Tetraodon Cutcutia-- Newbie!

[Cognity7]

Hello everyone! I thought I would introduce myself.

I am new to fishkeeping as of March 2011. I dived into this hobby full throttle! I started off with a 10gallon tank where i put a few danios and guppies in. About a month later I loved the hobby sooo much that I purchased a 37g Tall. I moved the guppies and danios over to this big tank adding a few apple snails, nerites, clown pleco, and PLANTS (first planted tank!) From this point I started looking for things to stock my 10gallon with and literally stumbled across some dwarf puffers. I absolutely fell in love with my first one Piggy. He was by far the coolest fish I have ever owned. I loved the fact that he would chomp viciously on snails and super curious of my every move! I accidently scared him one morning because i ran into my bedroom with my hair up in a towel! I stopped at his tank and he came out to greet me.. and he ran and hid! So cute

Piggy died from what i think was internal parasites. He ate so super much all the time and stayed skinny winny. The fish store i bought him from likes to act like they know about puffers but they had no clue. Sad about my puffer I started researching other puffers I might like. I then ran across a Tetraodon Cutcutia at a fish store (whom i named Fluky because it was by fluke i found her!). I immediately had to have her. I brought her home and she shockingly laid eggs on one of my plants that night!! I was not ready for eggs yet so i let them get eaten. So i called the fish store back and asked if they still had the tank mate that was in her tank with her. They said yes so i ran and got him to.

I bought a 37gallon long and i'm in the process of setting it up for these guys. I was wondering if anyone had any good ideas or suggestions for me? I'm going to try to get them to breed again! all advice would be much welcome! I know about food and maintenance and all the basics, but any advice about breeding would be very helpful. Or even any suggestions for a name for the male would be helpful too!!
On the pictures the male is in the bag and Fluky is down below checkin him out

[Pufferpunk]

I'm afraid I have bed news. Most species of FW puffers don't play well together & there is a big chance they will kill each other. Especially if they are the same sex. But even if you have a pair, they may spawn but will still eventually start fighting. A lot of the killing happens overnight when you're not watching.

[Cognity7]

yes, I am aware of this.

I have it very heavily planted and they have determined their territories already. The two were tank mates in a zero planted tank for 2 weeks before i bought them and didn't kill each other.

I plan to put a divider in the 38 gallon as soon as i get it set up. I'm hoping the newness of it all will keep aggression down until I get their new tank set up this weekend.

So far the oto is still alive too. I have made a make shift breeder net incase i notice any nipping on the fins. I will move fluky to the breeder net until i can get the 38g up and going.

I have a plan... hopefully they will cooperate with my plan! lol

I have made a few observations though.. the male seems to be darker in color than the female. The male also has a very defined target spot on his sides. The female does not seem to exhibit this same target spot. She has a metallic green shimmer to her sides. They both have the red tipped tail though.

[xrayjeeper83]

How do you know you have a male and female. The eggs that were laid were most likely unfertilized eggs.

I hope they cooperate until you get the new tank cycled and ready for them.

[Pufferpunk]

There was a fellow here who very closely documented his pair, including the many times they spawned. I believe they were together for quite some time before they killed each other.

[Terrance]

I see a group of cutcutia's at my LFS. Most of their tails have been nipped off from biting each other. Its the same store that I bought mine from, but I ended up rehoming him at another LFS.

Even with a divider, your 37gal tank is on the small side for 2 cutcutias because they will rarely swim to the top portions of the tank. It would be big if you have a long tank vs a tall tank. You could try it, but I think you may end up setting up a new tank for both cutcutia in the future. That is what happened to me. I'm upgrading all of my puffer's tank to 36" long tank or longer. Its a pain.

[Cognity7]

yes, the new 38g is a long instead of tall..

I currently have the male in a DIY breeder box that is about 3x the size of a regular breeder box. I added plants and stuff in to make him more comfortable.

His tail is healing and he is finally eating. (Fluky nibbled at his tail quite a bit before i got him in the breederbox)

I couldn't find any information on sexing the two. I know i have a girl because Fluky laid eggs on one of the leafs of my plants. I know they were unfertalized because I had no male. They also got eaten because i have no male.

There was a guy that had visited the fish store before i got there and he said told the employee that it was a male because of the defining target spot. I was unaware that this is a way to sex them. I also know that the male is much darker than the female (if he was right about the two)

I will search up this post you are referring to about their breeding. Since they don't particularly get along I am wondering how I will get them to breed. Are you saying that they breed like angels where the female lays the eggs then the male fertalizes them? I know the male guards and fans them..... any advice is appreciated

[Pufferpunk]

They should be kept in separate tanks next to each other. they they show interest, put them together for spawning & keep a close eye on them. After this event occurs, move the female back into her tank.

[Pufftastic]

I'm so jealous that your LFS had T. cutcutia! I would snap one up in a heartbeat if I ever saw one here.

[Cognity7]

Yes, i love my cutcutia! I am going to try to put them in the 38g with a see through divider in the middle. hopefully i can get them to spawn after a few months of being next to each other.

[Pufferpunk]

Make sure the divider is in there nice & tight. We want pics!