The Puffer Forum

Ok just doing my sweep through reading all the parts on the freshwater puffers again and I came over something a bit odd. When I checked out the mbu (out of curiosity) it said 'tanks size: 1000 (us gallons)' The mbu needs 1000 gallons ?!?!?

Well... Yes and no. To ensure a happy, healthy life, these fish should be in the largest tank possible. Some groups believe these fish should not even be in the trade, and I would tend to agree. They usually end up stunted in aquaria. After hearing of someone who kept an 8" fahaka in a 30 gallon tank, I am critical of people who underhouse such glorious animals.

Mbus grow to roughly 30 inches, so need a very large tank to give them plenty of swimming and turning space. I would think a tank that is 72"x48"x48" (roughly 700 gallons) would be the absolute bare minimum for a fully grown Mbu. The previous forum had an article written by RTR about his experience keeping a Mbu. He mentioned that to properly house a Mbu would cost about as much as a luxury automobile. Tens of thousands of dollars.

Many people forget to ask "how big will this get?" when they see that cute little fishy in the fish store.

It sounds like it would be a WHOLE lot easier keeping these guys in man made concrete/tile pond/pool. People have shark ponds, so why not have a puffer pond?

I posted RTR's Mbu experience as a sticky in this forum.

I think half the fun of keeping puffers is to watch them swimming and eyeing up their prey through the glass.. unless you built one wall a glass wall, I don't think it would be all that exciting to have a huge puffer that you can only view from the top... JMO though...

Pff I've kept my redtail cat, my mbu and 4 or 5 pacus in a 10g tank and I haven't had any problems for at least three days!

I had a LFS tell me that a pacu (they had a tank of 10) only gets as large as the average silver dollar. When I streached my arms as wide as I could & told him they get THAT BIG, he rolled his eyes & walked away!

Pufferpunk wrote:When I streached my arms as wide as I could & told him they get THAT BIG, he rolled his eyes & walked away!

I hope he "walked away" from the fish business and found a job that he was qualified to be associated with.

Hehe pacu...Wish my dad would come onto sites like this to 'learn' stuff from others experiences or knowledge from others. One day (about 3 years ago) he brought back two pacu (mis informed about their capable size) and I told him he should go back and return them. Instead of taking my advice he puts them in a 55 gallon (when they were about the size of a small silver dollar) they shred his plants, cause a HUGE! bio load, and kill most of his little fish. 2 years go by and there is nothing in that tank but the 2 pacu with barley any room to swim. <at that point im pi$$ed at him for not getting a better filter, a larger tank, or even trying to keep up with them. Finally the hurricane hits the east coast the next year....power goes out....pumps die.....spark of power blows out a power head instantly (hopefully) killing the two pacu. Kinda sad it was lucky but it seemed to be better for them to be dead then my dad make them suffer in a cramped space with crappy water and such. The two pacu were over a foot long each and were about 7 inches high from their belly to their dorsal.

That's one reason they are called "tank busters". The other reason leaves a lot of water on the floor...

I really hate to see these animals sold in pet stores since very few people are willing to devote the time, space and $$$ required to house them properly.

Yep. Same deal with many plecos and freshwater "sharks" (namely the irridescent shark). People just toss 'em in to whatever thank they've got.

Yeah, so many things are un-known to the people who go to petsmart, petco, walmart and mostly any place fish are sold as pets. I think there needs to be a class taught on aquariums and you get a 'liscense' to keep fish after passing the course. And your knowledge and skill on keepign fish will limit you on what species of fish you can get! And the quantity!