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Thinking about getting another pet...

  • Thread starter eplants02
  • Start date
Hey all,
What r the conditions for raising a puffer fish? Are they easy to raise?
 
By puffer fish, you probably mean the fresh water ones. I have seen them sold as "Number 8 Puffer's" before. They are a tropical fish thats does well in a heated tank. im not sure what temps, etc, maybe others can place more info? Thanks
 
What about the salt water types?
 
I use to own a salt water puffer fish and a black and white Eal there really kool looking I paid 60 bucks for the puffer and he was about 6 inches long .They eat shrimp and need warm water all the time .


If your going to go into salt water rember you need a very powerful filter system Mine cost 250 bucks for a filter for my 60 gal tank .Dont think any old fresh water filter will work it wont.

The best thing you can do it go to a store that deals with salt water fish and tell them everything you have and they will tell you what you need .

I no longer have salt water because I found it to much to deal with fresh water fish are allot more easy but theres nothing like salt water fish with all the color they have.

_-West-_
 
What r the differences between salt and fresh water puffer fish?
 
Fresh water isn't exactly true - most are brackish water fish, needing a little salt in the water. My mom had a green spotted puffer (brackish/fresh water) for a year. They need warm temperatures and brackish water, and regularly need hard food (snails, freshwater (feeder) shrimp, feeder guppies), or else their teeth will grow to long and can kill them. They're not particularly hard to keep, but can be messy, and so need a good filter. I'd recommend the brackish water species over the saltwater, but it can still be a pain. Also, many will nip the fins of other fish (and even take bites out of them), and some species cannot even be kept with others of their own kind.
 
When you said puffer fish you mean BLOW FISH right ? The ones who blow up like a baseball when something gose after them ?

I ask this because I have never seen a blow fish in anything but salt water .




_-West-_
 
I've kept the brakish water puffer fish. They are finicky eaters. Mine will not eat flakes (because of the shape of their mouth). It would only eat live food. Check out its massive fused chompers, that thing is meant to tear flesh apart
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  • #10
thats right guys, they are brackish water fish for the most part...

I have been pretty succesful in my aquaculture, and have kept a couple brakis tanks... one of my favorite brakish fish is the scate... or is it skate...

any how...

Puffers are cute, but nasty when it comes to keeping with other fish, just remember, if it's a live, and it can get it's jaws into it, it will.

One easy way to feed them is ask your local pet store for any pest snails they have growing in their tanks, set up another tank with just a minimal filtration system in it, and throw a leaf of lettuce in there ever couple of days, soon you will have a massive explosion of snails, and thus food for your puffer.

I did this with my clown loach, which is also a snail muncher (not widely known.) Oh, and if you have a clown loach and keep live plants, if you ever find a curious u shaped bite in your plants.. hehh.. guess what!
smile.gif


If you have never kept fish before, I would suggest starting with a fresh water species, you don't have to go common, most major cities have at least one fish store that carries some easy to care for fresh water fish that are exotic...

keep in mind also that some of the so called 'easy' fish, aren't so easy... I have seen angel fish die because a light popped on and gave it a heart attack!
sad.gif


there used to be a great angelfish store online called oodlesofangels.com but it disapeared a while ago... had some gorgeous german blue blushers on that I was hoping to buy someday... but the guy could never keep up with his orders and I was number 250 on the waiting list or something...

Oh... one more thing...

if you really want a nice fish, no matter the species... do your research on it first, and don't just JUMP at the fish in the local store, a suprising amount of them are what we call 'culls' and should have been used as feeder fish... that doesn't mean you can't find great fish, study breeder sights, learn the charachteristics of a good specimen of the breed, and go for it. (You CAN order fish safely through the mail too&#33
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  • #11
If you have a big tank, I recommend Cichlids. Most are easy except maybe Angelfish and Discus. I think they're very interesting to observe, as compared to the more typical aquarium fish. They don't swim around mindlessly back and forth. They have territories and defend them against intruders. They are curious fish, love to dig and redecorate your tank. And their mating habits are also very interesting.
 
  • #12
Yes Cichlids are a great fish. I had them before there fresh water easy to care for and kool to watch if you find a bug or gold fish and put it in the tank they will rip it aprat and eat it  
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On the puffers brackish water fish?  Every time Iv seen them I was scuba diveing in salt water or at a salt water fish store . I never knew they were brackish water fish dont brackish water fish live some were some were fresh water and salt water meet ?



_-West-_
 
  • #13
West - yes, many species of puffer live where fresh and salt water meet. You've probably seen the saltwater species - which are true saltwater fish. To complicate it further, some brackish water species spawn in water with little salt, and gradually move into saltier water as they age.
 
  • #14
hey everybody

actually, most of the "freshwater puffers" out there are actually freshwater fish. i have been into freshwater puffers for years and have done alot of research. alot of these fish do very well in fresh or brackish set ups, but have been reported as living in freshwater habitats in the wild. the figure 8 puffer (tetraodon biocellatus) is found in freshwater habitats, but seems to do better in a brackish set up and will get bigger in a brackish set up. some of the very large and most interresting puffers are freshwater fish. here are some freshwater species

tetraodon travancoricus (dwarf puffer)
tetraodon lorteti (red eyed puffer)
colomesus asellus (amazon puffer)
takifugu rubripes (fugu ouffer)
tetraodon duboisi (stanley pool puffer)
tetraodon mbu (giant puffer)
tetraodon schoutedeni (spotted congo puffer)
xenopterus naritus (bronze puffer)
tetraodon miurus (congo puffer)

these fish do well in fresh to light brackish water

tetraodon biocellatus (figure 8 puffer, better in brackish)
tetraodon cutcutia (avocado puffer)
colomesus psittacus (banded puffer)
tetraodon erythrotaenia (red striped puffer)
tetraodon leiurus (target puffer)
tetraodon nigroviridis (green spotted puffer, better in brackish)
tetraodon lineatus (fahaka puffer)


these do well in brackish to full marine

tetraodon fluviatilis (ceylon puffer)
tetraodon biocellatus (figure 8 puff)
tetraodon nigroviridis (green spotted puff)

there are many more than this as well. here is a great web site for fresh and brackish puffers.

http://www.pufferfish.co.uk./aquaria....dex.htm

puffers are very fun and very cute. ive never seen fish with such personality. they are always curious and watch every move you make. its almost like theyre interrested in what your doing. anyone who gets puffers is sure to love them.
 
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