The Puffer Forum

hey. i was talking to a guy on the weekend and he was very nice and knowledgeable and he told me he has kept 3 mbus their entire lifespan with lots of tank mates. he said the one he has right now is at 14 inches and he keeps with a bunch of other fish. at first i thought he was kind of crazy and i asked him his name and looked him up when i got home. it turns out he has over 100 tanks and has a 15,000 AND a 50,000 gallon tank. I know the puffer wasn't in these but if your keeping tanks of this caliber than obviously you could house puffers with other fish. LOTS of room for their bioload. and (since the pedia/library is down) just wondering if it is common to be able to house mbu's with other fish??

this guy also has aripaima's (?) that are over 6 ft long along with a 5 foot RTC! very fun guy to talk too.

Is it the dude from MFK that turned his basement into a couple of HUGE HUGE HUGE tanks?

As with every puffer its up to that puffer if you can keep anything else with it. Some may allow tank mates some may not. My fw puffers dont like tank mates at all but my GSP has a tailspot in her tank and they get along great

ya its him. hes a nice guy. he keeps complete logs of all of his fish and how long hes had them and how big they are.

It's cool that you got to meet him. Any chance of actually seeing those tanks?

Pufferpunk wrote:It's cool that you got to meet him. Any chance of actually seeing those tanks?

i have no clue. he tried to talk me out of buying harlequin rasboras to put in my tank with my pictus (obviously) and i told him i would msg him and tell him how it turned out (so far so good) i was thinking about asking him if a tour is a possibility when i msg him. he doesnt live around here. and he mentioned some sort of a catfish convention if i remember correctly he was going too in the states somewhere. im pretty sure he lives in the states. do you know him or know of him PP? i told him i was a member here and he knew about TPF

Yes, here is a member here & I know him from MFK.

He's pretty local to me but he doesn't let people he doesn't know see his tanks.

Do you know what he considers the lifespan of an mbu?

shhhh ... RTR hated that vid of his 810 mbu tank.

More importantly how does he make his $$ to support those tanks?

I asked him that once... no response.

J-P wrote:More importantly how does he make his $$ to support those tanks?

i kind of asked him with no response. i was wondering if MFK maybe helps him out or something. hes in a wheelchair maybe that has something to do with it. i dont know. why wouldnt he charge like 10 bucks a person for tours of the tanks. that would be a great way to make the money to support them. i would do it. as far as lifespan of the MBU im not sure. but most of his fish he mentioned having for like 10-20 years. I couldn't imagine the upkeep. must pay people to clean the inside of the glass and things like that for him. i just don't get it.. he said that theres no way to work and manage all of his tanks at the same time. i thought well how the hell do you not work and afford all of those tanks at the same time. a nice fellow but unless he pays in friendliness its beyond me....

btw do you have a link to the video?

Yes, RTR very firmly believes that the tank in question is one of the most horrible examples of what is wrong with this hobby. It is grotesque. Seeing it in reality would be a nightmare.

Animal cruelty, alive and in color.

RTR i do not know enough about aquariums yet to understand why it is SO bad. although i do understand that it is quite overstocked. I am assuming that is the sole reason. With my lack of knowledge also comes a fear to put too many fish in my tank so i guess in a way i know better than to overstock. Also i assumed cichlids were a bit nippy, and puffers a bit hungry to make a good combination... i mentioned at the store its not a good idea to keep the MBU with other fish and he almost kind of got mad haha.. he said do you believe people you dont know over internet or a guy standing in front of you that has owned them? so i kind of though... mmm alright ill give you the benefit of the doubt. which is the main reason i started this thread...

haha PP! i read in the old thread of the video you asking him quite upfront "I NEED TO KNOW HOW YOU AFFORD THIS?" i laughed aloud. he is so passive on the question.