# Is There Really A True Way To Sex A Puffer...



## beN (Apr 21, 2010)

Its a question that has me wondering. 

I wonder if our Puffers are all girls or boys or just a plain mix.

Has anyone ever read how puffers breed??


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## hgi (Jun 13, 2010)

You probably get the best answer from the folks over at The Puffer Forum • The Puffer Fish Care Community


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## beN (Apr 21, 2010)

some of the members on there tick me off.

i want to see what folks here in BC know...


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## fan4guppy (Jan 31, 2011)

I would think that it would have to do with the species Ben....

Green Puffer

Tetraodon nigroviridis

Breeding: 
Not a lot is known of their breeding and it probably can only be accomplished in Brackish water. During courtship the pair will swim around each other just above the bottom of the tank. Pale clear eggs are laid tightly packed on rock surfaces. The male will protect the brood and uses his body to cover the eggs. The eggs hatch in about a week and the male will transfer the tadpole like fry to shallow pits and continue to guard them. The fry can be hard to raise and feeding them can be difficult, you should try a variety of small food including Brine shrimp nauplii and observe which type they are eating. The mortality rate on the spawn is usually high.

You may want to read this article though.

University of Florida News - UF experts breed puffer fish in captivity; pet trade and genetics research could benefit


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## darb (Apr 21, 2010)

As far as I know none of the Tetraodon genus can be sexed. The only way to possibly tell is that if it is a female, once it reaches sexual maturity it will plump up slightly with eggs and release them. I don't know when they hit sexual maturity, a guess would be maybe a year, so about 12 inches ...


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

for dwarf puffers theyre sexable and can be bred rather easily i hear
i think hoolagirl has bred them


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## wsl (Apr 21, 2010)

If somebody knows how to reliably sex dwarf puffers, I'd definitely be interested in knowing. Planning on getting some for myself soon, so I'd prefer to know how to distinguish them if possible.


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

males get a stripe along their belly and wrinkley eyes, females have the bolder spots
Dwarf Puffers : Home


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## Johnnyfishtanks (Apr 21, 2010)

an autopsy will help


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## beN (Apr 21, 2010)

i just wonder how fahaka's & mbu's & congo's breed its gotta be some site to see


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

im hoping my dwarf puffers eventually breed  got 7 of them but theyre all too young to sex


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## fan4guppy (Jan 31, 2011)

Ben

I have a suspicion over the Fahaka Puffer, that it spawns in the nile river and feeds in Lake Tanganika. I watched this video on Lake Tanganika on Youtube where it comes into feed on Crab and other molluscs

YouTube - Lake Tanganyika Part2

Only to depart to the Nile river where the water chemistry is different. I am wondering if changes in water chemistry can be affected in their breeding habits.


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

fan4guppy said:


> Ben
> 
> I have a suspicion over the Fahaka Puffer, that it spawns in the nile river and feeds in Lake Tanganika. I watched this video on Lake Tanganika on Youtube where it comes into feed on Crab and other molluscs
> 
> ...


thats the mbu puffer  neat watching 2 puffers feed on the same crab without fighting
african rift lakes esp lake tang are the coolest FW biotopes in my humble opinion

you can see frontosa at 4:09
and emperor cichlids fighting off a tarapin shortly after


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## fan4guppy (Jan 31, 2011)

Mferko said:


> thats the mbu puffer  neat watching 2 puffers feed on the same crab without fighting
> african rift lakes esp lake tang are the coolest FW biotopes in my humble opinion
> 
> you can see frontosa at 4:09
> and emperor cichlids fighting off a tarapin shortly after


I agree whole heartedly 

I have bred some of the Neolamprologus and Julidochromis species from that lake.

Its sad about Lake Victoria

Thank you so much about the species identification of the puffer ...


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

definitely very sad about lake vic and the nile perch

tanganyika is still a gem tho, u can even get tanganyikan eels 
just wish there were tanganyikan stingrays i havent heard of any

heres a link to dwarf puffers spawning, might wanna turn down your speakings b4 clicking the music is terribad, not sure if all puffers spawn in a similiar way or not but i'd imagine so


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## hgi (Jun 13, 2010)

There was a guy who almost successfully breed fahakas on the puffer forum.... He had a female who was laying eggs so he searched long and hard for a male that he ended up paying in the $200+ range for. He had them in a 200g+ tank with a divider so they could get used to each other, he said they never showed aggression towards each other then one day he came home from work to find that they crashed down the egg crate divider and killed each other... That's how I remember the story, I'll look for it later tonight if I have the time.


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## beN (Apr 21, 2010)

this is some awesome info you guys are finding.

i wonder if someone has been successful breeding any of the puffers i own.

its weird how there isnt any video recorded of hatchlings or anything.


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## Ursus sapien (Apr 21, 2010)

My dwarf puffers (1m/2f) bred in a 20g tank, ph ~7, temp 26 -28C. Eggs laid in Christmas moss, in a planted tank (amazon sword, elodea and floating riccia). Other tank occupants were Micropoecillia picta, cherry shrimp and assorted snails. Lots and lots of snails
Diet was mainly very small snails (ramshorn, phys and radix sp.) supplemented with frozen blood worm and live daphnia. Snails should be very small, so that the puffers actually crush the shell to keep their beaks trim. 
Males are easy, as someone said, with the line down the belly and the wrinkly eyes.


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