Oddballs & Predators

[cane76]

come on then fella lets see those puffers

 

[Fella]

come on then fella lets see those puffers

Haha, I did a big post on my puffers on another forum today, give us a sec and I can copy and paste them over.


EDIT
Here we go -

And here are some of my puffers. Prepare yourself 56k, and those with big internet can see some of the worst photography ever -

Dwarf Puffers

Irrubesco

Red eye puffer. This is the same fish in all the photographs.

My Fahaka. No "55g" or "75g" growout, he went straight into a 150g where he'll stay.

Carinotetraodon salivator male, one of the first imports into the UK.

Colomesus asellus, South American Puffer.

I also have a male and female Carinotetraodon borneensis, who have their own tank, and a figure 8 puffer.

 

[cane76]

very nice pics mate i particulaly like the red eyed puffers tank
while i have your attention what would be your recomended tank size for a adult mbu?i know you know your puffers

 

[Fella]

while i have your attention what would be your recomended tank size for a adult mbu?i know you know your puffers

Well, I'd be realistic. There are 100s of these fish offered in stores, and lets face it, most of them will go in 20g longs, probably contract whitespot and die (that's life).

If I were going to keep an Mbu, I'd go for 6x2.5x2 to start with. I've never seen one 2foot in length, and they're rare to say the least, but to start with that's what I'd go for. I'd overfilter it purely because there is no point in doing anything else in fishkeeping if you ask me. And by overfiltering I mean giving it a filter on the tank which is rated for something much larger. Once the puffer gets bigger, increase the width in the tank. I've seen some pretty big tank sizes recommended, and I don;t doubt they need big tanks, but if you're realistic about it, you're never going to provide an expanse of water as big as lake tanganiyika for them, and the majority go in small tanks and get stubby tails. Go big to start with and give them the best chance possible.

The tank you've got for your rays looked like it might be big enough

 

[andywg]

i cant really see very clearly atm, but BBGs generally only accept live food, some take frozen (personally mine dont).

I think basically the conclusion to the BW or FW debate is that they do just as well in one than the other, but everyone has their own views. Personally i would rather keep mine in brackish because at the end of the day the question on everyones minds is "can BBGs be kept in FW?" not "can BBGs be kept in BW?" and imo, BBGs will probably thrive in an s/g of 1.003-1.005 but if you put them in FW then you cant really be sure, peopl have their own opinions, but why risk it.

Why is there a risk if you are replicating the fish's natural habitat? A bigger problem for this fish is people buying them and starving them to death by offering only flakes and pellets. As far as I am aware (though fishbase has no information to support this) the BBG are actually found and collected in FW, not BW. It is purely because they are gobies that they can survive in BW.

Now then, on with the oddballs and preds. Sadly, nothing for FW, only SW here. First up is a couple more pics I had on the camera of the ambon's scorpionfish (Pteroichthys ambionsis) I had. The thing died suddenly the day after eating after only having him a week. Would love to try anther one of these if I ever see one.

Next up is Frog Man, my original frogfish (Antennarius striatus). this is my "good" frog as he eats frozen and pretty much anything he can (water change hose, bubbles, anything on the end of the feeding stick, and even lures at fingers).

To show his growth in the last 6 months, here he is alongside the same bit of rock when we got him (together with cooler older pics):

Then there is the christmas present from Nina: Bert (the Antennarius hispidus) who is very closely related to Frog Man, but with a more pom-pom shaped lure (esca) than Frog Man with his worm like esca.

 

[ICE CUBE]

love da red eye puffers

 

[geo7x]

fantastic puffers fella especially like that fahaka.

Why is there a risk if you are replicating the fish's natural habitat?

ok so maybe the word "risk" that i used was a bit extreme, personally i think as a general rule of thumb it is better to advise people to keep BBGs in brackish water, instead of going into the whole complicated debate. Many experts do keep theirs in FW, however experts also suggest to newcomers to keep bumblebee gobies in brackish water, neale monks has said how he hasn't had good outcomes to keeping BBGs in freshwater as they are very prone to disease in FW and often die of it, and low end brackish water often prevents this.
edit: great fish as always andy

 

[Silvani]

Those are just wonderful puffers!! I have to ask, if you were to choose just one type, what would be your favorite and why?

 

[Fella]

I couldn't pick one! My cochinchinensis is one of my favourites, he and I have been through a lot (If you can imagine a fish being flung through the air, and going splut on a tank behind me, then you're close to the relationship I have with my cochinchinensis.)

I've also got a soft spot for my carinotetraodon borneensis, who I haven't got pictured here. One of the first imports in the UK, and I'll try and get some pictures of him and his special tank in the new year.

I'm very partial to all my puffers, always looking out for the rarer ones.

 

[Gankutsuou]

cane. Although it'll cost a bit, go and get yourself some new lighting. You can find one's specifically made to fit your hood.


That's what I just did for my 38
best of the ABF

the porthole catfish (doesn't look much like a cat to me)

All right... I'm gonna do my best to convince you to do planted eel tank.

I wish my water onion would look like this again... oooh. nice eel too.

my computer background (full size of course)

Wisteria!

Sigh... and the anorexic one who ironically died gorging himself on live brine

you should do it! DOOOO ITTTT!!!1111oneoneone unshift! unshift!

 

[atmmachine816]

fantastic puffers fella especially like that fahaka.

Why is there a risk if you are replicating the fish's natural habitat?

ok so maybe the word "risk" that i used was a bit extreme, personally i think as a general rule of thumb it is better to advise people to keep BBGs in brackish water, instead of going into the whole complicated debate. Many experts do keep theirs in FW, however experts also suggest to newcomers to keep bumblebee gobies in brackish water, neale monks has said how he hasn't had good outcomes to keeping BBGs in freshwater as they are very prone to disease in FW and often die of it, and low end brackish water often prevents this.
edit: great fish as always andy

Well I can't keep him in brackish and I don't know anybody who has brackish and no lfs's that have brackish tanks so I'll try to keep him alive as possible.

Like the frog's andywg, those are sweet fish.

atm

 

[flamingonhot]

lol I don't have many oddballs right now, but i've had almost 75 percent of the fish that have already been posted.

As for the red eyed puffers up on the second post, very nice, I had one but boy was that sucker mean.

My old stingray "Potamotrygon reticulatus".

My old breeding pair of needlenose fish. The dark male in the back is still alive today, and it's about 4 years old.

One of my Senegals...and yes it's going through a fungus stage after jumping out.

Really bad pic of my other senegal, albino. Both bichirs are lije 2-3 years old.

Old Jag.

Old dragon goby.

My favorite fish.


Those are all the pics I have uploaded at the moment. Most of the oddballs I kept were in my tanks years ago, and I had a really bad camera at that time. If I go up to an lfs on Saturday i'm going to be getting a shortnose gar, etc. though, lots of oddballs.

 

[atmmachine816]

The old dragon goby is really nice, that would be my favorite one, the other's are nice too.

atm

 

[Gnatfish]

Well, I'd be realistic. There are 100s of these fish offered in stores, and lets face it, most of them will go in 20g longs, probably contract whitespot and die (that's life).

My LFS recently got a few And last time i checked they were in tiny little 60cm in length tanks..

I don't understand why LFS would order them in, becasue if someone wanted a MBU puffer then they would do they're research into where to find one and order one in for them. The puffers must have to spend ages in those tiny tanks before anyone buys them

The average person isn't going to be able to keep one puffer, and this shop has 3 if them.

 

[cane76]

cane. Although it'll cost a bit, go and get yourself some new lighting. You can find one's specifically made to fit your hood.


That's what I just did for my 38
best of the ABF

the porthole catfish (doesn't look much like a cat to me)

All right... I'm gonna do my best to convince you to do planted eel tank.

I wish my water onion would look like this again... oooh. nice eel too.

my computer background (full size of course)

Wisteria!

Sigh... and the anorexic one who ironically died gorging himself on live brine

you should do it! DOOOO ITTTT!!!1111oneoneone unshift! unshift!

the thing is all the money i have to spend on the hobby has to go towards setting up the monster tank but i do like the idea a lot
nice pics mate your eels seem to love all the plants great job