Puffer Questions!

[pavetheforest]

Hi, I just purhased a new tank and put two cute little spotted puffers in it. They're doing fine. Then I went to another fish shop and found an orange saddle puffer and asked if they would be okay in the same tank- he said they would. The saddle is significantly bigger then the other two, and is pretty neurotic, burrowed under the rocks as soon as i put him in, hides when i go near the tank and scares the other two. What are your thoughts ??? Should I get him out of there??

 

[nmonks]

Saddle puffers, by which I assume you mean Takifugu ocellatus, are subtropical, estuarine puffers. They should not be kept with spotted puffers, which are tropical, brackish-to-marine fish. Keeping the saddle puffers in a tank at tropical temperatures will inevitably lead to their premature death.

Saddles do like to dig, as you've noticed. They need cool water (around 18C, no more) and a specific gravity around 1.010. Spotted puffers need warm water (around 24C) and an SG between 1.010 and 1.018.

Cheers,

Neale=

 

[pavetheforest]

thanks for the quick response...i took him back to the shop right away ... any other fish i can put in with they two guys? 10 gallon .....

 

[nmonks]

Hang on a second... you have two spotted puffers in a 10 gallon aquarium? Do you realise that's a very short term (few months) home for them? Spotted puffers -- whether Tetraodon fluviatilis or Tetraodon nigroviridis -- get to around 12-15 cm in length. They are also aggressive and territorial, so you will need around 30 gallons of space per fish if you want to keep multiple specimens, and even then, there's no certaintly one won't bully the other.

In a 10 gallon tank, the only options for permanent housing are dwarf puffers, Carinotetraodon spp.

Cheers,

Neale

thanks for the quick response...i took him back to the shop right away ... any other fish i can put in with they two guys? 10 gallon .....

 

[pavetheforest]

Sorry, heres a picture of them, as i'm not excatly sure exactly what species they are...

they were in the same tank in the fish store...and seem to be buddies...

 

[Fella]

They are Tetraodon nigroviridis, green spotted puffers. Care requirements are in line with what Nmonks described.

 

[pavetheforest]

ah, well thank you everyone for your help! i guess i'll have to be getting a bigger tank in a few months...

 

[MoMa]

Ideally, you'll need 2 larger tanks as GSP's should be housed separately.