The Puffer Forum

schismy007 wrote:Tell me about the tank you have her in John. Do you have plants in there? I've always kept mine in a tank that's got lots of plants, almost jungle-like because I have found that they enjoy hanging out in the plants, literally in the plants.

They definitely need heavily planted tanks. Lortetis are a kind of semilurking puffers. Or should I say semi-hunting-openly-puffers. They hunt the same way as puffers that does active hunting (swimming around, looking for the food), but they don't like to stay in the open. Active hunters often have a white (or some other light color) bellies, as a camoflage when seen from below (light belly is difficult to see against the water surface). Carinotetraodons have less the white belly, as they use plants and other decoration to hide in between. In my mind, I see them a little like tigers, walking around in the jungle, looking for food, but still is well camoflaged, and don't like to get out in the open.

I also feel that redeyes are a bit social, although I know some people will disagree with me on this ... but I think mine actually enjoy the company of others. Any chance you can get your girlie a boyfriend? Or even another girlie? Might be things to think about. And no, you should not need sand. In fact, I've never seen any of mine digging, but she might be doing that if she feels too exposed, and that's why I said that maybe you need to work on getting more plants, so she has more cover.

I find lortetis a lot more social against humans than i.e. irrubescos. I know you can get very different specimens of irrubescos, but my experience is that they like to hide much. My lortetis, on the other hand, goes glass surfing each time they see me, to beg for food. They really seek my attention. I find them very different from the irrubescos.

When it comes to social with other fishes, I wouldn't keep them with any kind of fish. They can often be kept as a pair, but you need to be prepared to split them. They are aggressive, and different specimens can behave differently. My male lorteti has become more violent with his wife, and I have to monitor the situation further on. If it gets worse, I need to split them. One thing that is very important if you keep them as a pair, is that the tank is heavily planted, so you break up the line of sight, and also give them a good chance to hide. When I first read about lortetis myself, I found information that claimed that there was a danger of the female killing the male. From my own experience this seems to be wrong. Like most carinotetraodons, the male is the most aggressive part, and is the one most likely to kill his mate.

Lortetis are not a puffer species that digs into the sand.

Its not as planted as I'd like to. Yah, I do have this really heavy patch coming off my log and she likes to swim through it, when she has to go on the other side of the tank to surf. I bet my DP's good sacrifice quite a few plants (their tank is a jungle!) and take the fake stuff out of my betta tank. I can also get some more of the cheaper ones (some fake plants are $10 each! [10/1.5= about six pounds) I've got twenty now, and by the weekend I'll have $40.

They had river rocks at the LFS.

Thanks guys!!

And omplmpa3, thanks! Not all of them, I've made quite a few mess-ups here already.

Lil' Swimz$ wrote:I've made quite a few mess-ups here already.

But I'll bet you have learned from those few mess ups and your now able to help others NOT make the same ones.

You may get a better deal on some live plants as opposed to buying fake ones. I always like Vals, they grow well for me and reproduce like mad. They are almost always a good investment. They can also double as surface cover since most varieties get quite long. If you do put in plants from your betta tank, be sure to wash them and maybe even disinfect them first.

Yes, definately. I might even put my new rangeri sword in there instead of keeping it in the betta tank. Any advice on the sword?

I've never had that variety of sword (though after seeing some pictures, I must have one) ) but if its requirements are similar to the amazon, it should grow quite well. It would be a great focal point in the tank, I believe they can get fairly tall. I bet Peaches would love weaving in and out among the leaves.

Well, I got about 12 more fake plants and one super tall fake plant in her tank. The rangeri isn't in there yet, I have to prune it. Don't you have to trim its roots and stuff? I also need to take it out of its pot. So yeah. I hope it gets huge. Its very pretty, and considering it came from Petco its super clean. No algae! The dwarf hairgrass, don't get me started, huge chunks of algae are coming off of it, and its really shaggy! I'll get pics up when I plant the rangeri.

Wow! I'm happy to report that she's not glace pacing at all. I'll get pics up soon, and the rangeri's in. She's even got a new favorite spot, where the stems connect on a fake plant coming off of my fake log, she likes lying there, like a nest. I'm in love, again.

She sure has a lot of plants to swim through!

She ate! She didn't come to the top, but she ate the food at the bottom like mad!

In her picture, the markings on her face make it look like she's smiling. She probably IS smiling. Your water is so clear! Do you use chemical filtration?

Lol. It does look like she's smiling. Yes, I do have chemical filtration. Sorry I haven't been on lately, I've been pretty busy.

Peaches is doing great. She's eating and exploring. I do have a problem, there's brown pigment forming on the white fabric leaves. I might just take out the rangeri and plant it in the 5 gallon and turn off the lights in that tank for awhile, I think it might be some form of algae.

(Sorry I haven't been on much, I've been busy lately and got off track with alot of things so I'm trying to get back into to the rythym of things, aka coming here all the time )

Your tank is so....NEON!!! lol.

I know. Ugh. I really don't like it.