The Puffer Forum

My last attempt at a T.hamiltoni caresheet kinda flopped, I didn't know as much about the species as I thought. Anyway, I'm going to have another go with more info and verified stuff:

Tetractenos hamiltoni

Common Names: Toadfish, Toado

Family: Tetraodontidae

Distribution: Eastern Australia; Northern Queensland to South New South Wales.

Water Parameters: 19-26C (Mainly a temperate species, uncommon in the tropics); pH 7.9-8.5

Personality/Temperament: Shy, but will get more bold in time. Doesn't hassle tankmates and does not attack or nip invertebrates that are over half its size. Enjoys conspecific company, forms loose schools of up to 30 individuals in the wild.

Activity: Sociable, enjoys conspecific company. Often bury themselves in the sand in groups. They like to explore the tank at night, and as they get used to being in captivity and having moving people around them, at day as well.

Max. Size: 14-15 cm. Specimens rarely grow this large, usually caught at 5-12 cm. All specimens above ~10cm are marine, they use estuaries as nursing grounds.

Estimated Lifespan: Unknown, probably under 10 years.

Sexual Dimorphism: Unknown. Possibly related to size of belly and bodily patterns.

Feeding: Any crustaceans or molluscs, nudibranchs, echinoderms under half its size will be ferociously atttacked. Wild specimens observed to "gang up" on large crustaceans, e.g. crabs. Does not usually eat in the first week or two of care. Will take frozen food as well, as long as it is jiggled on a skewer or in some other way made to move.

Care: Probably not reef-safe (Does not live on reefs in wild). A large tank with a lot of swimming space and a sandy bottom is appreciated. Prefers marine conditions, but youngsters can be kept in brackish. Best moved to marine when they grow to about 10 cm.

Breeding: Unknown.

Minimum Tank Size: 100 litres (27 US Gallons)

Links to Other Resources: Teham1 profile on Fishbase - http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/species ... =hamiltoni
My YouTube video of one of my three - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQvkvhs0QfE

Fantastic! Now all we need are some pics.

Pufferpunk wrote:Fantastic! Now all we need are some pics.

oh, right, gonna post! I'll post 'em here.

Here's my juvie Cub -





And my adolescent probably female Codger -







Tell me if you need more photos. Had to take the photos in my hand because they are too shy and I can never get a good tank photo of them.

Just edited in the distribution, just realised I forgot to put that in.

Um... great shots but pics of your puffers held out of the water is... how can I put this... not puffer-politically correct. It is possible for them to swallow air which can lead to their demise if not properly burped. I know how much more difficult shots of them in the water are but I just can't post those.

Fantastic-looking puffers thouth--very cute too!

Pufferpunk wrote:Um... great shots but pics of your puffers held out of the water is... how can I put this... not puffer-politically correct. It is possible for them to swallow air which can lead to their demise if not properly burped. I know how much more difficult shots of them in the water are but I just can't post those.

Fantastic-looking puffers thouth--very cute too!

Yeh, I'd better put them in a photographic tank to photo them instead.

That's exactly what I did to get my avatar pic.

Here's another set of pics in a photographic tank. Make them smaller, particularly the last one, the resolution will be better then. I haven't taken any photos of Merrell, he/she is a bit under the weather with stress at the moment.

Codger:





Cub :

Again, great-looking fish! I'll give one of our Tech Admins a nudge on this.

I like the puffers. Where did you get them? Where are they from.

So cute! So extremely cute!