The Puffer Forum

I finally got my male irrubesco today. The shop had TWO left, and so took the seemingly healthier one. The female fish, placed on a rescue mission as it was already 80% dead when spotted, didn't survive for even 10 minutes out of the shop.

I'm super disgusted with the LFS owner. He keeps like... 15 GSPs, F8s and irrubescos all in a teeny tank. One does not even need to question the type of water he keeps them all in. And they were all starved...

Fishy is currently confining itself to one corner of the tank, amusing itself with its reflection. It took probably two bites of the bloodworm, and left the rest untouched. Hopefully it'd feed a little more tomorrow. It's belly is totally sunken.

I was there with Creamy, I will attempt to report the "living" conditions in that tank...

Tank: 2ft x 1ft x 1ft (LxDxH) = 14.96 US Gallons
Filtration: Overhead Filter, "Air Bubble" Filter.
Lights: Nil.
Plants: Nil.
Decoration: Errrm... Strips of Black Plastic Bag.
Ph: 6.6

Imagine this...
That tank above divided in the middle into 2 sections.

On the left:
6-8 Puffers at least 4 inches each, mixture of Tetrodon Palembangensis and other kind (not identified). And may I add, one dead with bloated belly (lying on its back at the bottom)... Air Bubble Filter and Overhead filter Inlet on this side.

On the right:
Black Plastic Bag Strips ("Visual Cover") with the following fishes. Overhead filter outlet on this side.
1. Fig.8s.: 5 - 8 pcs
2. GSP.: 10 - 16 pcs
3. Carinotetraodon Irrubesco.: 3 (1 Female, 2 Males, all STARVED!!)

I arrived at the shop before Creamer... and saw the Female C.I lying still at the bottom, being eyed by passing swarms of GSPs and Fig.8s... It looked starved and dying... Proven when my net approached it, there was no resistance, nor swimming away nor eye movement, I just floated in the net.

So I offered to take the dying fish from the LFS guy and he agrees.

Scooped it out in a small pail, "stole" some blood worms from the LFS... it ate a few strands... then stopped... carefully, I bagged it. Then the LFS guy comes back to me again and the following conversation ensued between us.

LFS man: What are you doing? Actually, its none of your business if my fishes die!

Me: Oh, alright. Well (offering the bagged up fish for him to see) this fish here is half dead, I will pay for it then. How much do you want for it? (Original price: US$1.50)

LFS man: Ok, take it for US$0.6. As a token.

Then he snatches the bag from me, swings it along as he walked towards his cashier, gets a carrier bag for it, handles it roughly while placing the bagged fish into the carrier and hands it all back to me.

I was like ... ok... there goes the fish...

True enough, by the time we got out of the shop, it was gone...
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BOY DO I LIKE SHOOPING AT THIS PLACE...!!!

Soooo, any idea why you continue to shop there?

For the simple reason that they're about the only shop in the country who brought in irrubescos (males).....

I'd do without before purchasing anything else from that store. That's just me though... I won't tolerae poor customer service.

ybenormal wrote:I'd do without before purchasing anything else from that store. That's just me though... I won't tolerae poor customer service.

The reason why customer service is bad here because in Singapore, it is hard for most retail fish shops to make ends meet. Furthermore, I believe that the LFS owner they are talking about is not much educated. Grumpy old man who is always sleeping in the shop.

I went to the shop today. Left with 2 palembangensis, and 2 GSP. No more Carinotetraodon irrubesco.

I went to the shop next door to grab 6 dwarf puffers.

The origionator of The Puffer Forum is from Malaysia. He has told me of countless stories of how the puffers are kept over there. Many are kept in vats by the hundreds, being sold at the local market.

[quote="bsplenden"]
The reason why customer service is bad here because in Singapore, it is hard for most retail fish shops to make ends meet. Furthermore, I believe that the LFS owner they are talking about is not much educated. Grumpy old man who is always sleeping in the shop.

I went to the shop today. Left with 2 palembangensis, and 2 GSP. No more Carinotetraodon irrubesco.

quote]

There was one irrubesco male left when we left. Hm.. you mean he sold ALL his GSPs and F8s? Or they died during the night maybe. Someone SHOULD educate that old man.

Poor customer service? Well, he's ok I guess. Just that the way he handles the fish and keeps them is atrocious. If you really want the fish, I guess you just have to put up with it.

I'd hope that CF restocks their females though. I'd much rather get mine from there but bsplendens, if you do see any healthy female irrubescos at C328, pm me ok?

creampuff wrote: There was one irrubesco male left when we left. Hm.. you mean he sold ALL his GSPs and F8s? Or they died during the night maybe. Someone SHOULD educate that old man.

Poor customer service? Well, he's ok I guess. Just that the way he handles the fish and keeps them is atrocious. If you really want the fish, I guess you just have to put up with it.

I'd hope that CF restocks their females though. I'd much rather get mine from there but bsplendens, if you do see any healthy female irrubescos at C328, pm me ok?

It is more likely that they all died.

I can't check CF often because its far from me. But I will check out C328 more often. If I see some irrubesco, I will get a pair and then PM you.

It still refuses to eat. It wedged itself underneath my larger log. Even when food was in front of it, it moved towards, then away. Sigh. Even the movements are very sluggish. It's almost not swimming at all.

Yippee! There are more fellow irrubesco owners here.

My male is extremely shy and refuses to eat. It buries itself under a plastic tube and kind of enjoys burrowing back and forth. It can go quite "flat", like a hamster squeezing from under your hand. Maybe I should name it WEDGE.

As of internal parasites, I have been using the Super Internal Anti-parasite from "Ocean Free". Although I read that for freshwater fish, it is quite ineffective to have the medication in the water, I found that the medicine is pretty good in treating the appetite at least. My male went mad when I dumped a tiny bit of cockle meat in. Must be the smell of blood...and he swam frantically but did not eat. I tried again on the second day and he ate a little. At least, a tinsy winsy bit of medication went in with the food and water.

They seem to eat only when the lights are out. I left two ghost shrimps in the tank and there's only one is alive. I found the head of the other in the filter. Quite nasty little fellas 'cos the ghost shrimps were just slightly smaller than them!

They are now quite pale when I am far away from the tank but the male will turn very dark and hide when I approach. The female is more friendly.

I tried to turn off the tank lights but he didn't even come out from his cover. Do you think it'd be advisable to leave the food there at night when the lights go out and all is dark? I'm a little worried as it is already super thin. It is so good at hiding... I can't find it 80% of the time. Either that or my tank just has too much cover.

And wedge... Mine managed to wedge itself beneath the small gap underneath a large piece of driftwood. I can't even imagine how it got itself in....

Maybe... I should buy a few ghost shrimps tomorrow and see if it eats. I tried soaking the bloodworms in garlic, but it didn't even come out of hiding... so that one apparently didn't work.

Let him rest and orientate himself.
Try feeding after 3-4 days.
Usually works.

Ok thanks for the advice. I think it has also been very traumatised since his experience at the fish shop. I never knew my tank had so many hiding places tho.

Seriously, get the medication. Both of mine have decided to eat tiny bits of market prawns already. And the girl is happily chomping with me around.

Your tank is their permanent home but mine are in a cylinder glass tank. I am waiting for my 4-foot tank to arrive, move my fahaka there and the red eyes will take his old home.