The Puffer Forum

Does anyone have any information on carinotetraodon lorteti? I couldn't find it in the PufferPedia. Especially about the level of aggressiveness. The shop where I bought my leiurus/turgidus/whateveritis has some new puffers (and still have Tiger's partner as well), and I am thinking about it. At least when my c. salivator finally has arrived here... It seems like I go for carinotetraodons: irrubesco, salivator and lorteti?
But I need to know whether I can buy more than one. They have many of them, and as far as I can figure out, both sexes.

PS: Taly. I know you are into carinotetraodons as well. Is this something you are interested in? If so, you have your chance now. But they estimated that they would still have some left in a month or so. This isn't at Majorstuen, but it's Norway's largest shop for aquariums: Akvariemagasinet. They have probably the largest prices too, they fit the size of the shop. The prices in that shop are awful! But the puffers aren't so bad though. That's probably the only fish in that shop that hasn't a bad price.

Lortetis are very aggressive from my understanding.

Which probably means they are best on their own, and not together with a partner?

Correct.

OH! hello! hehe... Since my birthday is coming up maybe I will have a look ...but my dream is borneensis (hope they get them soon)

taly wrote:Since my birthday is coming up maybe I will have a look ...

You too? Are all puffer keepers born in March?

BTW they were very small and very, very cute I will go back as soon as I have a tank ready for them.

Yes!
How many are you planing to get?

I'm not sure. It seems like the answer to my question earlier in this thread, means that I should buy only one. But they are very cute. I am tempted to buy more. It seems like it's easy to see what gender they are. Price 135,- each (Norwegian currency), if I remember it right. The good part is that I will get more tanks tomorrow. I probably get 6 of the tanks from the LFS, at a reasonable price (3000, all together). They are 85 liters all of them. The plan was that I would get the shelves that the tanks were placed in. But it seems like they will need them all themselves. I will know for certain in the beginning of next week. But the expensive part is buying filters, heaters and other things I need. The tanks are not planned to be puffer tanks, but I can use them until I get better room for my little "puppies". I will get a new 120 liter tank on Saturday as well. But this is a new one. And two new filters. And an awful lot of catfishes The plan is to have 6 x 120 liter tanks for the puffers in my bedroom, and 6 x 85 liter tanks for corydoras and killifishes by the entrance. And then it's just all the other tanks to take care of I want to place all my small breeding tanks in a shelf in the kitchen, but I don't want to spend much money on that. I don't lack plans and ways to spend money...

Sounds like a plan

LOL
Actually I have realized this week that I need to plan my tanks better. As I am buying a lot of catfishes now, I need to plan to give them a good life where they can have their little ones. Instead of having one catfish of each species, I am now going for several of few species. I can't have them all, I have realized (in my dreams I have all the L-numbers presented in my house :-b)

One of my contacts at Aqualog shared this information on C. lorteti:

Regarding the aggressiveness of lorteti: I found that some populations are rather peaceful (eg those that are regularly imported from Vietnam nowadays), whereas those that came from Thailand are so nasty fin-biters that a whole tank was fin-less after some days.

I wonder if this sort of thing also applies to some other Carinotetraodon, like C. irrubesco, which is sometimes totally placid and other times a definite fin-nipper (or worse)?

Cheers, Neale

Interesting nmonks!
I've wondered about this stuff as well. It seems like several people has c. irrubescos together, and it works well. I have a pair in very small space (is awaiting larger tanks - I will probably get them tomorrow ). I haven't had them for so long, but it seems like they get along quite well. I won't trust them in the long term, though. Puffers are puffers

What has puzzled me is that pet shops keeps puffers together in the same tank, which is even small. And it seems like it goes well! Where I bought my c. irrubescos, they had several in a 50 liter tank. They even sold them in pair (I don't think you could get only one. They were priced as pairs). Where I bought my leiurus/turgidus/whateverheis, they were two together i a small tank. Tiger is a big puffer (at least compared with my other puffers), and they were two in a small space. As far as I know, tiger is a rather violent puffer, but he didn't hurt his tank mate, even though they had to live very closely together.

My c. Salivator, though (the one that is still in the shop), had killed his wife. Those two was also to be sold as a pair, which I still don't know why. You see how that worked out! And the other Salivator pair in the same tank (which was bought by Taly:-)), did seem to get along in some way, but she had to split them in the end, even though they have plenty of room there.

Those c. lorteti at the shop, were living very close together. Many of them in a small space. And I couldn't see one puffer that was hurt in any way!

I can't get it: many puffers in small space: it works out in some strange way. But few in a big tank, means being mean to each other. To me it seems like if you squeeze together an awful lot of puffers in too small space (I would never do it, just to make that clear), they just have to get along. Maybe the situation is so confusing for them that they forget to be aggressive to their tank mates. Or they just see that they have to cooperate to get out of there alive. I just can't get it.

Sometimes being very cramped causes animals to forget about territory defense and just "watch their buttocks" for the moment, so to speak, leading to mixes that would never work long term at home being possible in the fish store.

Nick wrote:Sometimes being very cramped causes animals to forget about territory defense and just "watch their butt" for the moment, so to speak, leading to mixes that would never work long term at home being possible in the fish store.

Yes, that's about what I've been suspecting. But I still can't get why one of the shops sells them i pairs.

Anyway, soon I can take my c. Salivator home

Fish in stores are usually very stressed from being packaged and shipped for sometimes days at a time, too. Its never a good idea to judge their passiveness or aggression based on what you see in the store. Once they de-stress and settle in, their behavior tends to change.