Red Eyed Red Tailed Puffer

[sjcneedshelp123]

Hi all,

I've decided upon getting an RERT puffer for my rio 125. a couple of questions, though;

1. would it be better to get a male or female? - by 'better' i mean the more personable sex.
2. How many other small, fast fish could i fit in after the puffer? at the moment i only have a bristlenose plec in there but i know puffers take up more 'space' than proportional to their size.


Cheers, Sam.

 

[nmonks]

1. would it be better to get a male or female? - by 'better' i mean the more personable sex.

Males are only mildly territorial; in a good sized tank they get along fine with females. I have two males and two females in 180 litres. Provide lots of rocks and floating plants. The main thing is to avoid the much more aggressive C. lorteti; the two species are widely confused by retailers.

2. How many other small, fast fish could i fit in after the puffer? at the moment i only have a bristlenose plec in there but i know puffers take up more 'space' than proportional to their size.

Install your puffers and see how they behave. They aren't nippy or aggressive in most cases, but some specimens have been reported to act unusually violently; never seen this myself, but have heard reports. Again, misidentification could be too blame, but why take the risk? See how things go, and if it looks good, add some fast midwater tetras or danios, but keep in mind you might need to move them if you find signs of nipping. One idea might be to install a fish species that's semi-aggressive or nippy itself, for example serpae tetras or Ameca splendens; I have some of the latter with my SAPs and C. irrubesco, and they're working very well.

Cheers, Neale

 

[Xenon Junkie]

I agree with NMonks,
watch your puffers and base it on there behaviour, i havsome Red eyed red tailed puffers myself and havent seen any overly aggressive behaviour. A Bit of fin nipping here and there but what do you expect from a speciewhich is known to be nippy