Nile Puffer

[byron69]

I have what im told is a Nile puffer, it is about 4ins long.

it is very aggressive and will only eat cockles or real food.

does anyone have any experiance of these fish or any idea of its worth?

thanks in advance

 

[Daveo]

I don't no anything about them...sorry 8)
wait. I'll look some info up for you ok


Daveo

 

[Daveo]

Common name: Nile Puffer
Scientific name: Tetraodon lineatus
Synonyms: Banded puffer, fahaka
Size: Up to 18" (45cm), but usually smaller in aquaria - approx 8-10" (20-25cm).
Origin: Africa
Temperature: 24-26oC (75-78oF)
Tank setup: A fairly large tank with open swimming space( i'm guessing that it needs to be at least55 gallons and bigger probubly larger ).
Compatibility: can be kept with other fish but be aware that they may look very docile they can be very very aggressive. 8)


I hope that this helps you and your Nile Puffer


Daveo

 

[ryan]

More commonly known as the Fahaka Puffer, Tetraodon lineatus grow to a resonably large size of 16-20" and can be highly aggressive and often does better on its own.

 

[Opcn]

it has been described as a fish on crack and some aquarists have pondered as to how these fish get close enought to each other to breed.

 

[LadyMinion]

Indeed, they are the most aggressive freshwater puffer. Really only recommended if you can spare a large tank for it's lonesome self.

Several of the members here keep fahakas, I'm sure they'll happily give you more info. From what I hear, they are actually quite characterful and their owners are quite attached to them.

 

[isiscarrie]

hi there
i have a nile puffer called donnie ......it is true they are most definatly agressive however they are inteligent and can be taught not to attack other fish .....when ever my nile puffer is naughty i put him in a net and take him out of the water for a second and he seems to have learnt.....he now knows when his bad.....at the moment i have my puffer in a 4ft tank with two common plecos that are getting rather large and a small pim-pictus they seem to get on well now ...but it took a good few months of training ......will be upgrading donnie into a 6ft display tank soon..he will probably be on his own though as ive heard that they can get more agressive as they get older....donnie is a great little thing, he definatly recognises people but the only draw back with him is that it has taken us a year to train donnie to except frozen foods as well as live ....

 

[Opcn]

I'm not sure how its done but If you do it right you can keep more than one togetherthey will still fight however they have very thick skin and can take a bit of abuse but I'm not sure quite what is done to get them to not fight all day long. I posted an artical on fahaka breeding not too long ago I'll se if I can find it again.

 

[Opcn]

http/fish.orbust.net/forums/index.php?sh...45889&hl=fahaka

there you are

 

[Lithril]

Bryon69 these are specialist fish, if you're not absolutely certain what you're doing take it back. What size tank have you got it in?

btw these fish can get to finger removing sizes... literally.

 

[Clare]

I have a Nile puffer who is the most beautifully terrifying fish we have!!!
He is kept alone which is an absolute must and at the moment he is 8" in a 7ft tank. We got him when he was only 1" long!!!
Mine eats whelk as a favourite but also takes cockles in shells to keep his teeth down. At first he wouldn`t eat these but i kept taking them out when he left them and replacing them and soon enough he decided to try one.
He also eats prawns, mussels and squid occasionally.
He is very aggressive and i am concerned that people would consider keeping them with anything else, let alone their own kind.
Please be careful when taking puffers out of the water, most info. suggests never netting but transferring puffers via bags. They can take in large amounts of air and not be able to expell it. This condition can be fatal unless the fish is burped, not something i want to try on Gomez without chain mail gloves.

Despite being savage, he is a great character who recognises me when i walk in the room and sulks if it`s not his mum who feeds him! He likes his large stone to lay behind and bogwood but happily swims around. He has beautiful red stripes, and a lovely yellow underneath. Plants are necessary as he loves to wreck them or to sulk in them if he doesn`t get fed on time!
Definately a specialist fish though.

 

[Lithril]

Clare, have you got any pics of your fish, I get jealous evertime I read your posts

 

[Clare]

Sorry, i don`t. I do have a friend who is really into photography though, and i am hoping to get him to take some pictures for me when he gets back from his holiday.
My little camera doesn`t do the fish justice.
What fish do you have?
I am also not sure how exactly i go about posting photos on this site so i would appreciate any info on that, the local school wants to do a trip here to see the fish after the summer holidays and it is nice to share these wonderful creatures.
Gomez really is a stunner, but then again so is Hamish, our mbu. Ferdinand, out Perruno cat has actually grown so much recently and he also is very attractive but we have a lot of fish which are more for personality.
Our albino oscar is huge and was in the shop with a ticket on saying he needed lots of TLC. He had been kept with aggresive fish an all his fins were torn and bleeding, he`d lost all his colour trying to blend in and stop them from bullying him and at one time had servere hole in the head.
He is now looking mush better and is very happy in an 8ft tank but his colour never came back, well, only slightly and he will always look a mess. Having said that though, jack has a huge place in our hearts and still deserves to be photographed with the others as he is stunning in his own special way.

 

[byron69]

Bryon69 these are specialist fish, if you're not absolutely certain what you're doing take it back. What size tank have you got it in?

btw these fish can get to finger removing sizes... literally.

I have a 55 gallon 4 foot tank and have been experianced with many types of tropical fish for the past 7 years, thanks for the concern tho.

He (i assume that "he" is a he ) is my favourite fish and is very clever and amazing to watch, he is about 4ins at the moment and i got him when he ws about an inch, he is quite aggressive but as long as he is fed on time he doesnt give the other fish any problems.

I think it helps that i have a well established tank and many larger fish, although i wish to get rid of my plec's as although they are great to watch, they are now too large for the tank ( 13 - 17 inchs ).

Thanks for all the advice tho, OPCN that acticle on breeding is very useful, thanks.

I hope to post some pics soon but need to reduce the size.

watch this space!!!

 

[Puffer_freak]

Seen a pic in ma puffer book! How nice, beautiful !!! I feel so jealous at whoever has the Mbu (sorry, didn't read the name! )), I'm only allowed Green Spotted! By the way, just looked it up, the male Nile Puffers are meant to be more colourful than the females!