Advice, and info on south american puffer

[Carolinesugar]

Hi all, im completely new to puffers, and would like to know as much as i can about the south american species.

i have just brought a fairly small setup, and am hoping that with the right info i may possiblly be able to keep a pair of these fish in this tan k.

i have seen the fish at my lfs, but have a few queries over their max size, what they eat, what their habbits are, what they prefer their living arrangements to be like, and if its adviced to keep a male and a female together, 2 females, or 2 males.

when i asked the staff at the lfs, they sed that this type of fish are very difficult to sex, and that he didnt really know enough about them to give me any more info.

also, something i noticed about the ones at this shop, some of them had top fins, .but others (most) didn't have any, or some had half of a top fin. is this normal ? i did wonder if mayb they hadnt finished growing. but the shop assistant couldnt explain it.

also, what size tank is the smallest they should be kept in ? that way i can see if the tank i have just got, is big enough, or if i would need a bigger tank.

any help would be much appricated.

thanx in advance

 

[SirMinion]

South American Puffer Colomesus asellus
Other names: Assel puffer, Brazillian puffer, Zebra puffer, Peruvian puffer
Venezuelian puffer.
Variants & confusions: None, but sometimes incorrectly sold as dwarf puffers.
Size: Up to 3 inches.
Aggression: Low to moderate- considered the most mild mannered puffer. Can be kept in groups and even with other fish, although may still fin-nip and will kill small fish, even though they may not eat them.
Feeding: small meaty foods such as bloodworm, snails, earthworms, mealworms, shrimp, prawn, cockle, mussell. Very fond of live foods. May eat some plants also.
Water: Freshwater, overfiltered and well oxygenated. Water mush be very clean. Because of this it is best not to keep any puffer in very small tanks.
Sexing: Not possible by visual methods.
Other information: this puffer has very fast growing teeth which may occasionally require trimming (not a job for the faint-hearted!) to reduce this need, provide shelled foods such as snails, shrimp & mealworms. Placing the food on a hard rock or sand may also help.
__________________

The lack of dorsal fins on some of the ones you have seen could be the result of two main things:
1) Fin-eating by more dominant tank-mates (very likely)
2) Fin clamping- stressed puffers will curl their tail and hold their dorsal fin flat against the body making it appear as if there is no fin.

 

[jflowers]

All of the above, but I will add my own experiences.

Size: Up to 3 inches. [Some books/sites say 5"]

Aggression: Low to moderate- considered the most mild mannered puffer. Can be kept in groups and even with other fish, although may still fin-nip and will kill small fish, even though they may not eat them. [dont keep with other fish, I had mine with danios and rainbows and ALL had damaged fins]

Feeding: small meaty foods such as bloodworm, snails, earthworms, mealworms, shrimp, prawn, cockle, mussell. Very fond of live foods. May eat some plants also. [Never seen them even look at a plant, they love live blood worm, frozen blood worm, frozen mysis shrimp, brine shrimp and most of all, week old apple snails]

Other information: this puffer has very fast growing teeth which may occasionally require trimming (not a job for the faint-hearted!) to reduce this need, provide shelled foods such as snails, shrimp & mealworms. Placing the food on a hard rock or sand may also help. [Constant supply of baby snails are important, I set up a breeding tank for my snails and once a couple of generations had hatched, I moved the puffers to the same tank. They dont touch the breeding sized snails, but munch on the little uns when they feel like it.]

Jon

 

[wetwetwet]

Wouldn't argue with any of the above.

Very active fish allways on the move up and down the tank. Individuals can be aggressive while others not (had 6, 4 still) so I think depends on individuals temprement....

Teeth will need cutting and as said not a nice job - there is allways snails in their tank but readily take flake and bloodworm...

I originally had them in a community but a couple of them were quite aggressive with other species so now by themselves...

On the whole a great little fish if a bit high maintenance




www

 

[NickT]

the "on the move " thing had me worried with mine... infact i was aobut to post and i saw this ..... so can any of you explane how you cut the teath?

 

[jflowers]

the "on the move " thing had me worried with mine... infact i was aobut to post and i saw this ..... so can any of you explane how you cut the teath?

The following is from PufferPack [EDIT: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...8&hl=teeth+trim ]

Here is an excerpt you may find handy:

Trimming Puffers Teeth

Sometimes it will be necessary to trim your puffers teeth, when the teeth are preventing your fish from eating or food is getting stuck in their teeth on a regular basis. South American puffers in general seem to require this procedure on a regular basis (sometimes every 6 months) but most other puffers, if fed shell food regularly, shouldn't need their teeth trimmed. The following excerpt was posted by a long time puffer owner and is the simplest and least stressful (for the puffer as well as the keeper) of any I have found:

" I filled 2 Coolwhip containers w/tank water. Put 3 drops of clove oil (next time I'll try 1 drop) in 1 container. Added the fish. Within 1 minute the fish was laying on it's back. It looked dead. I took the fish out with a net, (as to not harm it's skin with the oils of my hand) & held it through the net. I clipped it's teeth with cuticle nippers being careful not to cut it's mouth. I placed the puffer in the container of fresh tank water. I could see it breathing. After 1 minute it had righted itself, 2 minutes it was swimming around, 3 minutes it was back in the tank swimming like nothing had happened. Repeated with other puffer & all is fine with them today. This all needs to be done as quickly as possible, as clove oil can also be used for painless euthanasia. That's why I will try 1 drop next time

HTH

Jon

 

[Nicholas Groene]

the "on the move " thing had me worried with mine... infact i was aobut to post and i saw this .....  so can any of you explane how you cut the teath?

The following is from PufferPack [EDIT: [URL="http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...8&hl=teeth+trim"]http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...p;hl=teeth+trim[/URL] ]

Here is an excerpt you may find handy:

Trimming Puffers Teeth

Sometimes it will be necessary to trim your puffers teeth, when the teeth are preventing your fish from eating or food is getting stuck in their teeth on a regular basis. South American puffers in general seem to require this procedure on a regular basis (sometimes every 6 months) but most other puffers, if fed shell food regularly, shouldn't need their teeth trimmed. The following excerpt was posted by a long time puffer owner and is the simplest and least stressful (for the puffer as well as the keeper) of any I have found:

" I filled 2 Coolwhip containers w/tank water. Put 3 drops of clove oil (next time I'll try 1 drop) in 1 container. Added the fish. Within 1 minute the fish was laying on it's back. It looked dead. I took the fish out with a net, (as to not harm it's skin with the oils of my hand) & held it through the net. I clipped it's teeth with cuticle nippers being careful not to cut it's mouth. I placed the puffer in the container of fresh tank water. I could see it breathing. After 1 minute it had righted itself, 2 minutes it was swimming around, 3 minutes it was back in the tank swimming like nothing had happened. Repeated with other puffer & all is fine with them today. This all needs to be done as quickly as possible, as clove oil can also be used for painless euthanasia. That's why I will try 1 drop next time

HTH

Jon

I just purchased 2 south American puffers today (each at about 1.5 inches), and after reading this forum that took place 3 yrs. ago i was wondering if you were still around. I had no idea that you had to clip the puffers teeth (lack of research on my part, and stuppid impulse of buying new fish!). I read you final comment about the clove oil on the puffers. I was thinking about using 2 drops of clove oil when the time comes to clip, but i was curious about size. 2 drops will have a much, much bigger result on a 1 inch puffer to a 6 inch. So i was wondering if you had any separate advice for me. I'm planning on talking to a very knowledgeable olderly man at a near by pet store tomorrow on this toppic.
Thank you for your time,
Nicholas Groene

 

[Fella]

Nicholas I wouldn't worry about it too much until the time comes. Mine that I kept for a couple of years only needed clipping once, and even then it was a case of adding some clove oil to some tank water in a bucket, adding the fish, waiting for it to roll over and then clipping the teeth quickly. Return the fish to the tank and you're fine, just use the measurements already mentioned in this thread.