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It had to happen, after 2 years of peace in the community it had to happen as soon as i mentioned it. Blasted puffers took out an otto!

So just for reference sake I thought id better mention it, might not have technically been the puffers fault though- I have a particularly moody flame tetra which took a shot at the ottos tailfin the previous day, and it seemed a one off incident so i thought nothing of it, however its possible that blood was released into the water and the puffers zero'd in on it.

I thought it judicious to remove the other ottos to another aquarium since puffers tend to try things again if they turn out to be a good souce of food. Im watching them with the other fish closely and as yet there have been no other incidences.Its possible that the puffers singled out the otto as the species doesnt tend to shoal defensively.

If this is a major turnaround in the personality of my puffers theyll be off to a species tank, as i said in a reply to a previous post you always need to be prepared for this eventuality.

Ive seen a lot of sites that advocate ottos and puffers together but Ive rapidly come to question the validity of that information.

Although puffers are mainly thought of as line of sight predators - its possible that scent recognition plays a role too -they do seem to like bloodworm , and bloodworm contain high amounts of haemaglobin- as does fish blood.So perhaps any fish that bleeds in the water may become a target as the puffers immediately recognise the smell of haemaglobin and attack the site of the wound. Once a food source is identified then puffers will typically remember it and further exploit it. From there it is a small leap to some really coordinated attacking to begin.

This may certainly explain why some people have luck with puffers and others dont. Perhaps it only takes a wounded fish for mental associations to be made and the killing to start.People with larger species will know that larger puffers will take experimental bites out of anything- fish, plants - equipment etc, perhaps its the size and the "bravery" issue that makes dwarf puffers that little bit different. Its also possible that attacking invertabrates is instinctive behaviour, and that attacking fish is learned behaviour.We shall see.

Will keep you lot informed, but for now better scratch ottos OFF the compatability list.



Last edited by longhairedgit at 02-Sep-2005 23:19

An update-

Yep, i had to seperate the puffers- they went into "wow everything in this tank is food" mode.

Theyre in a species tank now, no further losses of fish, although I have a tetra who will be swimming with a limp for a while.

From this i suggest that the first attack be taken seriously, cos when they get away with something , they keep on doing it. Theres still no aggression between the puffers themselves though.

It took my puffers 2 years to "go bad " though, so its not impossible that harmonious living with other cagemates can be maintained indefinately.

WHEN PUFFERS TURN BAD.lol.

Nothing like the taste of good ole' hoss flesh, er...fish flesh I've had experiences like yours before. They do ok until they get a taste of a nipped fin or something open and smelling and they don't let up. Puffers love live fish, but they don't realize right away that they are living amongst an all-you-can-eat.

Cheers,
Fosh

Thanks for that snippet LHG.

I'll definitely file that one away for further reference and make sure any puffers I keep in future are well and truly kept away from temptation!


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Even my homicidal puffers are still refusing to attack the siamese flying foxes though. Theyre just too active (mine are nearly 5 inches) and too big. Their behaviour really seems to put the puffers off attacking them, and even if they did they wouldnt make much impact. So far they seem to be the only truly suitable cagemates for puffers that ive seen , since a lot of the gobies that other people have recommended for use with puffers can be aggressive and could turn on the puffers. The foxes though, dont even acknowledge them.