pig nose puffer?

[andruboz]

[its freshwater, but this is where puffer people hang out]

a.k.a. arrowhead puffer, a.k.a. Tetraodon suvattii.

does anbody have one? my lfs has one in a 10 gallon with a black belt cichlid in an out of the way corner, so its been there for 5-6 months. i've been thinking about doing a 'mercy purchase' [good a excuse as any for buying a puffer] but i cant find anything about them except they grow to about 4.5" and they have a face only a mother could love.

they said it eats goldfish and ghost shrimp and snails.
dont really want to get into buying golfish feeders again, but alwasy have a fresh crop of guppies around here.


http://store1.yimg.com/I/fish2u_1724_37739308

[ChilDawg]

www.***************** has this fish for sale and they have info on puffers. I'll look at other sources if you need them after you see this one!

[Pufferpunk]

Here are some interesting info from some owners & other sites:

"I recently obtained one of these fellas for 20 bucks at my local LFS.
To say the least this fish is on crack! He was all settled in my Freshwater tank , with a nice sandy bottom with some live plants and rocks. I also kept 2 kissing gouramis an electric blue one glass cat and 4 red eye tetras.

Well before bed last night I watch my fish everynight before I go to bed,but anyways he starts going up and down the Tank Splashing Horrifically at the top. Well he ends up settling down finally so I go to bed , mind you my water is fine and nothing is wrong with the tank.

Well Next morning wake up and wammo , theres my lil guy laying in the sand having a good ol time while my tank was hit by a major earthquake

Total Casualties:

4 Red Eye Tetras
1 Kissing Gourami ( This fish was 3 inches long)
1 Electric Blue.
All plants uprotted and destroyed
Plastic Scenery moved 4 inches.

He seriously had some problem that he couldn't cope with I have read the available info on the and I highly suggest this fish to live in a Single Tank.

But they are very pretty and Cool fish , But Community isn't in there Vocab."

Here's some more info: "Arrowhead, T. suvattii (valid): No noticeable external differences between the genders. Designed to eat fish. Not recommended in a tank with fish you value. Occurs only in the Mekong basin of Thailand and Laos, in the mainstream and larger tributaries in places with muddy or rocky (as opposed to sandy) substrate, but not in the rapids like some of the other Mekong basin puffers. It resembles the T. miurus of African origin, but the resemblance has not yet been tested for a hypothesis of relationship."

"A exclusively freshwater fish from South Asia, is not at all meant to be together with groups of fish in an aquarium."

"T. suvatti pursue their prey in addition, quite speedily. They are nearly always successful and their attack is optimized by their strong teeth. Small fish are devoured immediately under violent chewing movements in the whole. Larger prey fish are first killed and gradually eaten.

Aggression is not as strongly pronounced with this kind, in my observations, as with the Congo Puffer. Preferable however is a large aquarium with as large, well structured a surface area as possible. There the fish can stay out of the puffer's way. Later assigned animals are usually mercilessly pursued by the puffer already acclimatized. Often an uncommon attitude does not permit the keeping of these fish with other species or even their own kind. If kept with others they should be frequently observed.

To intruders T. suvattii react immediately with great unrest. To begin they will only stare at the intruder. If the puffer is over the opponent in the clear, he ascends with threateningly lowered head, opens the muzzle and swims slowly towards the intruder. Usually this is sufficient to inspire the enemy to leave. If that is not the case, T. suvattii shows the opponent its broadside and inflates its body through water sips to a imposing size. Inflating makes unpleasant noises. Probably the opponent is to be irritated and intimidated by these unusual noises. Threateningly and impressively the inflated puffer swims in a zigzag before the opponent back and forth. The head is lowered and the open muzzle with the sharp teeth displayed. If the intruder does not vacate at this point the puffer will inflict serious bites.One can simulate this interesting behavior with the help of a small hand mirror. The puffers will attack their own mirror image."

[andruboz]

oh my, he sounds like a serious piece of work.

this explains why the black belt was up in a floating plant with all his attention focused on the brown lump in the sand.
based on pufferpunk's info, i think i will let him be for the time being.

my current major goals are to upsize my fahaka's house, and get a larger brackish tank. the money spent on a pignose would delay these events.

thanks again for the info.

[tinister]

Hello -

I just bought an Arrowhead Puffer (also called Pig Nosed Puffer) two nights ago. He's about 2.5 inches and was a little skinny when I got him. I put him in a 25 gallon FW tank with 2 Red Tailed Sharks, Ghost Shrimps, Guppies, and two Baby Lobsters.

The first night I put him in the tank - he ate about 4 Guppies, the two Baby Lobsters, and about 4 Ghost Shrimps. At least I assume HE ate them since they're gone and he's the biggest of the bunch.

Yesterday - I came home from work and there was only one Ghost Shrimp left and two Guppies.

Tonight - there's only the two Red Tail Sharks left. So I figured they were safe.

WRONG!! The Pig Nose was laying flat on the sand in it's cave and one of the sharks made the mistake of swimming by the opening to the cave and WHOOSH - The Pig Nose darted out and caught him by the tail and basically swallowed him whole in about four gulp/bites.

This wasn't a small fish he swallowed - it was about the same length as he. I was amazed.

So now there's just him and the one remaining shark to the tank. He cleaned house in less than 3 days.

Very COOL fish - if you're into badasses.

[cdawson]

**** dude, rescue that red tailed shark ASAP. If in fact it's not gone yet.

[Pufferpunk]

I told you! Expensive meals! Try to get him on dead foods & less fish.

[TONO]

whats with everyone, and empathy towards animals being eaten in a natural environment; nature doesn't work like bambi people. It's the same thing as feeding him gold fish just a bit more pricey.

[Pufferpunk]

I don't feed GF to my fish either. I was more concerned about the fish he considers pets being eaten. Isn't that why we keep fish? As pets???

[shru4u]

iI just recenlt purchased a arrowhead puffer. I had him in with an oscar in a 40 gallon. Well I purchased some feeder fish from the pet store, put them in there and naturally the two had dinner. Well later that night i was watching my puffer...(cause they are so cool) and he was by himself in the tank and just puffed up for no visible, aparent reason. Then unfortanetly .....died. I checked online and it said that when the puff it really stresses them out and the place i got it from said "yes, it could cause death when the puff ". I researched some more and found out it is not good to feed them feeders from the petstore because pet stores are notorious for diseased fish. Especially feeders. I think that's what killed it . He was in there for like 4 days and then i fed him feeders once and he was fine. I fed him differnet feeders from a different store and he died. So I was wondering how to quarantine fish.

[shru4u]

.[/QUOTE]In aquaria however, the T. suvatii must be trained to accept frozen foods, as it’s main staple. This is necessary due to the increasingly poor conditions most fish are kept in at many local fish stores. These conditions are consistently worse for "feeder fish" and can be detrimental to the puffer when feeding from these fish. The conditions in which feeder fish are predominantly kept are such that parasites and bacteria are abundantly present. The T. suvatii, along with all other puffer fish, are scale less and without gill covers, making them a prime target for parasitic and bacterial infection. Due to the possible illnesses resulting in the feeding of fish to the suvatii, it is essential to quarantine any and all fish that will become a meal to the puffer. The quarantine period should last for at least a week, with any medications or treatments performed during this period, to ensure proper health and quality of the live food. Feeder fish should not be a staple diet for the T. suvatii but may be given as a treat on occasion, and only after a proper quarantine period.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Just a little info.----------------------------------------------------[QUOTE=shru4u]iI just recenlt purchased a arrowhead puffer. I had him in with an oscar in a 40 gallon. Well I purchased some feeder fish from the pet store, put them in there and naturally the two had dinner. Well later that night i was watching my puffer...(cause they are so cool) and he was by himself in the tank and just puffed up for no visible, aparent reason. Then unfortanetly .....died. I checked online and it said that when the puff it really stresses them out and the place i got it from said "yes, it could cause death when the puff ". I researched some more and found out it is not good to feed them feeders from the petstore because pet stores are notorious for diseased fish. Especially feeders. I think that's what killed it . He was in there for like 4 days and then i fed him feeders once and he was fine. I fed him differnet feeders from a different store and he died. So I was wondering how to quarantine fish

[reiverix]

I feed mine frozen silversides, krill and live ghost shrimp. There's also a whole lot of crushed snail shells next to it's lair but I've never actually witnessed it eating snails. I've thought about using live guppies since I have a reliable source with guaranteed healthy feeders, but it's easier to thaw out a silverside and drag it along the tank surface.

I recently added a bunch of cherry shrimp to the tank since my breeding colony was getting too large. They might even be able to keep a population going with the suvatti. Who knows.

[shru4u]

I've got small white/clear free swimming organisms in all 3 of my tanks. They live in the gravel and sand. They seem perfectly harmless because they have been in there for about 7 months yet my fish seem perfectly healthy. I took a gravel sample with the organisms in it to two different aquariums(fish store) and they said that they are perfectly harmless and that if anything they are helping the tanks by cleaning **** underneath the gravel. They are not harming my fish but they are so **** annoying looking. What are they and how can i kill them? Aquarium salt maybe?

[gingeryang]

i've had my pig nosed puffer for a little over a year, and he's just the best! i call him my soldier, he's lived through some bad times.... i had another puffer in with him once, because it seems that even though they are really aggressive, if they are around the exact same size, they usually don't bother each other. but the other puffer was sick and had a really bad fungus thing growing on him, i bought him from the store "as-is" and he died. my soldier had some fungus, but he lived. anyway, yes, i've learned that you can't really put other fish in with these guys, cuz they will be eaten up in no time. even though it's been expensive for me, buying him live fish all the time, it's so awesome to watch him eat, i cheer him on. that sounds gross, but i'm proud of him, lol. when i first got him, he grew really fast, but now, he's slowed down quite a bit, so i've started feeding him rosy reds instead of guppies. man, he can eat like 50 guppies in just a couple of days. i was told that puffers are not in danger of choking, like cat fish and arowanas are, because as you can see from their lovely faces, they have that sort of beak-like mouth. so they can tear up a big fish and have no trouble digesting it? but, yea, he gets his own tank and live fish galore to eat to his liking, so he's spoiled!!

[gingeryang]

my fish has never and probably will never eat anything BUT live swimming fish. and he's soooo smart, when there are little fish swimmingby, he does't even LOOK at them, he always has his eyes on the bigger fish. i love him!!

[shru4u]

this live food that you are always feeding him......is it store bought feeders or home bred? And how big is your puffer now and how big was it when you got him? And is it an arrowhead puffer?


..................just interested because i have one too.

[shru4u]

and who is gonna help me with my earlier question?

[Pufferpoison]

i WOULD NOT feed this puffer live food. here should be any info you need on this species:

pig nosed puffer (http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/t_suvattii.htm)