# Showing off my little man! - Takifugu Ocellatus



## Christie_ZXR (May 14, 2011)

Just showing him off really! I've not long got him, and he's such a little cutie! Although he's going to be VERY hard work to look after :gasp:

He'll need very cold water and high end brackish, almost marine, conditions. So I have my work cut out with this one.

If anyone else has ever kept them, and has some tips, feel free to throw them my way!


Meet "Mushroom", the Fugu or Occelated Puffer (Takifugu Ocellatus)

Buried in the sand:









In the bag the day he came home, not looking too impressed with my driving!!









In the sand again:




























He's such a little stunner! And I'm so chuffed with him :flrt:


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## Scree (Sep 7, 2010)

Nice, he's a stunner... Looks so cool buried in the sand 

i got banned from the last forum i tried to post pics of my little man on


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## Christie_ZXR (May 14, 2011)

Ty :2thumb: I'm over the moon with him :flrt:, but apparently people have a really low success rate with these little guys. I've dug up some articles by Neil Monks, who seems to be the authority on puffers, and found a couple of other owners to quiz, so I'm hoping with all the good advice I'll manage to be one of the few who do succeed. Either way I'm going to try my best with him!

Please tell me you have a Fugu puffer too, and you maybe tried to post a picture of him on a rollerskating forum or something, making it innapropriate, and that's why you were banned?? :lol2:


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## Scree (Sep 7, 2010)

I used to keep Dwarfs, fun little guys but not as far as each other and the fins of other fish were concerned.. 

Theres a Mbu that takes my eye every time i go into my works LFS







but i can't, i just cant


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## bennystalebread (Jul 11, 2011)

awww what a handsome chappy, i'm sure all the hard work will pay off he'll be a joy to have around!


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## Moogloo (Mar 15, 2010)

He is a beauty!! Does he spend much time in the sand or does he swim about much?

Tropical Fish Forums  Neil Monks posts on there fairly regularly  he lives fairly near me lol well, less so since i moved...


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## Christie_ZXR (May 14, 2011)

Where does he live? I'm going to go stalk him!! Actually, I could just buy his book...:lol2:

I would love an Mbu! :flrt: That is, when I marry my millionaire and have a flooded room to put him in. 


At the moment Mushroom's doing a ton of glass dancing, which is worrying the life out of me! But he is gradually doing less, and exploring more. He buries himself a couple of times a day I should think, he managed to totally cover himself over the other day and scared the life out of me!! I couldn't see him anywhere, and then this little nose poked up from the sand, and he wriggled out! Was so funny to see.

I reckon his glass dancing is because I've got him in the wrong conditions, I put him straight into a FW tank at 26 degrees when he came home, which is what the shop had him in. I've dropped the temp to 24 now, and I'm going to do his first water change with salty water probably this weekend. Just don't want to stress him out with a sudden change in anything at all! So I'm taking everything really slowly. I'm hoping the glass dancing will stop once he's got a bit of salt in his water.

He came from MA in Woking btw, and the fella in there was really helpful! Although they didn't know a lot about him, which I'm not surprised at at all, he's not a very common fish. But they did get a book out for me to have a good nosey at, and put him in a poly box for me when I collected him, which was nice. :2thumb:


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## brittone05 (Sep 29, 2006)

Love him - gimme  xxx


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## Christie_ZXR (May 14, 2011)

brittone05 said:


> Love him - gimme  xxx


No! Mine! :devil: gogetyourownpuffer! :Na_Na_Na_Na:

:lol2:


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## Christie_ZXR (May 14, 2011)

*New Piccies of Mushroom*

Just a couple of new piccies of Mushroom :flrt:




























Mushrooms Tank:








Spot the puffer!


:2thumb:


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## Esfa (Apr 15, 2007)

Very nice tank! :2thumb::2thumb:

What temp are you planning on taking it down to in the end?


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## Scree (Sep 7, 2010)

Looking great Chris. So cool his lil eyes watching you from the sand in that last pic lol..

How are you finding the brackish tank? Water params staying stable?


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## Christie_ZXR (May 14, 2011)

Ty 

I'm planning on 18 degrees as a constant temerature. Apparently 15-18 is his ideal range, but since I have heaters which go down to 18, that's what I'm going to go for so there's no risk of it dropping too low in winter, and if it gets a little warmer in summer, it shouldn't be too great of a shock to him.

Considering I've been acting totally paranoid, the salinity's still really low! I've been upping it a bit too gradually I think...lol! He's only at 1.006 now. 1.018 is the target. But he's been at that for around two weeks now. Other params have been good so far. Temps have stayed low enough, amm & nitrite have stayed away, and I've managed to keep nitrate pretty low. Although I'm going to get some of those fancy nitrate and phosphate cartridges for the filter at some point, just incase.

Good news is he's going into a bigger tank soon. He's a 6" fish when fully grown, in a roughly 2x1 tank, which is fine whilst he's still a baby, but no good long term. So he's going into my community tank in the lounge, and the last of the community are moving out to other tanks. ...and big puffer sized water changes on that bloody thing are going to be a nightmare!! lol


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## Mynki (Mar 24, 2010)

Tips:

Bin the stick on thermometer as they are very innacurate. Replace with a digital one as temperature is important.

Yep, adults do need marine conditions as they grow. Most won't get to 6" though. This isn't related to stunting by small tanks they just don't get bigger than 4.5" to 5".

In mildly brackish water you could add plants from the genus Crinum such as thaianum, natans, calamistratum to help reduce NO3 naturally etc.

I'm sure you know they're poisonus to eat also? Not that I imagine you serving him up for dinner mind.....


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## Esfa (Apr 15, 2007)

RE the thermometer, do not get a glass one. Puffers have been known to mistake them for snails and bite through them. : victory:


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## caribe (Mar 21, 2010)

Lovely looking little guy.

Any updates on him?


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## Viva (Apr 19, 2010)

Nice looking little fella, good luck with him! Got to say you really have to be dedicated!


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## Christie_ZXR (May 14, 2011)

Thanks guys  

He's got the stick on one currently because of glass thermometers and puffers not being a good idea! It's only a temp tank, so I'm not too worried for the time being. 

I've had a few days off ill  so his move to a bigger tank is going to have to wait for a while, but he seems to have been doing well in the current one. He goes mad for cockles! Which is good, as they're supposed to be the main part of his diet. Also loves mussells, which is not so good! He's only supposed to have those occasionally! 

Really can't wait to get him into the other tank, only downside is I really like the decor! And sinse it's bogwood, it won't last long in the salinity he needs. I'm still debating whether to chance it and leave it in there for a bit or redecorate.


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## Mynki (Mar 24, 2010)

Buy Sumatran driftwood. It's mangrove root which is found in brackish water.


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## Graylord (Jul 17, 2007)

I wouldn't worry about glass thermometers i've kept all sorts of puffers over the years and never had one try to eat one.

Mussels are fine but they do stuff a puffer quickly and they can suffocate if aeration isn't up to the job.

You are doing well with this puffer you are obviously doing something right and with that in mind i'd be inclined to take ALL our suggestions with a pinch of salt .

Why change a winning formula .:2thumb:


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## Christie_ZXR (May 14, 2011)

Thankyou :2thumb:

Although, I did have a thought with the wood. I like the bit I've got, it's just a particularly interesting shape, not to mention it cost the o/h a small fortune!! (For what is, essentially, a bit of tree anyway!)
I'll just varnish it. Never done it, but I know I've got an article somewhere on how to, and which varnish to use. And if I want it for another blackwater tank in the future, I can always wire brush the varnish off.

How hard can it be...? (she says!! lol)


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