The Puffer Forum

I don't doubt that they live together peacefully. My Mbu lives with all sorts of fish and never bothers any of them. Some of them are very gentle. My question would be -- is your tank large enough for 2 Mbu to be together?

I guess we don't know for sure if it's his tank or not but those fish are very obviously both juveniles.

I'd like to hear back in 3 years about how things are doing

says under his name he has 4 mbu?

Sure two adult MBU's can live together...if you have the acreage to house them.

IMHO, those fish are doomed to stunting. Someday folks will learn that juveniles and mature hunter predator fish are different - if they ever get to mature.

actually these species of puffer are very social in the wild so i think they would be fine

I don't think there's any argument about them getting along together but rather the size of the tank they are both being kept in. One Mbu needs a huge tank, so two Mbu are going to need a massively huge tank. I think that's the issue at hand, at least that's my understanding.

+1

Largest tank I ever saw an MBU in was a 300g tank and he seemed dandy, I would love to see one in the recomended 1000 gallon's but I figure an indoor pond would be most likely.

Every fish is different, my mbu was friendly with certain fish, he hated bichirs for some reason... and he would bite huge chunks out of them.
I agree with Nick, I believe most fish, get more aggressive with age.. imagine living with the same person in close quarters for the rest of your life, I don't blame them. lol
It could also be the opposite though, and be a breeding pair... then comes to the tank size issue.

But Puffers, unlike some Cichlids in captivity (more likely rare in the wild), do not form stable mated pairs. Breeding is seasonal, and matings are short-term.

My personal experience with T. mbu was that I could not support the fish properly in less than 400 gallon of water. Below that quantity, I really needed automated daily partials.

RTR wrote:My personal experience with T. mbu was that I could not support the fish properly in less than 400 gallon of water. Below that quantity, I really needed automated daily partials.

Can you please explain what variables you were monitoring (like nitrates) and what you deemed supported properly? Err, I didn't word that well at all but hopefully you can understand what I'm trying to ask...

Having read the replies some good and then again the negative replies, all I can say looking good and all the best for the coming months and years don't worry they will both grow and be happy

Nice pics Julian!
Is that a watermelon pleco in there? Nice lookin fish whatever it is