Keeping An Odd Ball

[cichlidman29]

im thinking of keeping a figure 8 puffer in a 10 gallon tank by himself.

ive read up that they can live in both brackish, and freshwater, but which is best?
and also that they eat bloodworm.
will they eat anything else?
also with being the fish they are, there teeth are always growing, and without snails...will they die?

 

[minnnt]

Figure 8 Puffers prefer and do best in brackish water conditions. Freshwater may leave them susceptable to infections and disease i believe. But this is not to say that they cannot live in freshwater.

With regards to teeth, if there isn't enough presence on snails etc then their teeth may require trimming by you. It's a bot nerve racking, but easy enough to do. I followed some video's on youtube on how to do it.

They eat a wide range of food, but will probably not take dry foods such as flakes or pellets, so you will have to ensure plenty of live/frozen food. Mine get a mix over the week of prawns, bloodworm, brine shrimp etc.

Here, have a quick read through this thread, some great info from Neale in there...

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/381409-figure-8-puffer/

 

[nmonks]

As minnnt says, they do need brackish water.

The idea they can live in freshwater seems to be caused by confusing this puffer with another species. To cut a long story short, there's a freshwater species (that looks completely different!) called Tetraodon palembangensis, and in the past that name got attached to the Figure-8 Puffer. So, when people looked up the needs of Figure-8s, they read up on the needs of Tetraodon palembangensis. Within the last ten years or so, the correct identity of the Figure-8 has become established, it's a fish called Tetraodon biocellatus.

Now, some sources still describe Tetraodon biocellatus as a freshwater fish, e.g., Fishbase, and that may be a hangover from the past. But recent reviews, e.g., Aqualog, confirm that this is a brackish water species. You don't need a very high salinity, SG 1.002-1.003 will do just fine, but you can't keep this puffer in freshwater indefinitely.

Cheers, Neale