The Puffer Forum

Tetractenos hamiltoni

Common Name: Common Toadfish

Other Common Names: Toado; Binji; Hamilton's Toadfish

Family: Tetraodontidae

Distribution: East coast of Australia. Tends to bury itself in sand with only eyes and mouth exposed. It is a saltwater fish, but it is also found in estuaries.

Water Parameters:SG: 25 - 35 parts per thousand; Temp 19 - 23C; pH 7.0 - 8.5

Personality/Temperament: A playful fish, interesting to watch. Will get to know its owner very quickly.

Max. Size: 8-12 cm (3.5 - 4 inches). Largest recorded individual was 14.0 cm.

Estimated Lifespan: 5 - 8 years

Sexual Dimorphism: None

Diet: I have seen them take small crustaceans, dead fish, anything they can fit into their mouth!

Care: T. hamiltoni make interesting pets, but must be fed only once a day despite their begging behaviour. Overfiltration is recommended; They produce lots of waste and are very messy eaters.

Breeding: The male and female will 'dance' in the water before depositing eggs and milt on a flat surface or inside an empty shell. Eggs and young are guarded fiercely by both parents. They have been known to attack fish 3 or 4 times their size!!

Minimum Tank Size: 20 gallons

Links to other resources:http://fishbase.org/Summary/speciesSumm ... =hamiltoni[/b]

For a 3.5-4" puffer you should be looking at more than 10 gallons per puffer. More like 20+ gallons especially if they're an active fish.

Since very little is known about these fish, where did you get the information. I'm not sure what our policy is but its usually considered bad form to copy text from other places, even if referenced as a resource. Best to reword if at all possible.

Re: Diet - That should be what is recommended for the fish IMO, not what it eats, which are two very different things.

Care: Why is it recommended to "feed live ghost shrimp every now and then?" No puffer really "needs" live ghost shrimp, and it should be recommended that they be quarantined and gut-loaded before use if its going to be included in the care info.

Agree with Hilly on the recommended tank size, although I'd go with recommending a 20 long or 30g minimum if its active for that large of a fish.

Is this a freshwater, brackish or marine fish? If its brackish or marine, what is the recommended SG?

I got my info in books and on the web - here in Australia there is tonnes of info about T. hamiltoni. They don't contradict each other either. I'll edit it.

Cheers,

UncleFugu

P.S. What's IMO?

Hilly wrote:For a 3.5-4" puffer you should be looking at more than 10 gallons per puffer. More like 20 gallons especially if they're an active fish.

To tell you the truth they are not active fish at all - they sit there at the bottom most of the time

IMO means 'in my opinion'.

Pics pics pics!

bonnie3188 wrote:IMO means 'in my opinion'.

Pics pics pics!

I dunno how to get pictures across on to the forum!

Read in the Photo forum.