Potato puffer/Tetraodon suvatii

[hellohefalump]

My lfs (the Aquatic Design Centre in central london) has potato puffers. I've grilled the staff, and the boss says he's certain they're definately freshwater not brackish. They look like potatoes. They sit on the bottom of the tank all day making no movement at all. They are about 6 inches long. They have red eyes.

The shop doesn't know the latin name and couldn't find it in their book. I've searched 'potato puffer' on google and found nothing. Does anyone have any info? I've bought a tank and it's arriving on Saturday. I'm going to put sand in it and make some caves out of slate and wood.

I'm going to feed it river shrimp, cockles, bloodworm, snails etc.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

well, since none of the brackish puffers look like angry brown rocks, you should be safe on that one.

what size tank have you bought? as i'm sure you are aware, No Tankmates.

if you can give some more descriptive characteristics, someone here might be able to identify it.

• is it a mostly solid color or spotty?
  what colors are on its skin?
  are the eyes dull red or bright red?
  has it got a long face or a short face?
  is the belly the same color or significantly lighter?
  does its skin have just a few ring-shaped scars or many?
  is it mostly symmetrical or does it look hunched over or hump-backed?

other than tank size, activity levels, and relative territoriality, the care for most puffers is rather the same: shelled and meaty foods, very clean water, no tankmates beyond potential feeders, an appropriately sized hidey-hole, plants if you can manage to get them started. the biggest issue is really the size of the tank, as the rest can be easily adjusted as you go.

 

[chris_1127]

if you use the search function for potato puffer, someone asked the same thing a few months back, think there are some pics in the answer too.

lol angry brown rocks, what a great description!!

 

[Mr Miagi]

Heres that thread....

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...=0&#entry618404

Goodluck with the 'angry brown rock'

 

[pica_nuttalli]

still, please give us answers to as many of my questions as possible. as you may have guessed, "potato puffer" is just a name some store clerk made up. it may or may not be the same as the previous thread (a scientific name would really be helpful here.)

but odds are pretty good that its a murius...

--EDIT--
pulled a Quayle...

 

[Pufferpunk]

Look at this list of puffers for ID: Pufferlist

 

[hellohefalump]

is it a mostly solid color or spotty? mottled like a potato
what colors are on its skin? sandy brown colours
are the eyes dull red or bright red? I can't remember... I think they were dull though
has it got a long face or a short face? longish
is the belly the same color or significantly lighter? couldn't see it's belly, it was lying on the sand
does its skin have just a few ring-shaped scars or many? a few
is it mostly symmetrical or does it look hunched over or hump-backed? symmetrical.
like this but more sandy and with rings on it's sides near the pectoral fins:

like this but yellower w red eyes:

the fish shop man said they like to hide in the sand and jump out at little fishes that swim past. Does sound like a Congo puffer...

The fish shop said I should be able to keep one in a two foot tank.

 

[hellohefalump]

THESE ARE THEM!!!!!!!!!! yay!! yes, congo puffer

 

[hellohefalump]

oh yeah... and can I keep one with a 1" collomesus asellus? Would the congo know he was a poisonous puffer fishy and not try to eat him? or would he try anyway?

 

[CFC]

It would try to eat it, congo puffers can only be kept alone or with other congo puffers.

 

[hellohefalump]

thanks, ok, I'll keep him alone. Was just wondering if fish knew other fish were poisonous...

 

[Pufferpunk]

Try to get that puffer off a diet of fish (probably what the shop is feeding him) & on to other foods: shrimp, crayfish, worms, etc. as fish are fatty & will cause liver problems.

 

[hellohefalump]

ok pufferpunk, will do. one more question...

I have a lfs near me that sells 15 live river shrimp for a pound. If I were to put 15 shrimp in his tank, would he eat them all at once, or would he eat them gradually as he got hungry?

 

[SirMinion]

Gradually.

As Congos are 'couch potatoes' they don't require much food at all so he will eat as and when he needs it.
We fed our congo live river-shrimp, frozen cockle, mussel & prawn.
Congo puffers are the only puffer that will absolutely not eat snails.

Congos naturally come in several colour morphs including black, marbled, red, brown and sandy, but are cabable of changing their colour dramatically to indicate mood, intent & stress levels.

You mentioned a ring near his pectoral fin, this could possibly be a bite mark from bagmates during shipping or tankmates. Puffer bites are circular or triangular due the the layout of their four teeth (tetra-four odon-teeth)

 

[hellohefalump]

no I don't think they're bite marks... all of them have them and they look more like markings... like in the picture (second to last that I poseted).

thanks for clearing up the gradually or all at once question