The Puffer Forum

Yesterday when I was feeding my S and S puffer I noticed that it nibbled at the shrimp I was dipping in and then it backed off a little bit and let out a very small ammount of this murky brown stuff from where its gills are. If this was a toxin then it didn't affect my tank or tankmates at all, all the tank mates I have are juveinles too and have lots of room for swimming around. Are there any suggestions of what the substance released by the puffer was?

Lol.. Those are just what ever went into the mouth with the bite that they dun not wan to swallow.. If happen that they are eating from the substrate, they will throw out sand from the gills too if they happen to suck them in...

but the substance was a murky brown colour and I only gave him a prawn

Puffers do not release toxin. It is tissue-bound, and is not in the mouth or throat.

I believe that dog-faced puffers and S and S puffers do release a toxin similar to a box-fish, that is another reason they need a large tank, so it has a smaller affect on the livestock.

nope ... different species in different classes.

In this situation nomenclature is your friend Check fishbase.org ... but even they are slightly flawed. The scientific name provides the class and some in similar classes portray similar traits. This is not always the case. Follow the liniage and you find the traits.

Your "belief" is just that--and totally incorrect.

only wat I was told that was wat the fish guy said probably as an excuse so I didn't order one from him so he didn't have to get new stock.

He also told you your fish would be ok in a tank that was too small & uncycled. Time to stop listening to fish store employees.