is there anything I might be missing, especially in regards to this species?

Thanks

[purplecandle]

Your tank size and the aggressive nature of these puffers really prevents you from having more than one specimen in your tank.

I do not have experience with these puffers, but your puffer resembles the male specimen in our library...maybe!

ug.php/v/PufferPedia/Freshwater/C_salivator/

If I am correct on that, your male will get very large in comparison to a female, so a female probably would not stand a chance in a 20 gallon with a male...Maybe if you had a 40-50 gallon, but even then disaster would await you. And for the same reason two large males could not be together in a 20 gallon either. You would need a bigger tank for the bioload and requirements of more than one of these puffers...and even if you had a bigger tank, this species is aggressive.

Hurry up and get this puffer..before it is gone...I could make the drive to Portland this weekend LOL..now where is Oregon?

[purplecandle]

Your tank size and the aggressive nature of these puffers really prevents you from having more than one specimen in your tank.

I do not have experience with these puffers, but your puffer resembles the male specimen in our library...maybe!

ug.php/v/PufferPedia/Freshwater/C_salivator/

If I am correct on that, your male will get very large in comparison to a female, so a female probably would not stand a chance in a 20 gallon with a male...Maybe if you had a 40-50 gallon, but even then disaster would await you. And for the same reason two large males could not be together in a 20 gallon either. You would need a bigger tank for the bioload and requirements of more than one of these puffers...and even if you had a bigger tank, this species is aggressive.

Hurry up and get this puffer..before it is gone...I could make the drive to Portland this weekend LOL..now where is Oregon?

The one in the first picture I mean, I did not realize you had more than one picture..

[aclockworkorange]

What about two females since they are smaller and are less aggressive?

If I were to get one, should I get a female or a male?

[aclockworkorange]

Also, apparently they have been getting them in pretty regularly... this is their third batch, and they currently have about 10.

[Pufferpunk]

If I were to get one, I'd want the prettier, larger one--male.
Oh yeah...

[purplecandle]

I just cannot recommend any pair for a 20 gallon.

But if you want one, pick one that is friendly and responsive, and sometimes getting the youngest (smallest) is a good idea so you can raise them well

Personally I like the ones in the first 3 pictures, they just look totally bad A%$. And if those are males, they would get larger and might be more exciting for your tank.

[aclockworkorange]

Yes, I was thinking a male as well... someone over at MFK said the males seem "a little lonely" kept by themselves... sigh.

Thanks for the welcome!

[xrayjeeper83]

those are awesome looking puffs

[purplecandle]

I do think puffers have feelings and may even get lonely...but above all of the feelings they may have they all desire to be kings of their castles, they are little narcissists...they have feelings but I doubt they have strong feelings of remorse or loneliness.

However, I think it is possible for them to occasionally be lonely. I separated my two dwarf puffers into two different 10 gallon tanks and my jujube..does sort of seem lonely....however, that could be him wanting attention from the big thing that feeds him.

I really think that most of the time when they seem lonely, that is just them saying "look at me" "talk to me" "feed me"..and only me (Narcissists)

I really would not worry about a puffer getting lonely (except schooling puffers), because 9 times out of 10 they are really just thinking of themselves...it is us who end up anthropomorphizing their behavior

[aclockworkorange]

I do think puffers have feelings and may even get lonely...but above all of the feelings they may have they all desire to be kings of their castles, they are little narcissists...they have feelings but I doubt they have strong feelings of remorse or loneliness.

However, I think it is possible for them to occasionally be lonely. I separated my two dwarf puffers into two different 10 gallon tanks and my jujube..does sort of seem lonely....however, that could be him wanting attention from the big thing that feeds him.

I really think that most of the time when they seem lonely, that is just them saying "look at me" "talk to me" "feed me"..and only me (Narcissists)

I really would not worry about a puffer getting lonely (except schooling puffers), because 9 times out of 10 they are really just thinking of themselves...it is us who end up anthropomorphizing their behavior

Agreed... but anthropomorphizing fish is half the fun I think. That's why we give them names and obsess over them so much!

[Pufferpunk]

I do think puffers have feelings and may even get lonely

library/puffer-care/alone-but-not-lonel ... fers-solo/

[purplecandle]

I do think puffers have feelings and may even get lonely

library/puffer-care/alone-but-not-lonel ... fers-solo/

I agree! My point was that when we see them and think they are lonely, we are just humanizing them. I think since they are intelligent, that anything is possible...but I believe that any lonely feelings they may seem to have are just us attributing those feelings to them

[aclockworkorange]

Would anyone be interested in having me ship these out to them? Puffer punk mentioned it on the MFK thread...

I know they are pretty rare.

[Hilly]

Yes, I was thinking a male as well... someone over at MFK said the males seem "a little lonely" kept by themselves... sigh.

Thanks for the welcome!

I think that was me.

My reasoning behind this was thit in my experience a lone male Salivator was quite a shy thing on its own with the company of a female it was far more active.
That is just my experience with them and should not put you off trying a male on their own. Others have done it and were happy with it, but its not for me.

A full grown male is an impressive puffer.