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Old 19-10-2004, 03:10 PM   #1
bsplenden
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Default Puffer fish : Introduction

General
http://home.earthlink.net/~snebluemo...l#T.%20leiurus
http://puffernet.tripod.com/main.html
http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/puffers.htm
http://www.pufferfish.co.uk/aquaria/...ferfish/types/
http://www.mongabay.com/fish/tetraodontidae.htm
http://www.geocities.com/angelicdevil23/home.html

My comments: Puffers are great to me. I love them, and those which I keep loves me too! A carnivorous fish with a powerful beak, it has no problem with shelled creatures such as lobsters, crabs, or snails. Normally, those puffers we find in the LFS are slightly brackish. But species such as the target puffer, mbu puffer, fahaka puffer and malabar puffer are freshwater and much easier to maintain. I recommend beginners to start off with freshwater puffers first as you can concentrate on taking care of the puffer, rather than trying to maintain a proper brackish environment. Puffers are definitely not for the community tank except some of the smaller puffers. So, be prepared to keep them in a tank singly, or for the less aggressive puffers, you can only keep them in a species tank. Specimen tanks are the only choice for hobbyist who has great interest for the highly territorial and aggressive species, such as the fahaka. Remember to allow your puffer to grind their teeth with shelled food once in a while, or their beak will grow so long that they will be unable to feed. In the US, they will have to bring them to vets to file off these big teeth, but in Singapore, I doubt you will be able to find a vet who can do this.

Mbu Puffer
http://www.achrn.demon.co.uk/astounding/ian/amos.html
http://www.fishtanksandponds.com/fis...mbu_puffer.htm
http://www.geocities.com/deftones781/speciesmbu.html

My comments: It is the largest freshwater puffer. Because of this, I never had the opportunity to keep them. Guess I will leave them to the guys with big tanks. But they don’t come cheap.

Fahaka Puffer
http://www.dmuratov.com/publications..._nile_puffers/
http://www.pufferfish.co.uk/aquaria/...s/tetrline.htm

My Comments: Wonderful fish. I have personal experience with this fish, and I can tell you it is a big terrorist. It is another freshwater puffer. I got mine when it was 2” and it eats any kind of live food you put in. It will readily eats market prawn, or any other meaty food. But refuses pellets and flakes even after a whole week of starving. But after sometime, I begun to feed it with live food as it is more interesting to see them chase and eat their prey. At 3-4”, it can already hunt a bull frog! Although it cannot finish the whole bull frog, it will still attack, and normally, the first part of the bull frog it attacks is either the hind legs, or it punctures a hole in the frog’s belly. Terribly messy eater. So I recommend that you feed it with food that it can swallow, unless you are one of the hobbyist who finds the occasional gore interesting. Do have a powerful filtration system, because they are messy eaters, and they excrete a lot of waste. Highly aggressive fish. I recommend them in a specimen tank (not species tank), meaning only one per tank… Because it is highly aggressive, you may find it boring to have only one fish per tank. But I assure you that it is indeed a fish with character. They are not too common in LFS, but you need luck to chance upon them.

Figure 8 Puffer
http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/gpuffer2.html
http://www.tomgriffin.com/aquasource/8puffer.shtml
http://www.badmanstropicalfish.com/mb/mb33.html
http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/ot...ure8puffer.htm
http://www.geocities.com/deftones781...esfigure8.html

My comments: The first puffer which I started off with. And it died within a month. After some reading up, I realized it was a brackish species. However, this species is one of those commonly sold in the LFS. Unsuspecting buyers get them, and they die at home when placed in a freshwater environment. Relatively hot tempered, this fish can be kept in a species tank, but still, they might nip off each other’s fin all the way to the base. And you got to watch out in these cases.

Green Spotted Puffer

http://splutphoto.com/pierre/puffer.htm
http://www.geocities.com/deftones781...esleopard.html

My comments:
No personal experience with them. Another brackish puffer which is commonly found in LFS. Roughly the same as the figure 8 puffer.

Malabar Puffer
http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/gpuffer3.html
http://www.dwarfpuffers.com/intro1.htm (more links in here)
http://www.ericschreiber.com/aquariu...arfpuffer.html
http://www.geocities.com/deftones781/speciesdwarf.html

My comments: A freshwater puffer that is very cute. It is a dwarf puffer, with a relatively small temper (but bear in mind that puffers still have to throw their temper around once in a while). A highly popular fish for planted tank hobbyist who wants to get rid of their irritating snail population, while at the same time, not wanted their little fishes to get chewed into pieces by the bigger puffers. For planted tank hobbyists, remember to keep them well fed after they have completed their mission in eliminating those snails, or you may find your small fishes disappearing… They can be kept in a species tank too. I used to have 4 in my one feet tank, higher numbers of them in a similarly-sized tank might be possible, but you can try. Do have a small spare tank if you do try, and update me on the progess please.

Congo Puffer
http://www.pufferfish.co.uk/aquaria/...s/tetrmiur.htm
http://www.achrn.demon.co.uk/astounding/ian/caspar.html

My comments: This is the species I am aiming for now. I have actually found it, but no money to buy. Hehe… Anyway, this is a freshwater species of puffers, and are ambush predators. They require sand to burrow themselves in, and you might actually find it hard to find them when they bury themselves. Available in bright red or brown morphs.

Target Puffer

My comments: Unfortunately, I am unable to find any websites for this species at the moment. However, I would still like to add my comments as I find it to be a very interesting fish. It might be hard to find this species of puffer in Singapore. Personally, I have only one experience with it, although I would like to find it again, I have been unable to do so. Do PM me if you see them anywhere. These puffers have a very interesting design on their body, and one spot one each side. Their eyes are green and red, making them look evil… keke… This is also a freshwater puffer, and the care for it is about the same as the fahaka. Just that as the target puffer grows to a smaller size than the fahaka puffer, the target puffer will therefore require a smaller tank. Will readily accepts any meaty food with just a few days of training, and of course, chew on live food with greath enthusiasm.

Last edited by bsplenden; 19-10-2004 at 05:22 PM.
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