Got the ball rolling... new fish in the works

Ive been talking about getting this fish for about two years now and now that I have a tank to do it.... I just emailed The Wet Spot to see if they still have it in stock and available for shipment next week.

Any guess what Im looking to get?

A puffer!

ShortyKiloGyrl wrote:A puffer!

Yep.   

I am looking to get a Tetraodon baileyi or Hairy Puffer

This kind of goes along with a subject you posted ShortyKiloGyrl about large FW 'lobster'.

Since live crayfish are illegal in our state, I wonder if I could breed some of the legal FW 'lobster' as a food item? I might also breed some live-bearers too.

They are listed as 'lobsters' on many sale sites. I don't see why they would fall under the crayfish category. Too bad you're in Tacoma or I'd say we could go in on a deal.

I guess it would be just as easy to buy frozen crayfish and then use tongs to entice the puffer.

The blue lobster are pretty cool along with the neon red. Dont seem to hard to breed....

These guys are pretty aggressive feeders, this poor crayfish never had a chance

Are frozen crayfish easy to find? I know best buffet in lacey has some boiled ones

Wholey crap! I thought my puffer was bad. Now that I got a new phone i'll have to video him eating krill. I feed him every day from my fingers

ShortyKiloGyrl wrote:Wholey crap! I thought my puffer was bad. Now that I got a new phone i'll have to video him eating krill. I feed him every day from my fingers

On The Puffer Forum one of the members got bit really bad from 'hand feeding' her puffer. ( A hairy, by the way)
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Im not sure on the frozen crayfish, saw something that they were available at pikes place market. Seems like Ive seen them sold somewhere in a grocery store. The one Im looking at is only like 2.5" - 3" so I could probably just do frozen krill for a little while.

They look slow but they are quick little things, another video

Luckily mine is a (dwarf) GSP, It's been 2 years with me and hasn't grown any, if it has it's not noticeable. It's more of a pinch with red marks than taking anything out. Probably because he's in defensive mode as opposed to eating mode. But I've learned. I have acrylic nails and pinch the krill with my nails and feed him that route. I feel bad he has to chase it all around the tank in the current.

One thing I love about puffers is they remind me of submarines Just zooming around the water and quite and docile and then like a torpedo WHAM it hits something with force that doesn't seem possible.

OK, its done. I just sent in my PayPal payment and the fish is scheduled to arrive on Thursday.   

DMD123 wrote:OK, its done. I just sent in my PayPal payment and the fish is scheduled to arrive on Thursday.   

   yahooooooo!!! Which one did you get???     

Thursday is going to seem like
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Oh I see you got a Hairy, I was thinking you were saying two different types until I re-read it.

I asked for the 'hairiest' one they had... LOL

Sorry if it was a bit confusing, I listed scientific name and common name.

haha that's funny. Is the "hair" really spikes? Or more like bristles on a male BN?

The 'hair' is like little skin tags. No real proof but it is believed that the amount of hair determines sex. Yep the male is supposed to be hairier!

DMD123 wrote:The 'hair' is like little skin tags. No real proof but it is believed that the amount of hair determines sex. Yep the male is supposed to be hairier!

If I could house one with my GSP I'd get one I did notice that last video all the puffers have munched tails :/

The three hairy puffers should not be housed together. That is something bad waiting to happen.

DMD123 wrote:The three hairy puffers should not be housed together. That is something bad waiting to happen.

I've even heard GSP can be hard to house together. I wish I could have a couple but I'm going to upgrade his tank and try a couple knight goby's since they are bigger than my puffer is.

Want pictures! May have to just start a whole show your puffer post.

I have some pictures posted on here of him.

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Geez...I think those worms were still moving in their stomachs...yikes...and LOL. And the 1st video with the crawfish...now that one had me singing Mahna Mahna...yep!

Congrats!

cichlid-gal wrote:Geez...I think those worms were still moving in their stomachs...yikes...and LOL.  And the 1st video with the crawfish...now that one had me singing Mahna Mahna...yep!

Congrats!

Thanks, they are vicious little monsters!

ShortyKiloGyrl wrote:I have some pictures posted on here of him.

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Sooooooooooooo Cute.

Cant remember, were you going brackish with him or full salt?

ShortyKiloGyrl wrote:

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My son had a Tetraodon Palembangensis for a while. Beautiful dark red/burgundy color with red eyes. It drove me nuts though because it would NEVER move, or though it seemed. This picture above reminds me of that Dragon Puffer. Whenever I would come into the room it would just sit there and stair at me, always in the exact same spot.

Anyway, neatO DMD123!

The type I got is a lurker. It sits and waits for prey. They are such lumps you are not supposed to feed them every day.

DMD123 wrote:

ShortyKiloGyrl wrote:I have some pictures posted on here of him.

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Sooooooooooooo Cute.

Cant remember, were you going brackish with him or full salt?

Brackish, I've read they are better at brackish levels. When my mom comes over she always goes and looks at him and says how cute he is. But I can't convince her to have one.

fishNAbowl wrote:

ShortyKiloGyrl wrote:

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My son had a Tetraodon Palembangensis for a while. Beautiful dark red/burgundy color with red eyes. It drove me nuts though because it would NEVER move, or though it seemed. This picture above reminds me of that Dragon Puffer. Whenever I would come into the room it would just sit there and stair at me, always in the exact same spot.

Anyway, neatO DMD123!

I've noticed mine sleeps during the day and is awake at night. In the AM when I turn on the lights he's glidnig around and at lunch time he's laying on the bottom and at 5:30 he's still there but when I go to feed about 7pm he's active again and until 10ish when I turn off the lights he's still active.

ShortyKiloGyrl wrote:When my mom comes over she always goes and looks at him and says how cute he is. But I can't convince her to have one.

I think she needs a hairy puffer. Looks like a potato with fuzz growing on it.

She wouldn't like having to feed it feeders or cray and such. She hates seeing parent angels eat their fry. I came home from work one day to find her elbow deep in my 20 gallon breeder tank with a turkey baster sucking up newly swimming fry to save them because the parents had started eating them lol

hey D i know this is a long shot, but you could go pick yourself up a crayfish trap (they sell them at Sportco in Fife) then just drop it in your nearest river and nab up any crayfish you can. my buddy has done it in some rivers and its not illegal to harvest them, just to keep them alive. however the exception to the rule would be finding a WA native species, theres only one or two i think. might be hard but you can keep those alive np. also if your interested id be happy to catch you all the snails i can out of my 10g tank. i literally just killed 100 or so before reading this post. GL with whatever you choose, maybe breed cherry shrimp also?

Anthraxx, what type of snails is it you have i your 10 gallon? I might be interested in some. I can't keep up with my puffers demand and they are $0.25 a piece at my "L" FS.

I was looking at the hairy puffers at The Wet Spot, they were really cool looking! good luck with your new wet pet.

ShortyKiloGyrl wrote:
I've noticed mine sleeps during the day and is awake at night. In the AM when I turn on the lights he's glidnig around and at lunch time he's laying on the bottom and at 5:30 he's still there but when I go to feed about 7pm he's active again and until 10ish when I turn off the lights he's still active.

You know you may be onto something here. The fish could have been asleep! Oh, that's funny. Fish don't have eyelids, I was playing the staring game with a fish that was asleep ...   - Who feEls like a fool now, HA!

Anthraxx wrote:hey D i know this is a long shot, but you could go pick yourself up a crayfish trap (they sell them at Sportco in Fife) then just drop it in your nearest river and nab up any crayfish you can. my buddy has done it in some rivers and its not illegal to harvest them, just to keep them alive. however the exception to the rule would be finding a WA native species, theres only one or two i think. might be hard but you can keep those alive np. also if your interested id be happy to catch you all the snails i can out of my 10g tank. i literally just killed 100 or so before reading this post. GL with whatever you choose, maybe breed cherry shrimp also?

I thought about just catching my own. Just have to find a little spot. Not like thats all it will eat. The problem with the type I have coming is that its typically not a snail eater. The good news is that as a piscivore it tends to not have the beak growth issue like some others.

You know you may be onto something here. The fish could have been asleep! Oh, that's funny. Fish don't have eyelids, I was playing the staring game with a fish that was asleep ...   - Who feEls like a fool now, HA!

Haha! Good thing I'm along at work because I chuckled over that one. haha

i know you can also order southern style crawfish online. im sure shipping isnt the greatest but a viable option vs the freeze dried stuff. were close enough to alaska that it could also be an option. im sure this is all LFS type stuff tho. anyways GL with whatever you choose.

Shrimp in the shell are another option, along with clams on the half shell.

Congrats, that's awesome!  The crayfish video was especially impressive.  I'm actively planning a 20L low tech planted tank with 4-5 pea puffers in it for the family room.  Can't wait to see pics of your new one.  

I spent some time on the Puffer Forum after one of your last posts mentioned it, and was impressed.  I have a new 40B thats empty, but I'm not in love with the lurker style, brackish scares me a bit, and I'm not sure there are any other smaller freshwater puffers that are available in the hobby .  I recently bought a 10G from a neighbor who was moving and its fully planted and full of RCS and snails and in my garage, so I'm hoping I have a semi reliable live food source for pea puffers. Pulling for Thursday to get here sooner rather than later for you!

I chose the lurkers because they dont really require the hard foods for the beak growth issues that others can have. I would have got a Congo, if I would have found one of the red ones.

I know you've been talking about wanting a puffer for a long time now. Congrats!

I wish it would eat Malaysian trumpet snails. Biggest mistake I ever made, introducing those into one of my tanks!!

Betty wrote:I know you've been talking about wanting a puffer for a long time now.  Congrats!

I wish it would eat Malaysian trumpet snails.  Biggest mistake I ever made, introducing those into one of my tanks!!

I was looking at old posts and I have been talking about this since Sept of 2011.... Wow talk about lots of research time! It was funny because Hank the puffer was mentioned and at the time he was only 6".

So the week is dragging on as I wait for Thursday and the new puffer to arrive.

In the meantime I found this and thought it was funny: Its Hairy Puffer vs Cat [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

 Just one more day!   

Cant wait for 'Hairy' Thursday

Yaaaaay!!!!

So here is a picture of what a hairy puffer looks like...
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   Not really, but pretty close.

I got my UPS tracking info and the notice that it shipped. I paid an extra $5 to get it for a am delivery (by 10:30). Cant wait to see the little guy!

So exciting. I know how giddy I was for my bn to get here! And I hadn't been waiting as long as you.