The Puffer Forum

ok so I am a new member here, have been lurking for a few weeks though. I currently have 4 SAP's, I have read all kinds of varying info on them, my biggest question is how big do they actually get?

the pedia here says 3" but all over the net is anywhere from 3-6". I have a hard time with the belief that a fish can get bigger in the wild than it can in a tank with proper care and nutrition. Sadly for me I was looking for a freshwater puffer that gets anywhere from 6-12" when I got these litle guys, found 4-6" all over the web and thought, hey thats close enough.

I have had them since april in a 29 gallon tank, from what I read here that is too small, although they have not grown past the 2 inch mark yet, and the only glass surfing they do is in the aerator(if I move the bubbles then they surf the new bubble place). I will look into upgrading that sometime in the not too distant future if it is actually needed. They eat home bred marbled crayfish, red cherry shrimp and of course lots of snails, ramshorn and pond, with some occasional blood worms and rarely some algae wafers that were for the shrimp/snails in their tank. water parameters are kept almost perfect ammonia 0, nitrites 0, nitrates always under 20 max(not new to fish just puffers, currently have 9 tanks running).

Even at my public aquarium, where there were about 60 of them in a 2,000g tank, none were over 3". How big is your tank?

library/puffers-in-focus/sap/
library/hospital/dentistry/

from what I understand there is "base length" and "over all length"

Base is from the mouth to the tail base.

Overall is from the mouth to the tail tip.

There is a 3rd rating from the mouth to the tail cleavage but that isn't part and partial to the "records" which the "keepers" keep. And since SAPs don't have a cleavage you're better off with the "overall" for this measurement.

The typical South American Puffer is about 3" base length and about 4" overall.

Diagram provided by http://www.IGFA.org

standard 29 gallon at the moment... 30"w x 12"d by 18"h.

yes J-p you are talking standard length vs total length.

so basically 4" is it total length then?

guess I have to keep looking for my 6-12" puffer for the future. I do enjoy these hyper little puffers though.

thanks for the links but have been there, and have done the dentistry when I first got them. didnt know about the finiquel then and used the clove oil, lost one in the process and had decided against clove oil that day.

4" is typical. +/- a bit , usually on the + side though

Were you thinking of keeping a 6-12" puffer in the 29? That's really only large enough for 2 adult SAPs. A 55g would be best for those 4.

LOL, no the 29 was temporary for them until I saw 3" then i figured it was probably fine, which so far it has been. A 6" puffer would get a 55, anything bigger up to 12" would get a 75. I would love to get a fahaka but a 120 or 180 gal is out of the question for a long while so i had to give up on that thought.

Like I said, not new to fish, just new to puffers =)
currently have 75 gal with a 7" black diamond piranha(will house him til over 12"), a 75 gal with a 3 1/2" gold diamond piranha(will house him til over 12"), a 55 gal with a 3 1/2" purple sanchezi(will house him for life), a 55 gal with malawi cichlids(will house them for life), a 30 gal with breeder convicts(will house them for life), a 29 gal with the SAPs(apparently need to upgrade to a 55 in near future), a 20 gal with marmorkreb crays(plenty since the young are just food), a 10 with cherry shrimp(again just food), and a 10 gal with snails(again just food).

I didn't know pirahanas got so big. Might as well just eat them at that size.

they do in south america, apparently they are a delicacy,

I knew that, my parent's have eaten it.

SAPs have rarely to never exceed 3" standard length for me. They are hyper-kinetic fish and need lots of swimming space - 48" minimum, so a 55 is good, but another 75 would be better, allowing more fish along with better current control.

RTR, Is "standard" length, nose to tail?

Pufferpunk wrote:I didn't know pirahanas got so big. Might as well just eat them at that size.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacu

another fish to warn people not to get if they dont have a small lake to house it in

No, standard length is from the closed mouth to the base of the median caudal fin rays. These are hidden in the body but are easy to find if you can touch the fish. You just bend the tail (side to side) as it would bend naturally and a crease will be formed. That crease is a good approximation of the base of the fin rays.

There's also total length and fork length but they aren't used in science.

Thanks for the info, I guess I will be looking for another 55 or rehoming the malawi cichlids.