The Puffer Forum

Okay, I know I said I was going to take a break from new fish, but I guess I lied! We went to East Pittsburgh this weekend to take hubby's 90yr old grandmother out for dinner and to just get away after all of the stress of losing my father and the other family drama. Hubby mapped out directions to Elmers Aquarium http://www.elmersaquarium.com and to another place call All Oddball Aquatics http://www.alloddballaquatics.com and we took sidetrips to both. At Elmers I got some floating wisteria that I had not yet found locally and some small crayfish for my modestus. At Oddballs they had a 3-4 inch suvatti in a tank and let me tell ya what, the pics don't do these little monsters justice. All I could remember was that they were FW, lurkers, sand substrate but couldn't for the life of me remember how big of a tank I would need. I had never seen them locally so hadn't really researched much, just printed out some general information. Hubbys answer when I said I was going to pass since they couldn't find it in their book and I wasn't sure, that if I needed to get a bigger aquarium than that is what I would have to do. He was discounted 25% (as were all of the fish in the store) so I paid $15 for him. The bottom of the tank he was in was littered with dead snail shells and he came home to be named "Chief Porky" by hubby. He is stressed right now after a 2 hour car ride, but hopefully he will be okay in a day or 2. Any tips to add to my researching will be greatly appreciated.




He is darker in color than most of the pics I have seen, but there isn't any visual bad areas on him as far as fungus, nips or the like. The rest of my evening will probably be spent researching more.
Wish me luck with this guy.....I had good luck with my dps and my modestus, the congo was my bad luck and I hope that changes with this guy.

Nice! S/he looks great.

Thanks, so far he is acting normal and looks healthy. But I also thought that about my baby congo puffer .
Will be working on getting his final tank ready over the next couple of weeks and trying to get a feeding schedule down to keep him healthy.

What a stunning puffer!

As i recall from getting my 2 you need 30ltrs (British measure sorry don't know the us gallon) per savatti minimum..i have 2 in a 90l and with lots of caves and hiding places, some plant cover and fake slate to break up the line of site and they do just fine with regular water changes and food every other day.

Obviously if u can get a bigger tank then all the better. While I have gravel, they do have a need to bury themselves and hide so sand substrate is better, and as soon as i can figer out who to change my substrate with the least possible stress to my 2 i will!

Some of what i have learned over time about these guys i have posted here: http://stapleton-ward.co.uk/?cat=6 I hope that might help. I'm still learning everyday but my pair have done well so far so if i can give a little info back to folks starting I'm happy to do so:)

A little correction to the above. The recommendation here is not 30 liters (approx. 8 gallons) per suvatti, but closer to 113 liters (30 gallons) each. IMO, 30 liters is nowhere near big enough for a single suvatti, nor is 90 liters, much less for two.

Could well have been gallons yes, im not great at remembering correct measurments, let alone converting from one set of metrics to another! Thanks boxermum that looks more like it. And mine are only in the 90l till i work out the best way to prep there new tank thats coming soon!

Yes, I was a bit puzzled by the 30 liters tank. The suvatti that made me start drooling in the pet shop on Monday, was big! And it was really amazing that that big thing could dig itself into the sand, and disappear so totally! I didn't have to check TPF to understand that this fish was a lurker! The guy working in the shop had to stick his hand into the tank (rather nervously, as the puffer had bit him earlier, both the suvatti and the Fangs I bought. I guess he must be tasting very good ), and feel around in the sand to find him (I just had to see the suvatti of course, even though I was already struggling with the decision on whether to buy the Fangs puffer - I really hope no one buys him, so I can go and get him when I have the money (some time in the far future... ) The good part is that he always is so totally hidden in the sand, so no one can see him. And if they don't see the fish, how can they want him? ).