The Puffer Forum

Hello everyone!
Right, basically I'd like to find out a bit more about the normal sort of behavoiur you expect from other lurker puffers to compare with Mushroom's behaviour. I don't think there's anything wrong, but I just want to know what sort of things your puffers get up to! That way I can sort of gauge if there's anything amis there in the future, or if some of the odd things Mushroom does are actually perfectly normal things for a lurker puffer to do. It's things like the burying. That one I knew he'd do, but it was still odd to actually see him do it for the first time! The ripping apart of his first meal with some serious attitude was not something I was expecting though!

I've had a hunt around on the web, but I couldn't really find anything that discussed behaviour rather than care, so if anyone knows of some good articles that do, please share! I'm looking for anything and everything really, FW and marine puffers


Just a sidenote, does anyone know what the common name for Mushroom actually is?? Takifugu Ocellatus is a bit long to type, and I keep calling him a Fugu because that's what the shop he came from had him labelled as, but that's a bit vague... lol

AFAIK they are also known as an orange saddle back puffer.

I wouldn't call it a lurker

AFAIK lurkers wait until their food passes by and then pounce, but I could be wrong as never having kept one. Mushroom may display all tendencies of a puffer, pacing, burrowing, rocketing around the tank, killing everything in sight. Mushroom is one of those puffers that don't really fit into a specific category other than being a puffer.

Mushroom is defo a Mushroom. He's very special, so I think he should get a category all of his own!! lol

I just want to compare the behaviour really, I reckon there are probably a lot of similarities, but I've never had a lurker puffer myself either.

that in itself is a problem... they are in a class all by themselves. Hard to keep and very little experience at keeping them at that.


Your trials and tribulations will add to that experience, this this is a very valuable thread.

As a suggestion, I'd open a new thread as a "blog" type and keep a weekly digest of feeding, water quality and temps, complete with pics.

The pics part is a bit of a problem...I am the worlds crappest photographer!!
I've already got a hand written journal with daily param testing and various observations...but I didn't want to bore anyone to death with tons of ramblings about "ooh! mushroom just ate a mussel...ooh! mushroom just shook the sand off his head..ooh! mushrooms chosen a new spot for burying in..." and all the other daft things written in there...lol!

um...I'd just like to add that I have been keeping a note of the sensible things like temperature and salinity etc aswell...but there really is a lot of silly nonsense too...

silly stuff can make a difference.

I had a fish jump tank into a puffer tank once and didn't give it any second thought.... that fish was torn to pieces and all looked at me with those innocent eyes "I didn't do it" ... anything odd can contribute to the life and death of a fish.

You'd be surprised. I think a lot of people would find that journal entertaining.

does anyone know what the common name for Mushroom actually is??

Peacock puffer

Orange saddle back
Or
Fugu puffer

Those are the name i see in my area.

Please do show and tell about behavior.

Also, more likely referred to as an "ambush predator", than a lurker.

+1 to PP's comment, and to J-P's.

Just to really confuse matters, to me the T. ocellatus is likely an ambush predator when young and over an appropriate substrate. but may or may not continue that practice when mature. I would not call it a lurker myself, any more than I would call a Fafaka a lurker. Lurking is lifestyle, ambush predation is a technique. Some very active fast-swimming fish which we generally call hunter predators may also ambush. neither food-spotting style is 100%. The real lurkers do not often routinely and actively and rapidly patrol the tank. Young (immature) puffers of any adult hunting style may conceal themselves in the substrate, and a minority of them may persist in that behavior throughout their adult lives, but most do so much less to rarely as adults. The lurkers as group are relatively inactive throughout their captive lives. The hunters as a group are more active and tend to hunt at all levels of their tank, where lurkers tend to be seen on or rear the substrate.

To me, calling one species of puffer Fugu as a common name borders on idiocy. They are one of many fugu - which is a general term, not at all specific fish. But distributors and pet stores are not exactly known for their knowledge or proper nomenclature. I would hope that we can be a bit more specific on a puffer forum.

FWIW...

Just tossing some more common names we've come across out there... Filbert definitely is not a lurker.

I was pretty impressed with the store he came from actually, they had him labelled as a fugu puffer, but they had the proper name on his little card as well, along with a picture. What they didn't have was a lot of info on him, but the guy in there openly told me he didn't know very much about them at all and went and got a book off the shelf to look him up for me, which I thought was really good. Sadly, the book was a bit misleading, it made him out to be a bit like a fig 8 to look after, hence why I ended up with him! I think I'm quite lucky where I am, I've got a couple of shops pretty close who are usually really helpful, and if they don't know something, they'll try to find it out.

Ta for the info about the behaviour Basically, all I want is a bit more knowledge. I want to compare any puffers that do any of the things mushroom does and see what else is similar or different, just to build up a better picture in my head, and out of curiosity really! There might be something I can learn there, but I won't know if there is, or what it is until I know it! If that makes any sense...lol

As for the journal...I'll think about it! What I might do is copy out a few extracts from it, and cut out all the waffling about how irritating it was that ebay took ages to deliver my new filter etc...lol!

RTR wrote: I would not call it a lurker myself, any more than I would call a Fafaka a lurker

Would someone please tell Bloat he isnt supposed to be a lurker LOL