The Puffer Forum

I have a Tanganyika style tank (not a bio-type tank) with a pH of about 8 and hardness between 10 & 16 on my tetra test strips. My lfs told me that my fluviatus would be cool in there, and indeed he seems quite happy at the mo. He's a baby right now, and I was wondering if he will be happy long term? His tank-mates ignore him and he ignores them so I don't see any problems there. This is my first puffer, normally I'm a cat & cichlid man, and I want him to be happy, so any advice more than welcome!

I would say that no, he won't be happy in there. T.fluviatus (if that's what it really is) is a high-end brackish to marine fish, and unless I'm mistaken, Tanganyikan cichlids are not marine fish.

How large is the tank?

Not compatible.
Like BM said, Ceylons are SW at adulthood.
They grow to 8", and require a minimum of 40 actual gallons of water at adulthood.
I'm sorry your lfs misled you. They are in the business of selling fish.

I just love when people call me BM. Makes me feel like a bit turd.

The tank is 150L and the water is high in mineral salts (being a Tanganyika tank) I'm getting a 300L in a couple of months for my Tanganyika fish so I could convert the 150L for him if I need to. Here are some slightly dodgy photos of him, can anyone give me a positive ID? They're the best I can do at the moment as he runs whenever he sees the camera but comes forward as soon as I take it away (little git!).

Ok, that's not a T.fluviatis, its a T.nigroviridis, or Green Spotted Puffer (GSP). Which is sorta what I expected and why I said "if that's what it really is." Your LFS guy is clueless.

Same conditions though. Needs full saltwater marine conditions which I don't believe cichlids live in.

To be fair my lfs is freshwater, and has just started with brackish/marine and the freshwater advice and ID is usually spot on. So how long before he's going to need a marine tank to live in? I was planning on one at about Christmas but won't be able to stick fish in for a couple of months to establish the live rock & sand, so is that within the time frame or am I going to have to move faster? I don't mind putting the larger Tanganyika on hold as it's not essential and could probably have a marine tank up & running by October if I needed to. I have totally fallen in love with this little chap and want him to be healthy and happy and live a long life, just the cutest little fish!

Definitely a GSP.
http://www.thepufferforum.com/articles/ ... togsp.html

Your 150L (37-gallons) is the minimum your GSP alone will need.

reginator wrote:I have totally fallen in love with this little chap and want him to be healthy and happy and live a long life, just the cutest little fish!

Welcome to the dark side.

Ok so I read the article, how long to they take to grow? He's about 1" at the moment.. Obviously I want to set things up for him in time, but don't want an empty marine tank running for several months.

Mine doubled from 1 to 2 inches in just a couple of months.

Time to get a shift on then. Hmm, holiday canceled, new fish tank in order...

Yeah, I know what you mean. I'm currently spazzing, trying to light a fire under my hubby's butt. I bought a 55 gallon, stand and canopy several weeks ago. He's been "going to" fill it and check for leaks and clean it out since then but something else always comes up or he forgets. And we need to start putting together all of the other supplies. Gotta move the contents of my 38 into it, then move most of the contents of his 29 into my 38, leaving his 29 for my GSP and a couple of mollies that we're going to be taking SW with him. Got my shopping list together, just need fundage.

Congrats on your new puffer, and I am glad that you are going to get a apropriately sized tank.

Maybe you could print off the GSP article and give it to your LFS? Perhaps then they can give more correct information on them.

and welcome to the world of pufferdom!