Tetraodon Mbu - Help Needed - 29/03/08 - Added Pictures

[Jazzyc]

HI Guys & Gals!

Havent posted for a while as Ive been happily keeping all my exisitng fish & not doing too much..... until Friday.... when I purchased a Tetraodon MBU Puffer from a lfs. I asked the guy if my tank (60Gal - 230 ltr) is big enough and he said it wouldnt be a problem. So I got the little bloke home and watched in amazement as he ate 12 river shrimp in one sitting! - he is only an inch long!!!
After doing some reasearch though ive found that most places say that you need at least 100 gal tank for an MBU!.... now im panicking as I really like the the little fellar but think he is going to out grow my tank...

Any advice would be apreciated......

PS - advice on setting up a shrimpery for his food would also be usefull.....

Cheers!!

EDIT: Pictures added to post at bottom

 

[nmonks]

Long term, yes, you probably have a problem there. These aren't easy to keep fish, and some have argued they shouldn't be in the trade at all.

There's a mbu article at WWM that you might find useful; I think it's the same one that ran in TFH about a year ago in case you don't have a stack of old magazines sitting on the floor somewhere! If not, then it is pretty similar, and covers all the basics. In all seriousness, the author recommends a tank upwards of 4000 litres/1000 gallons!

Cheers, Neale

 

[Jazzyc]

In all seriousness, the author recommends a tank upwards of 4000 litres/1000 gallons!
Cheers, Neale

Ok... so ill sell my car and move house!!!

I guess ill keep him until he gets a bit bigger then sell him... but ill be gutted.....

 

[clareandkarl]

We had a mbu, grew to 2 1/2 ft and lived in a tank 9ft long 3.6ft front to back and 2ft tall, that was the minimum requirement.
Your fish store is terrible advising you the way they did and should take the fish back.
I know what you mean about not wanting to let it go though, they are very personable fish and great fun to keep.
You might want to try cockles in the shells to keep his teeth down, crush them or open them at first.

Good luck
Clare

 

[Jazzyc]

We had a mbu, grew to 2 1/2 ft and lived in a tank 9ft long 3.6ft front to back and 2ft tall, that was the minimum requirement.
Your fish store is terrible advising you the way they did and should take the fish back.
I know what you mean about not wanting to let it go though, they are very personable fish and great fun to keep.
You might want to try cockles in the shells to keep his teeth down, crush them or open them at first.

Good luck
Clare

Thanks for the Info... just out of interest... how quick can I expect him to grow?

 

[clareandkarl]

Not that quickly at first, but after a year he will hit about a foot and after that grow faster.
water quality is critical with puffers and they are messy, so they need massive filtration.
Clare

 

[Jazzyc]

Not that quickly at first, but after a year he will hit about a foot and after that grow faster.
water quality is critical with puffers and they are messy, so they need massive filtration.
Clare

Guess ill only keep him for 6 months then.....

 

[clareandkarl]

could you get him a bigger tank in the future? These fish are well worth it.
Clare

 

[Jazzyc]

could you get him a bigger tank in the future? These fish are well worth it.
Clare

I wouldnt know where to get a tank that is over 100 Gal?? Any ideas?

 

[Mr._Fishy]

could you get him a bigger tank in the future? These fish are well worth it.
Clare

I wouldnt know where to get a tank that is over 100 Gal?? Any ideas?

Build it your self, have your lfs special order them, look in the classifeds, have it custom built at your house, or get a pond. You are looking at tanks around 800g though, so you ordering through your lfs or looking in the classifieds probably aren't very good option. I just put it there because my lfs regularly has tanks of over 100g and you will see a few tanks in the classifieds over a 100g.

Yes, these fish are very well worth it. They have tons of personality. If you do keep it for a few months, you will find it very hard to part with.

Ryan

 

[T1KARMANN]

if its only 1inch then chances are its not a MBU as i have never seen them imported at that size they are normally 4inch i think is the smallest i have seen

got any pitures to share

 

[Mr._Fishy]

if its only 1inch then chances are its not a MBU as i have never seen them imported at that size they are normally 4inch i think is the smallest i have seen

got any pitures to share

Hmm, come to think of it, I haven't seen a single mbu under 3 or so inches. Pics would definitely help. I have also yet to see a misidentified mbu though.

Ryan

 

[clareandkarl]

To give you an idea, we bought our 9ft x 3.6ft x 2ft glass tank for about £700 including covers but not including the stand, which we had made of 4" box steel at a cost of £300.
If you want details of people who make tanks I do know a few if you are interested.
As said before, the longer you keep your mbu, the harder it will be to part with it, assuming it is a mbu? You seemed to be in no doubt though.
Clare

 

[Ace Of Spades]

To give you an idea, we bought our 9ft x 3.6ft x 2ft glass tank for about £700 including covers but not including the stand, which we had made of 4" box steel at a cost of £300.
If you want details of people who make tanks I do know a few if you are interested.
As said before, the longer you keep your mbu, the harder it will be to part with it, assuming it is a mbu? You seemed to be in no doubt though.
Clare

Clare can you PM those details, im thinking of investing in a 6ftx2ftx2ft, do they make cabinets aswell?

 

[clareandkarl]

I have Pm`d you the details, any probs let me know.
Clare