Takifugu Ocellatus - Help??

[joey90]

Hi All,

I have been reading this forum for some time and now find myself needing some help.

I am an experienced keeper of freshwater pufferfish(I currently have colomesus asellus and some dwarf puffers). I have also kept a wide and wonderful range of other freshwater trops over the years. However I have little experience of marine, I am currently researching for a new tank set up which should hold 45-50g (accounting for decor) and now find myself needing to ask some possibly stupid questions. I have reserved a Takifugu Ocellatus at local aquatic shop, which is selling as a freshwater fish, it is also being kept in freshwater at the moment in the shop and also at a temperature of approximately 25degress. Now I know these fish ideally should be kept no higher than 20 degrees, so onto my questions-

1. Am I correct in thinking it would be best to set the tank up as freshwater using my existing filters to seed the filter, and then slowly increase the salinity to full marine? If this is correct what is the best rate to do so so as to keep the filters still cycled? Is it ok to do this by using marine water at water changes untill the desired sp is reached?

2. In terms of decor how does bogwood fare in marine tanks? I only ask as I have a significant amount lying around from old tanks?

3. Also are normal filters ok or do I need to be thinking about adding live rock long term?

Many thanks in advance for your help.

Any other advice would be gratefully recieved.

[bertie 83]

SG should be raised at no more than .02 per week. You can use used media to start off. Live rock is a must in a marine tank it will aid you immensely. Do you have a pic of this puff as it may be mislabelled?

[joey90]

Thanks for your quick reply bertie! I haven't got a photo at the minute but I'm certain its labelled correctly having compared it to pictures in "Puffers of the fresh and brackish waters" I couldn't find anything that looked even close?

[bertie 83]

I believe they may look similar to the bronze puffer? The Ocellatus is generally not easy to keep in captivity so if it is infact this would you want that challenge facing potential heartbreak? Good luck with whatever you choose tho. Dont wish to put anyone off anything you know

[joey90]

I know I might be setting myself up for heartbreak but I can't bare the thought of this little guy going to someone who dosen't know that its not a freshwater fish.

I just googled the bronze puffer and assuming the pics are correct I can safely rule out it being one of those.

I'm also intending to put a heater in the tank and drop the temperature at the rate of 1-2 degrees every 2 days to ensure a slow acclimatization.

[Christie_ZXR]

Best of luck!

I'm in a really similar boat to you, I picked up my Takifugu Ocellatus a few days ago. So hopefully we'll be able to help each other out with these fragile little guys! Mine's currently in FW too, but I'm planning on keeping him at around 1.015-1.020. I decided against live rock. Someone else advised me against it because of the risk of injury with how much these guys zoom around, and having seen how mad he is already, I don't think I'll risk it any time soon!! I'm just planning to rely on good filters and regular maintenence. Although I wouldn't be surprised if he settles down once the temps and salinity are better, so I'll wait and see what he does in the future and see if I reckon it's safe to go for it or not.

[sevenyearnight]

I'm glad you saw this thread Christie! I was just about to suggest they talk to you lol
Best of luck in this challenge, it has been done, so don't lose hope

[chuckfriedrice]

You might wanna rethink the no live rock! It is so benificial in a marine tank! I can tell on my small tanks when I add new pieces , Its helps so much ! Your Puffer will avoid the rock once they get to know its surroundings .

[Pufferpunk]

Be prepared for heartbreak anyway... Even the most expert pufferkeepers have only had a small margin of survivability (sp?) >6 months. Mine lasted 8 months.
library/puffers-in-focus/takifuguocellatus/

[Christie_ZXR]

For now I'm going to avoid it, because he's a nutcase! I'm going to see if his behavoiur settles down at all, and if I reckon he can be trusted not to slam himself into it, I'll defo go for it. I'm hoping that'll be the case. At the moment though, I don't trust him! He's so fast, and he's so clumsy. Luckily, fake plants aren't too likely to hurt when he swims into those.

Although, I was wondering if a protein skimmer would be beneficial anyway alongside the filters when the salinitys higher, then at least I'm halfway there for if he does settle down.

[joey90]

Hi Guy's,

Firstly thankyou all so much for advide/comments.

So, heres my plan:

Set the tank up as freshwater and the same temperature as the shop, use filter media from existing tanks to seed the filter. I plan on decreasing the temperature slowly over the course of a week or two whilst I monitor the levels to ensure the tank is ready for the change to marine conditions. Do you guys think its worthwhile treating for internal parasites as a precaution during this period?

Once this stage is complete I plan to increase the SG over a number of weeks to full marine, is there anything I should watch out for beside the usual testing I would normally carry out? Also are there any other tests that would be benificial to have in my armoury to go along with my full range of PH, Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate tests?

Also having limited experience of marine tanks, what is best for decoration etc. In my freshwater tanks I would typically use a soft fine sand, with live plants and bogwood/branched to add intrest to the tank for the fish. My research indicates that there are no live plants suitable for marine. I also understand that these guys like to dig so I'm thinking a 2inch sand bed. I've been trying to look up info on using bogwood in marine tanks and the info I can find varies from absolutely no good to it will be ok but not last as long, does anyone have any info on this?

Finallyon the subject of liverock, is this something that can be added once the tank is at full marine levels and stable? And then I assume it would need to be cured in the usual manner?

Thanks again guys

Joe

[J-P]

Re: fugu with F8's
by nmonks on Sun Jul 27, 2008 7:10 am

The key thing with Takifugu spp is almost certainly not the salinity: there is good lab evidence that many species are very tolerant of a range of salinities, and at least some can adapt to freshwater without measurable harm. It is temperature that is surely much more important. Unless you're keeping your Takifugu ocellatus at less than 18 degrees C, and ideally around 15 C, it's going to be heat stressed eventually. You get the problem that the fish's metabolism goes up, but its oxygen demands cannot be met. Long term, its body can't work properly, and it dies. In other words, it's a subtropical fish and can't be kept in a tropical aquarium. During summer, many aquarists will need to find a way to keep the tank cool, e.g., with a chiller or by siting the tank in a cool basement.

Cheers, Neale

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13634&p=140989&hili ... gu#p140989

[joey90]

Thanks for info J-P, currently I have a coldwater aquarium which averages 17-18 most of the time and that is probably the warmest part of the room. I plan to put the tank in the coolest part of the room and I am allready investigating chillers for the tank. I have in the past used water cooling systems for pc's so i was thinking of using a radiator from one of these systems with a petier or 2. Do you guys think this would assist in bring the tank down the 2-3 degrees I will need?

I suppose its nice to find that the UK weather is finally goos for something!

[Christie_ZXR]

I found this when I was initially looking these guys up:

http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?/to ... ocellatus/

There's a bit on there about making homemade chillers. Tbh though, I live in the UK too, and looking out the window today I very much doubt I'll ever need a chiller!!

[J-P]

LOL!! Neale (nmonks) has a "nice" avatar