The Puffer Forum

I've emailed and left telephone messages at aquariumfish.net, devoured the Internet and called the only LFS in the Washington D.C. area I trust. I can't find any Irrubesco's. Does anyone know where I can get these puffers?

Dude, you should not call http://www.aquariumfish.net; they don't like direct phone calls. You have to use their website which says the irrubescos are still in stock (the true red-eyes = the irrubescos):

Follow the link:

http://www.aquariumfish.net/catalog_pag ... h.htm#top2

Just click the purchase button, order the number of puffers you want, and in the memo space request that you would prefer 1 male/2 females, and cross your fingers. They make no guarantees on gender differentiation, but they do try. You might luck out. The more you order, the more likely you can get the ratio of male/females you hope for.

Good luck! abc

ABC, you need to go further into the website...they designate "True Red Eye (Males and Females look very different.) ... F Carinotetraodon lorteti" I'm looking for Irrubescos, not Lorteti. Now, I know fishbase.org does not YET classify them as different fish, but they are distinguishable...Irrubescos have red eyes and red spots on tail. But thank you...won't stop me from calling them, but very nice to know it aggravates them. And ABC, it's dudette hon......

well, I'm only trying to help here, so don't get me wrong, but if you look at my pics of irrubescos, they are irrubescos.

Male Lorteti do NOT have red tails.

The red-eye puffers I received are irrubescos, not lorteti's. The website labeled them wrong. I clearly have the irrubescos but I'm not going to try to convince you, nor do I want to start a debate. Just want to keep things friendly. But may I suggest comparing pics of the irrubescos you have with the separate thread I have in this forum

Best wishes,

abc

Not the best pic but here's my male lorteti:

(No comments on his waistline, please...)

Nice pic of the Lorteti! Since you posted a pic, I'll repost the pic of the irrubesco with the red tail and you can see the clear comparison:

by the way, is it OK to have a puffer that fat? I was already afraid of lettin the puffers overfeed themselves, but if that is a healthy girth, then I can feed my puffers more...

Wow, now I feel horrible. ABC, I didn't mean to sound controversal. The pictures are great! They clearly show the difference. But aquariumfish.net lists them as Lorteti not Irrubesco. They have not returned my call. I'll wait until tomorrow and then call them again. I just want to make sure they are Irrubescos...maybe they don't realize they posted it wrong?

Don't feel bad, dudette ; I took no offense at all. Just wanted to let you know that the irrubescos are available if you want to buy them.

as for aquariumfish.net, just to share an anecdote, one year ago I went through the same thing you did. sent emails, made phone calls, because I wanted to make sure they were irrubescos and not lortetis. They never called me back. IMO, they are primary wholesalers, but allow for public / individual sales either at their shop or online, but they prefer to do their out-of-store sales completely electronically through the website. Because I never got a call back, or email, I took a gamble and ordered the red eye puffers but got all females (6) and lost all 6 of them in a freak accident with my powerhead (it was a messy gross mangling). It took me 1 year to wait until they were in season again. Aquariumfish does get these puffers regularly but seasonly, so if you miss the season, you have to wait another year to pick them up.

all the best, abc

Don't depend on LFS, internet stores or even most internet sites, for that matter, for proper fish ID--especially puffers!

Great, well I'm in a pickle. I guess if I can't find them anywhere else, I can order them from aquariumfish.net. BTW, Pufferpunk, your quote is the best....I LOVE IT! I do weekly 50% water changes on my discus tank, and 20 gallons on my reef. And have to force myself to mix that salt water every time. It's so easy to let it go, and then my corals wither....um, 50% ONCE a week is enough on this 30g puffer tank, right? Please tell me it's enough... clubself

a 50% water change once a week is the best routine. that's what I do and the puffers I have seem to do just fine (no disease, no stress, and happy!)

cheers to your efforts in getting these wonderful fish! abc

Pufferpunk wrote:Don't depend on LFS, internet stores or even most internet sites, for that matter, for proper fish ID--especially puffers!

So who do you rely on?!

Study up on the ID & if you're gonna order online, get pics of the exact fish you are buying.

The Big Al's in Calgary, Canada carry those.. I don't know they still got it or not.. that is the first puffer I got and I got it from them.. but somehow I killed my puffer after a week and learned my lesson how to keep a puffer..

I know that they do ship worldwide.. you might want to check out bigalsanada.com to get their phone number and call them and check any available or not