Leiurus Puffer - Target Puffer

[simonas]

from looking at the fish profiles on here I have bought two of these fish

I had set the tank up a couple of weeks ago and got the salinity just right as I undersstand it to be -- .04 ( can't remember the exact details other than its the 04 figure and at the bottom or near there of the hydrometer scale. I got this reading from a book I read

The fish are spot on, one is bigger than other but I bought the two to make sure I end up with a bigger fish as I understand they are very territorial.

I fed mussels last night and they gulped it especially the greedy!! big one

What temperature would you be best keeping these and any further tips or potential pitfalls for me to look out for as information is quite scarce on bracksih fish?
thanks

 

[nmonks]

The SG you mean is 1.004. In other words, this water is four-thousandths more dense than plain water. 1.01 would be one-hundreth more dense, 1.1 would be one-tenth more dense, and 2.0 would be twice as dense.

Tetraodon leiurus is not a commonly traded species. It is a freshwater/low-end brackish water species, so don't keep it at an SG above 1.005. The SG you have right now is fine, but to be honest there's no real need to keep this fish in salty water and they do fine in fresh.

In the hobby, this fish is sometimes sold as Tetraodon cochinchinensis or Tetraodon fangi. It is also sometimes sold as the fang puffer, red-spot puffer, and target puffer (though some of these names may be used for other species as well). Fishbase treats these all as one species, but some aquarists divide them and treat them separately. It is a medium-sized species (up to ~15 cm, usually smaller). It isn't especially active, but it is very aggressive towards fishes in its territory, and I would be surprised if your fish exhibit not aggression towards one another at some point.

On the other hand, they are one of the very few puffers that regularly breed in captivity. If you are very lucky, you have a boy and a girl, and provided they don't actually kill each other, they might settle down to an amicable coexistence.

Mussels are an excellent diet for these fish. Add some snails and unshelled shrimp as well though, to help with wearing down the beak.

They're standard tropicals as far as temperature goes, and around 25 C plus or minus a little will be fine.

There are lots of brackish water resources, both in print and on the web. My own web site has a VERY long FAQ that covers most of the species and issues you're going to need to know about. There is a brackish water book as well as a puffer book from Aqualog, and I have a brackish book of my own due from TFH any time soon.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[Fella]

Nmonks has covered a lot of the information on these fish.

I keep one myself, and he's a great character. however, essential knowledge I would impart would include -

- They are filthy, messy creatures.
- Often they will eat as much food as they leave to make the tank dirty
- I would not house these fish with any other fish, be it conspecifics or otherwise, in a tank of any size
- I do not keep my fish in brackish water, and I believe most keepers don't either. Is there a particular reason why you're adding salt?
- These fish like places to hide. Flowerpots make great caves for them.

Be sure to enjoy your fish!

 

[simonas]

Nmonks has covered a lot of the information on these fish.

I keep one myself, and he's a great character. however, essential knowledge I would impart would include -

- They are filthy, messy creatures.
- Often they will eat as much food as they leave to make the tank dirty
- I would not house these fish with any other fish, be it conspecifics or otherwise, in a tank of any size
- I do not keep my fish in brackish water, and I believe most keepers don't either. Is there a particular reason why you're adding salt?
- These fish like places to hide. Flowerpots make great caves for them.

Be sure to enjoy your fish!

thanks very much Neale and Fella for that

I set the tank up as brackish before I bought those particular fish. My intention was as I hd a s[pare tank was to try brackish for puffers. what I'll do now is faze out the salt by changing with just freshwater? do you agree with me on that one?

they fed again last night no problem and I think that they are probably the greediest fish I have ever owned!Their bellies do not half go fat but will make sure I feed every other day.

would frozen prawns bve suitable as I give those to my fire eel and knifefish on some occasions

 

[Fella]

Nmonks has covered a lot of the information on these fish.

I keep one myself, and he's a great character. however, essential knowledge I would impart would include -

- They are filthy, messy creatures.
- Often they will eat as much food as they leave to make the tank dirty
- I would not house these fish with any other fish, be it conspecifics or otherwise, in a tank of any size
- I do not keep my fish in brackish water, and I believe most keepers don't either. Is there a particular reason why you're adding salt?
- These fish like places to hide. Flowerpots make great caves for them.

Be sure to enjoy your fish!

thanks very much Neale and Fella for that

I set the tank up as brackish before I bought those particular fish. My intention was as I hd a s[pare tank was to try brackish for puffers. what I'll do now is faze out the salt by changing with just freshwater? do you agree with me on that one?

they fed again last night no problem and I think that they are probably the greediest fish I have ever owned!Their bellies do not half go fat but will make sure I feed every other day.

would frozen prawns bve suitable as I give those to my fire eel and knifefish on some occasions

Be careful not to feed them too much! Blockages can cause big problems with puffers when digesting large loads.

I think it might be worth slowly dropping the salinity right the way down to freshwater again.

 

[nmonks]

As Fella has mentioned, these fish don't need brackish water. They _are_ found in brackish water habitats according to Fishbase, and keeping fish in brackish water can be useful sometimes. It surpresses parasites of various kinds, for example. Freshwater puffers can be kept at 25% seawater for days at a time if required, and this is a good way to treat whitespot, since they are often intolerant of copper medications.

But that said, the downside of brackish water is that there is less oxygen in it. You also can't keep plants as easily. Baensch suggests the optimum water chemistry is medium hard, pH 7.0, particularly if you want to breed these fish.

If they're growing and feeding now, then whether you keep them in brackish or not is your call. Either way probably won't harm them. But if you are going to adjust the salinity, do so by replacing 10-20% of the aquarium water with freshwater, perhaps once everyday or two, no more than that. This way, you won't shock your filter bacteria.

Keep an eye on nitrites, and if they seem to go up, lay off the salinity change for a few days. Generally, filter bacteria will adapt between freshwater and 1.005 without any hassle, but it pays to be careful! Puffers are a 100 times more intolerant of bad water quality than changes in salinity.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[simonas]

As Fella has mentioned, these fish don't need brackish water. They _are_ found in brackish water habitats according to Fishbase, and keeping fish in brackish water can be useful sometimes. It surpresses parasites of various kinds, for example. Freshwater puffers can be kept at 25% seawater for days at a time if required, and this is a good way to treat whitespot, since they are often intolerant of copper medications.

But that said, the downside of brackish water is that there is less oxygen in it. You also can't keep plants as easily. Baensch suggests the optimum water chemistry is medium hard, pH 7.0, particularly if you want to breed these fish.

If they're growing and feeding now, then whether you keep them in brackish or not is your call. Either way probably won't harm them. But if you are going to adjust the salinity, do so by replacing 10-20% of the aquarium water with freshwater, perhaps once everyday or two, no more than that. This way, you won't shock your filter bacteria.

Keep an eye on nitrites, and if they seem to go up, lay off the salinity change for a few days. Generally, filter bacteria will adapt between freshwater and 1.005 without any hassle, but it pays to be careful! Puffers are a 100 times more intolerant of bad water quality than changes in salinity.

Cheers,

Neale

cheers for that

I have changed one bucket on friday and will do another today and they look a little livelier. I'm just feeding once every other day and they wolf it down!!

great fish they are