Mbu Puffers

[Fish-Noobie]

i need some info on them i heard they grow to 4ft and read they grow to 18" so how big do they really get how much g's do i need what to feed them ect and i heard if u keep them for a while u can pet them so are they tame?

 

[SirMinion]

Someone told you the only get to eighteen inches?

Boy, is that person in for a surprise!

MBU, also known as the Giant Puffer, gets up to four feet.

You'll eventually need an eight foot tank. Minimum.

 

[Earthgirl]

NO WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Ron]

This fish is only suggested for the most advanced puffer-keepers. You might as well dig a pond in your backyard for these guys!!

 

[Lithril]

Yup and the thing that makes me laugh the most is that one of the major fish shop chains in the UK (Maidenhead Aquatics) regularly advertises these as community tank fish

 

[Opcn]

a Fahaka only grows to 18" perhaps that is what you were thinking about. But it has beome apperent thet you are quite new to fish keeping perhaps you should keep other fish in the tank for now and work up to an Mbu perhaps mabey start wth some bronze puffers or something pickey but easyer than an mbu like some of the new harder discus that are available.

 

[Fish-Noobie]

no im just fasinated with them since i hear they become tame in starting reserch soon i might get one in like 5 years

 

[Opcn]

Keep in mind that just one lashing out of a hungry mbu nd you lose a good 3 fingers when hand feeding

 

[Clare]

We have a mbu puffer, he is 2ft at the moment and needs at least an eight foot x 3 foot x two foot tank, minimum.
Ours lives in with a 24" Perruno catfish and they get on fine. I have seen Mbu`s kept in community tanks with small fish which never bother them. Then others which can`t be kept with ANYTHING!
I would advise that you should know your own fish and it will become apparent what temprament each individual has.
One MAJOR piece of advice, do not put any of the larger puffers in a new or maturing tank, they cannot take the cycle.
They are a great fish but take a lot of looking after and feeding. Please do not but one unless you can provide the above sized tank, possibly for a single fish.

As for the Fahka, they are the most aggressive puffer i know and definately cannot be kept with ANYTHING AT ALL!!!!

 

[Fish-Noobie]

my friend has a fahaka and he doesnt mind hand feeding it the fahaka justs takes the food pleaces it on the bottem and starts eating it

 

[Nethius]

sorry to go off topic, but Clare can you post some pics of you fish in the photo section? i'd love to see this mbu!

 

[Clare]

Haven`t got any decent pictures, sorry, but he is a great guy and we are looking to set up a camera sometime. We have 2 8ft, 2 7ft, 2 5ft and 4 4ft tanks! Our main oddballs are;
1 elephant nose
3 butterfly fish
2 polypterus senegalus
1 delhezi
1 tyre track eel
2 sun catfish

2 toadfish/ lionfish
3 hujeta gars
2 polypterus palmas

1 polypterus endlicheri congicus
1 polypterus ornatapinnis
1 polypterus weeksii
2 pseudodoras niger
2 girraffe cats
2 pterrodorus granulosis
1 albino oscar

8 dragon/violet gobies
1 red tailed catfish (soon to go into 12ft x 4ft x 5ft tank)
5 columbian sharks

2 figure eight puffer

1 lineatus puffer

2 palembangensis puffer

1 coldwater tank mixed community
includes axelotyls, weather loach and plecs

1 community tropical,
angels
barbs
red eye tetra
clown loach
blue botia
2 leopard cactus plecs
other plecs, various eg. bristlenose, rusty, sailfin

1200 litres of water change every week without fail!!!!
Mbu and Perruno cat really must be seen to be believed! Their tank is to be upgraded to 8x3ft from an 8x2.
Hope to get some pics soon for you to see.

 

[diVer]

*drools over Clare's tanks

 

[SirMinion]

*drools over Clare's tanks

*drools over the size of Clare's house!

 

[Clare]

What do you mean drools over the size of Clares house? I live in a bungalow which currently has no roof because we are putting another story on it to make it into a house! We have just had the worst weather ever recorded in summer, thunder and rain and leaks all over!! The garage is going to look like a double garage from the front only half of it will be a fish room with the big tank and as many of the others as we can fit in. As for the tanks, we are very lucky to have tanks this size and make it our hobby. The down side to all this is that we have no holidays and feeding routines make life difficult to do anything other than care for fish.

This said, i love them all to pieces and do feel very privelaged to know these guys!