Community Tank Pufferfish 1: Carinotetraodon irrubesco My Carinotetraodon irrubesco were purchased from Wholesale Tropicals in London. Within a couple of weeks of purchase both specimens were covered in patches od dead skin and were shedding large amounts of mucus as well. Althought it was difficult to diagnose the problem, I treated them by using saltwater dips and by adding eSHa 2000 anti-fungus and finrot. The saltwater dips entailed placing the pufferfish in 1 litre containers of aquarium water that had about 35 grammes of cooking sea salt added, i.e., a salinity about equal to seawater. Freshwater pufferfish have a very high tolerance of salt water and even when they were removed after 20 minutes they showed no signs of distress. Within hours of dipping most of the dead skin and mucous had falled away, but a second dip was performed after a week. This treatment seemed to fix the problem, and since that time these pufferfish have been entirely trouble-free. Though reputed to be fin-nippers by some authors, my specimens at least have proved to be entirely peaceful, and in over a year have shown no attempt to nip or otherwise molest any of their tankmates. In terms of care, they have proven to be easy to keep, and happily eat bloodworms, krill, and bits of mussel and prawn. They may eat snails, but I haven’t seen them do so. The male and female get along reasonably well, largely ignoring one another though the male will sometimes chase the female if she swims too close. Community Tank Pufferfish 2: Colomesus asellus After having one South American pufferfish for a while I decided to add two more; one died shortly afterwards, apparently after bumping into something and bruising itself, but the other two have thrived and generally get along well with the other fish. They did nip the fins of Corydoras and certain other slow-moving or dim fish, but they seem to be working fine with bleeding heart tetras, hatchetfish, glassfish, and halfbeaks. They show no interest at all in the red-tail pufferfish. Their level of activity is astounding — these fish seriously do not stop moving all day long, and are alert to everything going on inside the tank and outside. They enjoy watching the aquarist and are consumate ‘beggars’, swimming to the top of the tank and demanding meals at every opportunity.
This species is notorious for its fast-growing teeth. When the tank was filled with sand and had lots of Malayan livebearing snails, this problem did not seem to be too serious, and it was about a year after purchase that I first needed to trim the teeth back. Since switching over to a more rocky substrate with fewer snails available, the rate at which the teeth have grown does seem to have increased. Otherwise, these pufferfish are largely unproblematic. Bloodworms are the favoured food item, though mussel, krill, and prawns will be eaten if they are hungry. Snails, particularly pond snails, seem to be popular too. Their social behaviour is interesting; during the day they tend to be somewhat solitary, but at night they meet up and rest in some corner of the tank together. In terms of healthcare, these puffers seem to be quite robust. I've used eSHa medications (both Exit and 2000) in tanks with this species and not noticed any problems. The sickly specimen figured here was acquired via a friend who rescued it from a local aquarium shop. Although it has remarkable colouration, the fish itself is in poor condition, and suffered from long teeth, emaciation, and finrot on the tail fin. At the moment it is being force-fed because it seems to show little interest in food. Hopefully, once it learns what foods the other South American puffers are taking, it will follow suit and eat those foods as well. But right now, I can't risk it losing any further weight. Update: Success! The sickly South American puffer quickly too to frozen bloodworms, and almost at once began swimming with the other South American puffers in the tank. As a species, they do seem to thrive on company. After force-feeding the pufferfish on one occasion, it went to the bottom of the tank and looked unhappy, promptly followed by the other two specimens that swam straight down and settled down next to it! Curiously, they also turned on their “stress” colouration; whether in response to the sight of the one stressed fish, or anxious that they might be next to be man-handled, I cannot say. See also: |
Female Carinotetraodon irrubesco
Male Carinotetraodon irrubesco
Colomesus asellus - this specimen objected to being netted
Sickly Colomesus asellus
The sickly Colomesus asellus a few weeks later
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