Figure eight puffer wiki

[cbui]Introduction
[ci]Pufferfish as a whole are very fascinating to keep in the aquarium hobby. While not for everyone, due to dietary needs, if you are willing to take on a bit of a challenge. You will be rewarded greatly with an intelligent and personable pet. Figure Eight Puffers in particular are one of the most commonly available puffers in the hobby, not growing too large and being purchasable at many stores.

[bcui]Appearance
[ci]”Club-shaped, unarmoured bodies... Their protection is a sac which can be inflated with air and water like a balloon, billowing them to a size too large to be consumed. They have large heads and widely spaced eyes which are often very mobile. The fish lack pelvic fins and the existing fins do not have rays. The teeth are joined in a sharp frame commonly called a ‘parrot beak” (Riehl and Baensch 819). Their appearance can be described as very pretty, as their markings are very uncommon for fish, even in the puffer world. Figure Eight Puffers specifically have a pattern on their backs that looks very similar to a figure eight. These markings gives them their most common name. Their other comes from the black spot outlined in yellow, right next to their eye. Their colors range from bright yellow markings to dark and  almost black background colors and a cream or white underbelly to more dull yellows and lighter browns.

[cbui]Geographical Range and Habitat
[ci]Tetraodon Biocellatus is originates from Cambodia, Indonesia, and Malaysia. It is found in the lower parts of the Mekong River and coastal waters, specifically estuaries and mangrove forests. This is an explanation for their scientific name, as a Tetraodon is a pufferfish that comes from Africa and Asia. Though commonly said to be a brackish species, they come from freshwater in the wild.

[cbui]Healthy Behavior
[ci]Figure Eight Pufferfish should be active and very aware of their surroundings. They’ll notably follow their owners as they’re fed and played with. They also have teeth that will grow. These will need to be trimmed down with many crunchy foods and if their teeth get so long that it endangers the life of the fish, they may require surgery which is very uncommon and difficult to do. If they are not moving around, you may be dealing with a health problem. Figure Eights are all wild caught and due to this often come with many health problems, most commonly Hexamita also known as internal parasites. If your puffer has any strange physical features such as sunken bellies, they may be suffering from some problems.

[bcui]Tank Set Up
[ci]The tank should have a heater and very strong filter. Pufferfish lack gill covers and have small scales, so are sensitive to water quality. Their tanks should have lots of places for them to explore and swim through like driftwood, rocks, and plants. Sharp plastic plants have a higher danger to these fish because of their sensitive skin as well, so silk and live plants are best. A slow flow will suit these fish best. To achieve this, simply put a sponge over your filter to block some of the intake, and decrease the flow. Any kind of filter will do for puffers, as long as it can handle a large bioload.

[cbui]Tank Maintenance
[ci]On a weekly basis, Feed puffer live snails every other day. This can be supplemented with other foods like shrimp and blackworms. A 50% or higher water change once a week to keep the parameters in check. Given that Puffers often have to deal with shells in their water, the calcium in the tank might increase slowly. Makes sure no ammonia is in the water as it may be more likely to happen in puffer tanks than other fish.

[cbui]Hardiness
[ci]This puffer is moderately hardy. They are are prone to ich in dirty water and can deal well in a range of temperatures. As mentioned previously, they often have problems with Hexamita due to being caught from the wild. Getting a pufferfish that hasn’t been medicated by the owner or the store might greatly impact their hardiness. They should be medicated with medications like goat dewormer and general cure.

[cbui]Diet
[ci]They are a carnivore that mainly eats invertebrates with hard shells to help control their teeth size. They will nip and/or eat any smaller or slow moving tank mates. Since all are wild caught, they do not take well to man made food, but can be converted to other foods. Figure Eights need crunchy foods (animals with hard exoskeletons or shells) to wear teeth down. Animals that are crunchy include snails mainly as they are the best option with such a small animal and other small shrimp and crawfish may also be options. For treats, we highly recommend shellfish such as scallops and shrimp or even some worms such as live blackworms.

[cbui]Compatibility
[Ci]They are aggressive to almost all other fish. Personalities vary, but do not generally do well with other fish except when they’re with ones of the same or similar species of puffer, which requires larger tanks (upwards of 20 gallons/75 liters). Other compatible puffers include the Leopard puffer as the main candidate. Whether they do well with other types of puffers is yet to be determined.

[cbui]Sexual Dimorphism
[ci]Almost impossible to sex externally. The only way to determine their gender is to see them breed which is quite uncommon in this species of puffer.

[cbui]Differing Internal Functions
[ci] As a defense mechanism against predators, pufferfish contain a deadly toxin called tetrodotoxin. When consumed, it is deadly, but should not be a problem for the keeper of these fish as long as they don’t decide to eat their pet. Puffers of course have the ability to puff up which they do to scare away predators. Do not let them do this above water as this will kill them. They also have teeth that are constantly growing. Their teeth will need to be commonly managed with crunchy foods.

[cbui]Negative Chemical Reactions
[ci]As pufferfish have very small scales, they are more sensitive to medications and fertilizers with copper in them. Be careful in picking out meds for these fish. Most keepers of small scaled fish will use natural cures like melafix, or raise the temperature to 86 degrees in the quarantine tank. Avoid fertilizers with copper. Other medications that we recommend with them include Goat Dewormer, Erythromycin and Methylene Blue as these will not especially mess with their health in a negative way.

[bcui]Special Requirements
[ci]Puffers require crunchy food (invertebrates), and high water quality. Enrichment for these fish is a must as well. Since Figure Eight Puffers are straight from the wild, in the quarantine process, it is recommended to dose methelyne blue, ich x, erythromycin, and goat dewormer to take care of anything that the fish had been carrying.

[bcui]Common Misconceptions
[ci]”They are brackish fish.” - Tetraodon Biocellatus is not a brackish fish, but high end freshwater.
[ci]“They are peaceful.” - They will harass any tank mates except for their own specie, which still are very territorial.
[ci]“They can be fed bloodworms.” - Bloodworms are fatty and do not provide much nutrition, as well as not wearing down their teeth. They have no benefits.
[ci]”Their teeth do not grow.” - Their teeth do in fact grow very quickly and need to be cut down with crunchy foods.
[ci]”They do not have scales.” - They do in fact have scales as all fish do. They are just much smaller than most fish’s scales are.

[cibui]Sources
[ci]Aquarium Atlas by Dr. Rüdger Riehl and Hans A. Baensch
[ci] [Aquariadise|https://www.aquariadise.com/caresheet-figure-8-puffer-tetraodon-biocellatus/]
[ci] [Aquatropic|http://www.aquatropic.com/news/figure-eight-pufferfish-tetraodon-biocellatus]
[ci] [Seriously Fish|https://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/tetraodon-biocellatus/]
[ci][Main image|https://images.app.goo.gl/fx3qzGz4siMzy9yS9]
[ci] [Background image|https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ErRqeaGjeHg]
[ci] [Sandzaquatics|http://aminoapps.com/p/p8s8r9]