Re: whats your fav puffer & why?
Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 6:17 am
Avocado puffer (Modestus). At first I didn't like their look, because they are more streamlined and their tails doesn't fold all the way like others. But after a few days of taking care of it, I found out just how cool it is 
I didn't even think they could puff 
I've always wanted a puffer that is active, large enough to be able to take on a marbled crayfish or a small crab
, be able to live happily in a 20 gallon long tank, and a freshwater species.
A dwarf puffer is an active freshwater species, but it will never take on a crayfish or a crab For me, it's actually exciting to watch a puffer hunt its food and actually succeed.
A red eye (lorteti or irrubesco) puffer is not that active and it could probably kill a marbled crayfish, but won't eat it all (I don't like removing dead carcass in my aquarium). I feel like it's just a waste of a good food. I mean I could freeze the crayfish and cut it up, but a dead crayfish in the freezer freaks out my room mates (It's bad enough I have frozen clams and bloodworms with their microwavable dinners). The best it can do is eat a huge shrimp. You can get two red eyes in a 20gal, but you'll take the risk of them fighting for the same food when it is feeding time, which is more stressful for me than actually exciting.
I believe the target species are not that active either, but I could be wrong, I've never owned one.
So this leaves me with these ugly looking Avocado puffers that my friend asked me to adopt. I was set on getting Fig 8 for my new 20gal tank, but my friend convinced me that I'm not ready for brackish water, and she's right, I'm not cut out to take that extra step. So I decided to keep one of the Avocado puffers, and here's what I found out after taking care of it for 1.5years.
Avocado puffers:
-They get to about 4" (He's about 3" now). He probably grew about half an inch with me. If you are looking for a puffer that you can actually see in a 20 gallon tank, it's a pretty good size.
- They are a bit streamlined compared to other species, making me think they can not puff, but they do PUFF!!! While I was feeding him blood worms, he went through a small hole in one of the decorations and I simultaneously hit the stand with my knee accidentally, causing him to freak out and puff. He got stuck and I had to nudge him out of the hole carefully, but he went on eating bloodworms like nothing happened.
- They are very active, I have at least 10 ghost shrimps hiding in my aquarium, he is constantly hunting for them all the time but only succeeds maybe like once a week, which is quite funny I think
- I feed it a crayfish maybe once a month, and he is brutal with it. It did not even had a chance to run.
- It really isn't ugly at all. It has cool green neon coloring. Sure it doesn't have that football looking body that most puffer enthusiasts are looking for, but once you get pass that, you'll realize that they look and act like puffers. They have the googly eyes that all of them have and scary beaks. It will beg for food, hover over its prey before it attacks and all that classic puffer behavior. And if you think about it, Avocado puffers are probably one of the unique looking puffers because of its shape, which adds to its appeal.
Here's a video of an Avocado puffer. It's not mine, but mine looks a lot like his.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kcf9kowx4Tk
~~~~~P.S.~~~~~~
- The only reason that people wouldn't want to own this puffer is because of its growing beak. I haven't had problems with it because I had literally hundreds of MTS snails in my tank before I moved him in, but after 1.5 years, I barely see any MTS. All I see are empty shells, with crushed openings.
I didn't even think they could puff I've always wanted a puffer that is active, large enough to be able to take on a marbled crayfish or a small crab
, be able to live happily in a 20 gallon long tank, and a freshwater species.A dwarf puffer is an active freshwater species, but it will never take on a crayfish or a crab
For me, it's actually exciting to watch a puffer hunt its food and actually succeed.A red eye (lorteti or irrubesco) puffer is not that active and it could probably kill a marbled crayfish, but won't eat it all (I don't like removing dead carcass in my aquarium). I feel like it's just a waste of a good food. I mean I could freeze the crayfish and cut it up, but a dead crayfish in the freezer freaks out my room mates (It's bad enough I have frozen clams and bloodworms with their microwavable dinners). The best it can do is eat a huge shrimp. You can get two red eyes in a 20gal, but you'll take the risk of them fighting for the same food when it is feeding time, which is more stressful for me than actually exciting.
I believe the target species are not that active either, but I could be wrong, I've never owned one.
So this leaves me with these ugly looking Avocado puffers that my friend asked me to adopt. I was set on getting Fig 8 for my new 20gal tank, but my friend convinced me that I'm not ready for brackish water, and she's right, I'm not cut out to take that extra step. So I decided to keep one of the Avocado puffers, and here's what I found out after taking care of it for 1.5years.
Avocado puffers:
-They get to about 4" (He's about 3" now). He probably grew about half an inch with me. If you are looking for a puffer that you can actually see in a 20 gallon tank, it's a pretty good size.
- They are a bit streamlined compared to other species, making me think they can not puff, but they do PUFF!!! While I was feeding him blood worms, he went through a small hole in one of the decorations and I simultaneously hit the stand with my knee accidentally, causing him to freak out and puff. He got stuck and I had to nudge him out of the hole carefully, but he went on eating bloodworms like nothing happened.
- They are very active, I have at least 10 ghost shrimps hiding in my aquarium, he is constantly hunting for them all the time but only succeeds maybe like once a week, which is quite funny I think
- I feed it a crayfish maybe once a month, and he is brutal with it. It did not even had a chance to run.
- It really isn't ugly at all. It has cool green neon coloring. Sure it doesn't have that football looking body that most puffer enthusiasts are looking for, but once you get pass that, you'll realize that they look and act like puffers. They have the googly eyes that all of them have and scary beaks. It will beg for food, hover over its prey before it attacks and all that classic puffer behavior. And if you think about it, Avocado puffers are probably one of the unique looking puffers because of its shape, which adds to its appeal.
Here's a video of an Avocado puffer. It's not mine, but mine looks a lot like his.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kcf9kowx4Tk
~~~~~P.S.~~~~~~
- The only reason that people wouldn't want to own this puffer is because of its growing beak. I haven't had problems with it because I had literally hundreds of MTS snails in my tank before I moved him in, but after 1.5 years, I barely see any MTS. All I see are empty shells, with crushed openings.