I Have My First Mbu!

[Dorkhedeos]

the united states is the best country in the world! we dont give a crap about anything and we like fixing things instead of preventing it. and nobody has the power to change or stop us muhahhahahhaahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa







but having nice clean air and water would be nice

 

[ilovemymbu]

hi

thanks for all your comments, sorry its caused such a stir between you all. Now i'm even more confused.

 

[ilovemymbu]

and plus you've made me feel quite bad for having him. i know i should have researched him however i am doing so now.

 

[dwarfgourami]

and plus you've made me feel quite bad for having him. i know i should have researched him however i am doing so now.

And you are doing the right thing researching him- please don't feel bad about that. I am sure you will be able to do the right thing, whether upgrading or finding him a new home. Most people have ended up in similar difficulties at some stage; fishkeeping is about live and learn and we are all still learning. Sometimes threads do go off-track, this seems to have done so, but it appears to be more about bad feelings people brought to it, than anything about your post.

But those of you who got very irate because members said the fish would get too big eventually- did you not notice that Ilovemymbu SPECIFICALLY stated that he/she did NOT want to upgrade the tank by stages but wanted to know the final requirements NOW? So in this particular case, the information was perfectly relevant and called for. If you have a problem with other threads, why not post in them instead?

 

[andywg]

1,000 gallons seems a bit large to me.

The maximum possible size for the fish is 67cm. The maximum possible for a human is over 8 feet, but we don't tend to build every house for an 8 foot person.

One would have to expect 18" from this fish and consider 2 foot a possible maximum. I see no problems keeping a 2 foot fish in a tank around 8x4x2.5 feet. That only gives around 500 Imperial gallons.

Obviously more is always better, but 1,000 US seems very large. Most people will only recommend about 1,500 for a Red Tail Cat, and that is a 3 foot fish.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

don't feel bad ilovemymbu we all make mistakes and impulse buying is dead common. I'm sure all of us have done it at some point.

however your now in a situation where you must make a choices fairly quickly for the sake of the puffer.

mbu's are amazing fish, I'd love one myself but you do need a very large tank for it. It seems the advice from your lfs was really bad.

the best thing you can do is stick mbu puffer into google and get as much info as you can, some will be contradictory but once you've read enough you'll get a general idea of what is appropriate. You then need to decide weather you have the time, money and space to dedicate to keeping this fish properly. If you can't or it will take you a while to save up then your going to have to bite the bullet and take him back to the shop.

good luck with your research and I hope you come up with some decent answers. If your really stuck Sir Minion has a lovely Mbu I'm sure if you pm him he'll be happy to share his experiences with you.

 

[DiscusAngel]

most sites ive been reading are saying they get 20" in tanks sometimes 26" in the wild. so 20" i would say about a 6x2x2 tank would be fine because if its under 2ft them its got an extra 4 inches height and width. but i was reading a post ages ago about someone needing to upgrade there mbu but he never moved from one side of the tank. so if you can get a 6x2x2 i think it will be fine.

 

[DiscusAngel]

which 6x2x2 is a 180 gal.

 

[ilovemymbu]

Andywg, Miss Wiggle and DiscusAngle, thank you so much for your reponses, i am not going to give up. I appreciate your help! I am mad about animals and am determined to give Chad the life he deserves. I have made the mistake of not researching Mbu's first so i am not going to make another mistake by taking him back and maybe having someone else buy him and then them taking him back - being passed from pillar to post will be stressful for him and i dont want that, he is home now so thats it. I am actually having an extention built and am thinking that the extention now will be for him - i'll cope with the kitchen i have ha ha - he's more important.

Now, people can we please go back to my first post and answer the other questions i had about feeding etc. I am looking at websites about Mbu's and the links i have been sent but i do value peoples opinions therefore welcome yours.

Many thanks

(please dont start arguing again ha ha)

 

[ilovemymbu]

also i would add a picture of him for you all to see but i dont know how to?

 

[ant0]

www.imageshack.us

 

[ilovemymbu]

www.imageshack.us

thank you, how do i get the pic down the left side column like yours?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Andywg, Miss Wiggle and DiscusAngle, thank you so much for your reponses, i am not going to give up. I appreciate your help! I am mad about animals and am determined to give Chad the life he deserves. I have made the mistake of not researching Mbu's first so i am not going to make another mistake by taking him back and maybe having someone else buy him and then them taking him back - being passed from pillar to post will be stressful for him and i dont want that, he is home now so thats it. I am actually having an extention built and am thinking that the extention now will be for him - i'll cope with the kitchen i have ha ha - he's more important.

Now, people can we please go back to my first post and answer the other questions i had about feeding etc. I am looking at websites about Mbu's and the links i have been sent but i do value peoples opinions therefore welcome yours.

Many thanks

(please dont start arguing again ha ha)

glad to hear it!

i'll have to bow out of this post now though as my knowledge of mbu's is very limited!! I'll let the experts help

 

[fishnterrapins]

From looking after a mbu a my local lfs while working there he was about 1 ft and they had him in a 6 long x 4 wide x 4 deep foot tank that was ridiculously overfiltered (I seem to remember there being about 3 external filters on the dam thing) and he was one of the happiest (if this is possible) fish I have ever seen.

As for what to keep him with he was with with a 14" common plec.

He used to be fed every other day with cockle but he liked prawns etc as well

Thats all i know sorry

 

[ilovemymbu]

From looking after a mbu a my local lfs while working there he was about 1 ft and they had him in a 6 long x 4 wide x 4 deep foot tank that was ridiculously overfiltered (I seem to remember there being about 3 external filters on the dam thing) and he was one of the happiest (if this is possible) fish I have ever seen.

As for what to keep him with he was with with a 14" common plec.

He used to be fed every other day with cockle but he liked prawns etc as well

Thats all i know sorry

Really?! thats good to know, i have never seen this size tank for sale in shops before though, where would i get that kind of size from?