Help With Oddball?

[brooksbychris]

hey i am at college doing a fishery management course, i have a three foot tank with lots of rock work set up and i am planning on getting fish soon when we visit the wholesalers.i am just wanting something a little different (with teeth) i have got a tank at home so i am not a novice. any advice would be good thanks lads

 

[Callum]

malawis perhaps if you have a lot of rockwork

 

[Joviella]

It may help if you let us know the size of the tank.

 

[Callum]

its about 3 foot as he says so prob 120l?

 

[brooksbychris]

yeah as i said in my fist post 3ft and around 120l i was thinking malawi but want somthing a little different

 

[fishwatcher]

If you add in plants, what about puffers? You could do a group (maybe 8-10) of Dwarf puffers, or maybe a few south american puffers.
If it's just rocks, then I think the malawis will fit in the best as far as the decor is concerned.

 

[Joviella]

sorry.....didn't realise tree roo meant 3 foot!!!!!!
Can I suggest that you look in the oddball forum on tff to see if any of the oddballs listed would suit your tank!
As already suggested,puffers may suit.Alot of puffers are brackish fish though so need salt in their water.

 

[oscar crazy]

chris get some dwarf puffer they are awesome

 

[Gnatfish]

What about some Peacock eels or Senegal bichir?

Try here:
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showforum=44

 

[OohFeeshy]

Group of exodons mayhap.

 

[joloco]

not all puffers are brackish, some are entirely freshwater

 

[Fella]

sorry.....didn't realise tree roo meant 3 foot!!!!!!
Can I suggest that you look in the oddball forum on tff to see if any of the oddballs listed would suit your tank!
As already suggested,puffers may suit.Alot of puffers are brackish fish though so need salt in their water.

This is factually incorrect in the case of pufferfish in aquaria.

The puffers typically offered in stores are -

Figure 8 puffer
Green Spotted puffer
Ceylon puffer
Porcupine puffer
Dogface puffer
South American Puffer
Congo Puffer
Fahaka Puffer
Mbu Puffer
Irrubesco puffer
Lorteti puffer
Fangs puffer

etc

Only the top 3 are considered brackish, and the GSP and Ceylon is considered to need marine conditions in adulthood. There are plenty more puffers available that I haven't listed here that are freshwater (or marine) also, so to say brackish would increase the options is simply not true.

As for a single, aggressive puffer in a 30 gallon tank, the first thing I'd say is that this fish won't be big. Puffers are messy creatures, and when kept in tanks they need to have generous amounts of space to dilute the vast amounts of pollution they create from their messy eating habits. For a 30g you could keep -

"Auriglobus modestus" - The bronze puffer. This fish would have plenty of room in a 30, but they max out at 4". It feeds primarily on the scales and fins of other fish.

"Carinotetraodon irrubesco" - the red eye red tail puffer - These fish max out at 2 inches, and are shy.

"Carinotetraodon lorteti" - Red eye puffer - Same as above but considered more aggressive.

"Carinotetraodon travancoricus" - Dwarf puffer. They max out at around an inch, and my pinned topic on them is at the top of this forum.

"Colomesus asellus" - South american puffer. Max out at 4" and are mostly timid enough to cohabit with other creatures.

"Tetraodon cochinchinensis" - Fangs puffer. Max out at 4" also, and are quite often shy fish.

"Tetraodon Miurus" - Congo puffer. Gets up to 6inches, very aggressive, but as it is an ambush fish, won't swim around a whole lot.

"Tetraodon palembangensis" - - King kong puffer. Also an ambush fish.

"Tetraodon suvattii" - Pig nose puffer. Gets to 6 inches, but doesn't swim around a whole lot.

Those are the freshwater fish available.

For a brackish water tank here are your options -

"Tetraodon biocellatus" - Figure 8 puffer. Grows to 3 inches, and requires light brackish water.

"Tetraodon fluviatilis" - Ceylon puffer. grows to 6 inches, and requires full marine conditions as adult.

"Tetraodon Nigroviridis" - Green spotted puffer. Same care as above.

It is a frequent myth that most puffers that you can keep in home aquaria are brackish.

 

[karin15]

sorry.....didn't realise tree roo meant 3 foot!!!!!!
Can I suggest that you look in the oddball forum on tff to see if any of the oddballs listed would suit your tank!
As already suggested,puffers may suit.Alot of puffers are brackish fish though so need salt in their water.

not dwarf puffers,there are many true fresh watter puffers.