The Puffer Forum

matt612 wrote:looks like a mbu x ceylon x sabahensis

Think you might be right!!

Ceylon

Also, moved to brackish puffers

would he not be dead living in freshwater for 3 weeks if hes an adult ceylon?

At 5 inches he still has some growing to do. I have heard of GSP's being kept in fw till adulthood. Most of the time they just dont live as long. Being in fw could have something to do with the dark belly aswell. I would start considering either rehomeing or starting shopping around for marine salt and a hydrometer. I hope you decide to keep him though.

i am not an exspert..

but your first pic looks like this

ug.php/v/PufferPedia/Brackish/T_Fluviat ... _.jpg.html

ceylon

100% Ceylon.

I'd modify somewhat what Jeni says above and say that the fish you have is something within the Tetraodon nigroviridis - Tetraodon fluviatilis species group. Since none of these fish (including the form aquarists call Tetraodon sabahensis) can be identified securely without DNA analysis, something the best you can do is accept that the fish you have is one of these species.

In any event, basic care is identical for all three species. None are peaceful once mature, though males, being territorial, may be more aggressive than females. All get to around 10-15 cm long. All require brackish water conditions to do well, though the precise salinity couldn't matter less. Anything from SG 1.005 up to fully marine conditions is acceptable for long term care. They don't do well in freshwater conditions indefinitely though, at least not under aquarium conditions.

Diet in the wild is mixed, and includes invertebrates, the fins of other fish, and some plant material as well.

Cheers, Neale

Back to the shop he goes pity really nice puffer

Why--what did you think it was? Any of the species mentioned above, require the same care.

Jenny makes a compelling point here. No-one buys a pufferfish expecting to maintain it in a community tank. Almost every pufferfish species has to be maintained on its own, alongside its own kind, or (rarely) with a few carefully chosen tankmates.

So whether this pufferfish is a brackish water species or a freshwater species really makes no difference. Adding a bit of salt at water change time is no big deal, and if anything, by stabilising pH and reducing the toxicity of nitrate, adding the salt actually simplifies things in the long term.

This puffer is a good size and very pretty, so if you're looking for a pufferfish to keep and enjoy as a pet, this is a great fish to own!

If you bought a pufferfish hoping to keep it permanently in an African cichlid aquarium or whatever, then honestly, you made a move without thinking. No pufferfish species will fit into such a tank. A few of the smaller pufferfish species are sometimes viable in mixed species aquaria, but as a rule of thumb never go shopping expecting to bring home a community tank puffer; there ain't no such beast!

Cheers, Neale

Pufferpunk wrote:Why--what did you think it was? Any of the species mentioned above, require the same care.

He had ordered a Mbu from the lfs.

Yes, I know. But that's an insanely large fish that almost always dies prematurely under home aquarium conditions. Unless you have 1000+ gallons at your disposal, Tetraodon mbu isn't a fish you can keep properly. Frankly, they shouldn't be traded at all, and it always depresses me when I see them in pet shops. You just know they're going to have short, miserable lives.

Cheers, Neale

bigfatfish wrote:He had ordered a Mbu from the lfs.

Haha. I love how it's all doom and gloom and ends with a cheers

Well, its the truth.

Yep, that fish was a nice looking ceylon, colors not too happy but what do you expect if its in freshwater.

Too bad, that would be a great fish to own, and I hope the OP really knows what they are getting into with a Mbu!