# Freshwater pufferfish?



## _jake_ (Jul 3, 2008)

What can you tell me baout these guys?. My lfs, stocks them but are sold under the names of 'freshwater puffer' and apparently grow to 4" and in my opinion would probably some sort of spotted or leopard species as they are yellow with black blothches?. My tank would probz be to small but my dads wouldn't (6ft long). Might have to persuade him to get one??:whistling2:

They got great little personallities.:flrt:


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## Marinam2 (Sep 4, 2007)

I think i know the ones your on about and as far as i am aware all puffers need brackish water not freshwater!!

Marina


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## _jake_ (Jul 3, 2008)

Marinam2 said:


> I think i know the ones your on about and as far as i am aware all puffers need brackish water not freshwater!!
> 
> Marina


 Humm... Its strange becuase my lfs, is really good. Great stock, great advice. You even need proof of what fish you have in your tank before they sell them!. There great, but annoying at the same time. I'd thought they'd be selling the right type of fish, hummm..... .


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## bullet tooth t0ny (Apr 24, 2008)

there are some freshwater puffs out there and would die in salt water conditions.


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## Tehanu (Nov 12, 2006)

Did it by any chance look like this?


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## Doodles (Aug 4, 2007)

Nice Spotted Puffer!

I used to keep Red Eyed Puffers. They are pure freshwater. Brilliant little things but need to be kept alone.


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## Berber King (Dec 29, 2007)

Marinam2 said:


> I think i know the ones your on about and as far as i am aware all puffers need brackish water not freshwater!!
> 
> Marina


Ive got South American Puffers,purely a freshwater species.Also various Dwarf Puffers are freshwater.


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## Marinam2 (Sep 4, 2007)

Okay i'll hold my hands up looks like i was wrong.

Marina


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

Marinam2 said:


> I think i know the ones your on about and as far as i am aware all puffers need brackish water not freshwater!!
> 
> Marina


 
not true. There are quite a few true freshwater species. as well as brackish and full marine species.


Anyways, probably a spotted puffer. Nice little fish but not good in community tanks. They are prone to aggressive outbursts towards small fish


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## Marinam2 (Sep 4, 2007)

mike515 said:


> not true. There are quite a few true freshwater species


See above!!

Marina


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## Ally (Mar 8, 2006)

Puffers are great, but best kept in a species tank, they can be very nippy with other fish and are often out-competed for food.


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## labmad (Sep 23, 2007)

Doodles said:


> Nice Spotted Puffer!
> 
> I used to keep Red Eyed Puffers. They are pure freshwater. Brilliant little things but need to be kept alone.


i currently have 2 red eye puffers that cost me a fiver each in my lfs and are great, yep they need to be on their own, mine have some danios and some cardinals for tank mates at the mo but am on the lookout for a rekord 96 just for the 2 puffers


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## _jake_ (Jul 3, 2008)

They are soo cute though:flrt:
Sorry my fenimsm just jumped out.


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## Heppy (Apr 11, 2007)

Marinam2 said:


> I think i know the ones your on about and as far as i am aware all puffers need brackish water not freshwater!!
> 
> Marina


There are loads of freshwater puffers

Pufferfish, puffers (freshwater and brackish)

My guess is that they are the south american species Colomesus asellus


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## StevenPeri (Oct 3, 2008)

Saedcantas said:


> Did it by any chance look like this?


These are the 1s i got they are pygmy puffers. I got told they only needed fresh water but mine got ill. Now i put a bit of salt in with them and they are great. Just a word of warning there beaks grow huge and need to be cut down every so often otherwise they cant eat.


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## StevenPeri (Oct 3, 2008)

Oh yeah btw never put them in ith any other fish because these puffers will kill almost any fish :devil:


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## blackdragon (Jun 27, 2008)

figure 8 and dwarf puffers are about the only true fresh water puffers you will find in the pet trade, gsp or green spotted puffers are offten sold as fresh water as they are born in fresh water but migrate to the sea when adult so you have to add salt as they grow and get to full salt water by adults for them to live long lifes.
there beaks do grow like rabbits teeth so you have to feed them snails so that they can ware the beak down 
they will take big chunks out of any fish you keep them with so best kept alone
they are ace little fish i used to keep them befor i found the wonderfull world of snakes


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

StevenPeri said:


> These are the 1s i got they are pygmy puffers. I got told they only needed fresh water but mine got ill. Now i put a bit of salt in with them and they are great. Just a word of warning there beaks grow huge and need to be cut down every so often otherwise they cant eat.


 
1. these are NOT pygmy puffers. that fish is a spotted puffer, completely different species

2.They do only need freshwater. They are a 100% freshwater species. Salt can be used to cure other health isues which may be why it has helped your pygmy

3.You should not be having to cut down it's beak. You should be feeding foods with shells to help wear down the beak before it gets too big. If you aren't then you aren't looking after your fish properly. how do you go about cutting down the beak? I can't work out a way that isn't stressful for the fish.


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

blackdragon said:


> figure 8 and dwarf puffers are about the only true fresh water puffers you will find in the pet trade, gsp or green spotted puffers are offten sold as fresh water as they are born in fresh water but migrate to the sea when adult so you have to add salt as they grow and get to full salt water by adults for them to live long lifes.
> there beaks do grow like rabbits teeth so you have to feed them snails so that they can ware the beak down
> they will take big chunks out of any fish you keep them with so best kept alone
> they are ace little fish i used to keep them befor i found the wonderfull world of snakes


 
adult green spots have been found living in freshwater. Most will migrate to brackish and saltwater with age, but a few do stay behind with no health issues.

They can be raised in freshwater tanks and still live a good 15 years. salt is not needed, can be helpful with some but the majority will be fine without it


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## blackdragon (Jun 27, 2008)

sure they can survive with just fresh water but do you want them to just survive or do you want them to thrive, head over to some of the puffer fish forums and you will see that adults kept at full salt water is how most people keep them, you could make the tank high brackish but full salt water would be more easy to run


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## Heppy (Apr 11, 2007)

blackdragon said:


> figure 8 and dwarf puffers are about the only true fresh water puffers you will find in the pet trade.
> 
> 
> This is not true, B.A.S in bolton currently have have hairy puffers in the same shop ive also seen congo, fahaka, Mbu, Target, red eyed, palembeng, arrowhead.
> ...


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## labmad (Sep 23, 2007)

mike515 said:


> 1.
> 3.You should not be having to cut down it's beak. You should be feeding foods with shells to help wear down the beak before it gets too big. If you aren't then you aren't looking after your fish properly.


I will hold my hands up now :blush:, in the few weeks i have had my 2 red eye puffers they have not been given snails, but a mix of frozen foods and some flake etc ........which snails should they be fed.....is it the Malaysian Trumpet Snails, if so i will order some off the bay for em 

cheers


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## blackdragon (Jun 27, 2008)

well was just trying to offer some help as i have lots of experience with puffers but im not gonna get into a debate over how to keep them on hear as i dont care that much now i dont keep them any more
as i leave this thread i will leave this link The Puffer Forum • The Puffer Fish Care Community
for the op if he wants to get some its a good forum to get some info about them


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

they can thrive in freshwater. they will ive just as long, there is no noticeable difference in behaviour, and their immune system is unaffected.

Surely thriving is a fish that is kept in a way that has no adverse affect on health, behaviour and general well being? and that can be achieved in freshwater


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## Tehanu (Nov 12, 2006)

Our Green Spot "Edgar" eats malaysian trumpets, prebashed winkles, krill etc, he's about 3" currently and lives at SG 0.006. 

Incase anyone wondered!


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## StevenPeri (Oct 3, 2008)

mike515 said:


> 1. these are NOT pygmy puffers. that fish is a spotted puffer, completely different species
> 
> 2.They do only need freshwater. They are a 100% freshwater species. Salt can be used to cure other health isues which may be why it has helped your pygmy
> 
> 3.You should not be having to cut down it's beak. You should be feeding foods with shells to help wear down the beak before it gets too big. If you aren't then you aren't looking after your fish properly. how do you go about cutting down the beak? I can't work out a way that isn't stressful for the fish.


I didnt come on this forum for an argument. and btw, the way i cut the beak was how the vet told me to do it. Put them in a seperate tank with a powder that calms them right down so they are barely moving. cant remember the name of the stuff. Then take them out in your hand and cut the beak with a sissors. I feed my pygmy puffers, spotted puffers or whateva u wanna all them, snails, shrimp, and lots of frozen types of fish to break there beak down but it didnt work.

Hey if your a vet no problem but my vet gets paid ££££s to know about these species :2thumb:


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## labmad (Sep 23, 2007)

Saedcantas said:


> Our Green Spot "Edgar" eats malaysian trumpets, prebashed winkles, krill etc, he's about 3" currently and lives at SG 0.006.
> 
> Incase anyone wondered!


coolio - i will get myself some malaysian trumpet snails for the puffers then  - cheers


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

StevenPeri said:


> I didnt come on this forum for an argument. and btw, the way i cut the beak was how the vet told me to do it. Put them in a seperate tank with a powder that calms them right down so they are barely moving. cant remember the name of the stuff. Then take them out in your hand and cut the beak with a sissors. I feed my pygmy puffers, spotted puffers or whateva u wanna all them, snails, shrimp, and lots of frozen types of fish to break there beak down but it didnt work.
> 
> Hey if your a vet no problem but my vet gets paid ££££s to know about these species :2thumb:


 
It an a pointless procedure to go through which can be risky to the fish. If it's the sedative I'm familiar with then it's similar to anesthetic in humans. Can be risky to put the fish 'under' and can cause adverse health issues. Like I said there is no need for this when you can control it through diet. Sorry, but vets should be telling you how to manage it in the best way for the fish, which is not by sedating it and then chopping them down yourself. more work for you, worse for the fish and generally just too much hassle in general


To wear down the beak, nearly everything you feed should be shelled. Mussels, cockles, whole shrimp. All stuff you can find for low prices at any frozen fish counter. You can basically feed anything with a shell that has meat in it. Things like fish, and shelled shrimp won't wear down the beak because they are soft. If it didn't work, you didn't use enough shelled stuff. You can feed exclusively with shellfish if you need to. 

It's like rodents they need to knaw on things to stop their teeth growing.


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## Berber King (Dec 29, 2007)

Totally agree on food wearing down the teeth on most puffers,but my South Americans teeth seem to grow no matter what i feed them.Getting to the point where i may have to undergo the risky procedure of clove oil and nail clippers.Something ive always wanted to avoid (and fed hard-shelled foods),but from research it seems this species always seem to need treatment,regardless how many snails and cockles they get.


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

full crab is good. Because it's a much bigger food source it forces the puffer to actually go through the shell rather than scooping out the soft stuff


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## Berber King (Dec 29, 2007)

Would claws work? My puffers are only around 2".Initially they would only take bloodworm,now will have a go at most things.I just have to ensure they get to snails before the clowns do.


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## Luvbug19 (Feb 10, 2009)

I have 5 figure 8 puffer fish. They stay relatively small (2-3" i think) There very charachterful little things! They are agressive so have to be housed in their own aquarium.They can live in freshwater but require more brackish water as they get older. We've added around 1-2 teaspoons per gallon & there doing great :2thumb:


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