Sphoeroides Annulatus Bullseye Puffer

[ac106]

LFS just got a ton of these in. I looked on fishbase.org and they said "reef-associated; brackish; marine"


So are these guys marine puffers that start out in brackish water? I think the LFS has them in fresh right now. Also fishbase said 44cm/17"! Do they get this big in captivity?

 

[nmonks]

Ebert, in the Aqualog puffer book, includes these fish. Says they're peaceful and only rarely fin-nippers. Apparently they dig into the sand. A lot of the marine puffers do that; it's very cute.

Do note they're subtropicals. So they'd want a room temperature aquarium rather than a tropical one.

Cheers,

Neale

PS. No idea about growth rate. I'd imagine 30 cm would be the tops in captivity, and only then after 3-4 years. Puffers don't seem especially fast growing.

 

[ac106]

Hi Neale,

So how long could he stay in brackish before he would have to transition to marine?

 

[nmonks]

Not sure. I think you would probably be fine keeping these are SG 1.012-1015. Whilst they are described as marine fish, a lot of these euryhaline species are not that bothered, provided water quality and water chemistry are otherwise good. The big thing to remember with these borderline brackish species is that they need marine-quality filtration and oxygen levels.

Cheers,

Neale