The Puffer Forum

Has anyone on PF ever kept an MBU that was considered full grown? I guess 2ft of more. If so, how old is/was the puff?

Not long ago we had a member with about a 30" mbu, it died due to a filter malfunction which drained the tank

Late reply, sorry, technical issues.

My T. mbu lived a bit over 12 years in my care, was just over 27" TL, and died from jumping out of the tank. It was not "old" acting. It was almost certainly fully mature, but had no symptoms of being old.

RTR wrote:Late reply, sorry, technical issues.

My T. mbu lived a bit over 12 years in my care, was just over 27" TL, and died from jumping out of the tank. It was not "old" acting. It was almost certainly fully mature, but had no symptoms of being old.

Thanks for the reply. Mature is more what I was asking. Anyone else on here have one larger than 27"?

12 years old, that is a real investment in time and resources. What size tank was he in? What caused him to jump?

I don't think there are to many people on our forum that keep mbu's and this maybe is why you aren't getting very many replies.

A have now one T.mbu (50cm--or--19.5in)....!!!

Βe with my 2 years!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBHpSf3c ... ature=plcp

Puffer rules wrote:A have now one T.mbu (50cm--or--19.5in)....!!!

Βe with my 2 years!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBHpSf3c ... ature=plcp

Wow Cool Mbu. Can you get a video of him eating please?

If I had known what keeping a mature >2 foot fish involved, I would have never gotten the baby T. mbu.

Honestly, me neither.

RTR wrote:If I had known what keeping a mature >2 foot fish involved, I would have never gotten the baby T. mbu.

Thanks for the info. They are awesome fish and I was thinking about getting one. But after reading on this site and others that is a no go.

Here's the story of RTR's mbu: viewtopic.php?f=56&t=150

The bottom line is that the fish over its lifetime will cost about the same as a vacation home in upkeep, or a couple of high-quality cars. It is just not justifiable to most folks.

My fahaka costs a fair bit all in all. I could only imagine what something more than twice his size would cost. Perhaps when I win the lottery I may invest lol.

Is the main expense of keeping a Mbu at full mature age the cost of heating the huge tank?

Total life-cycle installation and operating costs: Operating cost- power, custom tanks, water pre-conditioning and tempering, filtration equipment and upkeep- which includes operating spares in place for all key components, lighting, foods, separate dedicated HVAC w/air-to-air heat exchanges for temp. and humidity control (normal home HVAC cannot handle the load of what is effectively a heated indoor endless pool), including penalty water usage rates. Plus 24/7 on-call plumber and electrician and a consulting hydraulic engineer whom you can trust.

It is unfortunately one of those things that if you have to ask the price, you cannot afford it. Or at least I cannot. It would be a hobby item only for those with an annual income larger than six figures.