Takifugu Ocellatus

[sevenyearnight]

I had that problem too, I don't remember who brought that up once, but it was good to know. Especially when they get low, you pretty much have to hit it against the counter top lol.

[sevenyearnight]

Hey! How is Mushroom doing today??

[Christie_ZXR]

Still not 100%, but gradually improving Much more alertness and movement out of him this evening. (um..no idea of the time difference between UK and America, this evening might well be this morning for you! Just made me chuckle...) Still don't want to go poking around at him with a camera again yet, he's getting enough attention with the constant (or so it feels!) water changes. Poor little guy's probably sick of the sight of me!!

Fab news is I got an email back from Neil Monks at PFK I feel so starstruck! lol. I emailed to see if they had any info on fugu puffers, and they do. Sadly though, the email says I'm not allowed to copy and paste it, (copywrite etc) but I'm sure there won't be any harm in me sharing a couple of the reccomendations from it, just so there's a bit more info out there;

18 - 20 degrees temperature.
Extra airstones & powerheads for more oxygen in the water.
At 18 degrees, SG of 1.013
Cockles and tilapia fillet as the bulk of the diet, with occasional prawns & mussels. (Because of the thiaminase content of prawns and mussels)
No tankmates. (Or as I'm sure Mushroom would call them, "dinner")
A vitamin supplement.
Avoid live food, because of the risk of parasites and the problems that would arise treating parasites. (They're bound to be super sensitive to most meds)


The email also mentioned Mushroom being an estuary fish from the coast of china, which I did know, but it got me thinking. Estuaries wouldn't have a stable salinity would they? I'd think it would fluctuate a bit, but someone please correct me if I'm wrong! Can't say I've ever wondered along the coast of china with a refractometer... Anyway, longer term, I'm wondering if varying the salinity would be a good plan? Any thoughts guys?

[Flutter]

Correct, estuaries have varying salinity depending on the seasons and the timing of the moon cycle. However, unless you do it slowly the bacteria will be harmed which could uncycle your tank.

Unfortunately I don't know the effects of varying salinity in the long term healthiness of a fish.

[sevenyearnight]

I don't either. It would be really difficult to do, and there really isn't as far as I know a chart that shows the varying salinity levels throughout the year for that area to use as a guide.

[Christie_ZXR]

I'm not sure I want to start confusing myself further with moon cycles... I was thinking of maybe the odd water change with a bit of FW?
You'd think that with them living in an environment with changing salinity, that would be what's best for them. But, this obv isn't always the case. Something to maybe consider though I reckon.

[Flutter]

Nope, it's just that they can survive it. Nature is rarely the best environment for any animal species. There's competition predation, bad seasons, varying environments, etc. However, that also doesn't make captivity better. Just means that we shouldn't always try to mimic nature

[sevenyearnight]

Correct, estuaries have varying salinity depending on the seasons and the timing of the moon cycle. However, unless you do it slowly the bacteria will be harmed which could uncycle your tank.

Unfortunately I don't know the effects of varying salinity in the long term healthiness of a fish.

If you change your salinity more than .02 a week, you could disable your beneficial bacteria, like Flutter mentioned, and then your water quality would suffer. Any possible positive to changing salinity levels would likely not be greater than that risk. Plus, it just sounds like a PITA.

[Nuclear_Glitter]

These puffers sound quite interesting. We need someone with loads of funds to do a grand study on them for us lol.

I am very interested in seeing how Mushroom (love that name, by the way) does in the future.

[Christie_ZXR]

PITA agreed!! lol. I can't help but wonder if it is worth doing though, maybe higher salinity in summer and lower in winter, or whichever way round it's supposed to be. I'll have a look into it, but I'm not sure I'll be doing it! If I can find some info on what it does do long term to any other fishes health, that'll tell me if it's worth pursuing further. Call it a hunch, but it might be the "secret" to keeping these guys! I don't know, it's just an idea that's stuck in my head for some reason. Mind you, it might turn out to be a very silly idea so I do need to learn some more before I go trying it out...

Glad you like the name Nuclear_Glitter! We called him that because he's so poisonous. You know that silly joke about feeding the husband mushrooms to bump him off, well, if I ever want to bump my o/h off I can just cook up the puffer!


(Please don't panic...I'm not really planning to cook the poor little guy! Or murder my o/h for that matter! lol)

[Christie_ZXR]

aaah! Nipped in to check on Mushroom a moment ago, and the little sod did the cutest thing. Buried himself in the sand and wiggled his bum at me...and I didn't have my camera handy There was nothing at all visible except a little puffer-bum and a bit of tail! Bet he's not going to do that again any time soon...

[ollie231]

I have had 2 of these, my first went with an ex and sadly it died after 2 and a half years. My current one I have had 3 years and I got it because it had been left at the shop by its previous owner. He was about 4 inches then and probably 7 inches now I would say, so who knows how old he was when I got him.

You will need as big a tank as you can, I've got a 110L all for himself and he may well still outgrow it. Don't ever be tempted to put him with other fish, did that with our first one. It was fine for a few months and then suddenly 6 fish were gone in a day! I know now that it is a bad idea now but back then I had no knowledge available to me, and there was only a tiny amount of care info out there when I finally discovered what type he was.

A decent external canister is a must, regular water changes and varied food (my favorite is cockles, open them ever so slightly and it will give him a bit of a challenge to get to the meat. Mine reminds me of a dog attacking a soft toy). Algae can form amazingly easily with all that waste food (i'm sure more comes out of his mouth than goes in with each bite) and it was hard keeping on top of it until I got a UV filter, now there's not even a tiny spot - I'd highly recommend one for every tank tbh.

But honestly I've not had any problems myself I haven't had with any other tank in the past 3 years. Well, until today. You see I have moved house, I was in a soft water area and now its hard water. It was risky but it went really well. Hes been fine for a week but today there's a small level of nitrates and nitrites and he seems a little subdued. I really hope I'm just being paranoid, I worried about the stress of the move for months.

So I'm sorry for slightly hijacking the thread, but this is something that probably applies to you also. Can anyone give me some advice on water hardness? I don't even know if anyone else can really advise me anyway seeing as there is so little known of the care needs. Eek, I really hope he survives

[sevenyearnight]

I think with the travel time, and considering that the water sources are so different, your beneficial bacteria is probably hindered with a slight die off, so you'll have a mini cycle. I recommend doing water changes until the parameters stabilize, use Prime in the mean time to protect him from the nitrates, nitrites, etc. I doubt that the water hardness is bothering your fish as much as the nitrites and nitrates from the mini cycle.

[ollie231]

thanks, I use stress zyme and tapsafe each time I do a water change. like I say the nitrites and nitrates are a little higher and I'm hoping it is down to that, I was just paranoid that there is a permanent issue with the change in hardness

[sevenyearnight]

I'm not aware of those products being capable of protecting the fish from nitrites and nitrates, it would be greatly beneficial to pick up some Prime to help your puffer through the mini cycle.