Freshwater South American Puffers

[fergalthefish]

i'm looking for this type of puffer for my community tank but can't seem to find them anywhere.are they a rare species or something lol. if anyone knows of anywhere that sells them in the middlesex area or has one to re-home please let me know. thanks.

 

[nmonks]

They aren't at all rare. But they do tend to be seasonal. In any case, visiting Tropical Fish Finder, which databases stock in UK fish stores, I discovered that at least two branches of Maidenhead Aquatics as well as Wildwoods have it in stock at the moment. Wildwoods does mail order, but it is always worth an expedition out there just to see their amazing stock. Technically they're in Middlesex, Enfield to be precise, but right on the eastern edge of the district.

Do bear in mind my comments repeated elsewhere about this fish (including in this month's PFK) -- while they *can* work in community tanks, they will work only with very specific tankmates: fast barbs, tetras, etc. They may not be as aggressive as other puffers, and certainly far less dangerous to other fish, but the can and will nip the fins of slow-moving or stupid tankmates. Gouramis, angels, Corydoras, livebearers, etc would all be fair game! Also remember they are sociable, and you want to keep at least two specimens, and ideally three or more. They never look happy kept singly, being best described as "neurotic" or "hyperactive". Since you'll need a fair sized tank for three specimens (at least 30 gallons) I don't recommend this species for small aquaria, despite its modest size.

Cheers, Neale

 

[fergalthefish]

great info, thanks a lot! i have a 300litre and was looking to get 2 but i do have angels and gouramis - maybe they'll have to learn to swim faster!! LOL.

 

[nmonks]

Not a chance! I'd scrap the puffer idea if I was you.

For an SAP-community, you need to choose relatively small but very fast tetras and barbs. Bleeding heart tetras for example seem to work brilliantly well with them, as do glassfish. For catfish, choose things that stay out of the way. Synodontis seem to work well, perhaps because they are rather retiring anyway but also do that squeaking thing that freaks out a lot of other fish. Loaches such as horseface loaches would also be ideal, assuming they had the sand and rocks required to hide. Punchy dwarf cichlids like kribs seem to work well too; after the SAPs been attacked by these territorial cichlids a couple of times, they seem to ignore one another.

The perfect companions in my opinion are Carinotetraodon irrubesco. Lots of people have kept these two species together, and they seem to completely ignore one another, except perhaps at feeding time. They make a nice contrast in shape, activity and colour as well.

Cheers, Neale

great info, thanks a lot! i have a 300litre and was looking to get 2 but i do have angels and gouramis - maybe they'll have to learn to swim faster!! LOL.

 

[fergalthefish]

i also got red-eye tetras, a black skirt and pictus. what if i set up a tank just for them? what minimum size would i need?

 

[nmonks]

The tetras should be fine; the Pimelodus pictus a bit more difficult to say. Would depend on how many specimens (pictus catfish are schooling fish, as I hope you know). If you had so few pictus catfish that they were already nervous and unhappy, any occasional nipping from the SAPs could well push them over the edge.

To be honest, if I was setting up the perfect SAP tank, I'd eschew tankmates altogether. Get a 30-40 gallon tank, buy half a dozen (or more) puffers, get a really decent filter to create bags of water current, and then decorate with a stack of bogwood and soft sand. Perhaps a few plastic plants, though SAPs don't really care. This way, you can use snails as food without worrying about the fact hungry SAPs sometimes go nipping their tankmates. SAPs have those ridiculously fast growing teeth, so snails do seem to be essential.

You could easily add a trio of C. irrubesco, as and when you see them for sale.

Cheers, Neale

i also got red-eye tetras, a black skirt and pictus. what if i set up a tank just for them? what minimum size would i need?

 

[digdog]

ark aquatics in canterbury kent had 20 or 30 saps last weekend but werent for sale yet. 01227 738209 if interested.

 

[fergalthefish]

ok, so are there ANY freshwater puffers that i could have in my current tank - its a 300litre with red-eye tetra, black skirt tetra,2 pictus,bn plec,2 angels, dwarf rainbows, 4 honey gouramis,corys.it's well over-filtered too.

 

[Mr._Fishy]

South American Puffers are the most docile of all puffers. If these will not work, chances are no other puffer will.

Ryan

 

[nmonks]

None will work in this community. Puffers just aren't community fish in the same sense as, say, Corydoras. You can sometimes keep them with tankmates, but there's only a limited selection of options.

Cheers, Neale

ok, so are there ANY freshwater puffers that i could have in my current tank - its a 300litre with red-eye tetra, black skirt tetra,2 pictus,bn plec,2 angels, dwarf rainbows, 4 honey gouramis,corys.it's well over-filtered too.

 

[San O Fisher]

None will work in this community. Puffers just aren't community fish in the same sense as, say, Corydoras. You can sometimes keep them with tankmates, but there's only a limited selection of options.

you said before that they might be able to be kept w/ a pictus cat, I have currently have a schoal of 3, w/ a syno and i will be adding 4 plecs in the coming month or so. the tank is 55 gallons, does this work?