The Puffer Forum

This isn't a question, just a fair warning to anyone with a tank full of expensive (or cheap) live plants. Over the last six months I've watched my plants disappear. It's never been a mystery. Everyone in the house has seen it happen. Pogo (abei) sees food and goes for it. If the plant is in the way, it gets pruned. The last few months he's just killing them for no reason. He just swims up to them, turns on his side, and either bites them off at the base or uproots them. If i re-plant the uprooted

Sorry. Unfinished post. My bumbling mitts don't play well with tiny touch screens. Takes forever just to type this out without endless typos and misspellings.

Sometimes with puffers, it's best to have fake plants or none at all.

His personality makes all the malevolent behavior totally worth it. I've had plenty of foul natured fish and reptiles, but none this intelligent.

I have been giving great thought to abei's as of late, would you mind sharing your puffers personality? What's the hardest part of taking care of this species? And the most rewarding? How large has yours gotten? Is it true they only get up to 4 inches in aquaria?

He's about 5". Hardest things about him are that he's a little bit picky (that could just be mine ), and his personality. He's destructive. He's aggressive and predatory so no tank mates. He will bite the hand that feeds him, so learn to keep one eye on him when you're working in the tank or near the surface.The most rewarding thing is his personality. He changes color based on his mood. He watches t.v. and videos on my phone. He watches me. In the dark. From the shadows. They are called lurking predators. It won't be a very active fish, if that's what you're after. What it will do is watch your every move from a dark corner of it's tank thinking of what it's going to do when it finally gets a hold of you. If that sounds like your fish you're all set. And they're really pretty, too, if that matters.