Tetraodon mbu

Origin

 * Found in Africa in Lake Tanganyika the Congo basin.

Sexing

 * Impossible to sex, no records of being bred in captivity.

Tank compatibility

 * Mbu Puffers are best kept in lone species tanks, although there has been records of them in community tanks, it's down to the individual fish's personality. Should not be kept with other Puffer species. May work with large species of Pleco but this will vary depending on tank size and Puffer personality.

Diet

 * Juveniles should be fed small aquatic snails, earth worms, frozen blood worms, small pieces of fish and krill. Larger fish should also be fed cockles (in shell), mussels, shell-on prawns, larger snails, crab/crab legs etc. Do not feed feeder fish its not in their natural diet (unless very hungry!)

Feeding Regime

 * Juveniles should be fed every day and as it grows to approximately 8) 3 times a week is enough. Large mbu's will often refuse food unless its of a good size. say the size of a two pence piece but they are all individual so this is not always the case.

Environment Specifics

 * These fish need exceptionally large, long, wide and very well filtered tanks. They are curious fish so large sturdy pieces of rockwork or bogwood works well for décor. Ph can range from 7.0 to 8.2 they like relativity warm water is ideal. The filtration should be able to filter twice the water volume to deal with this fishes waste and messy eating and should include carbon or zeolite. Regular water changes are advised at least 25% a week to keep the water quality in good shape. These fish are very sensitive to nitrate levels.

Behaviour

 * Relatively peaceful as far as Puffers go. Inteligent and inquisitive. They are "seekers" using their very good eyesight to find snails and crustaceans for most of the day. These fish are very aggressive towards their own species and should not be kept together as they will fight to the death although this would most likely result in both dying as they have very formidable beaks used for crushing crabs snails etc.

Identification

 * A very large growing Puffer often seen on sale as a small juvenile. They have quite an elongated body which is predominantly yellow/cream in colour with mottled brown markings over the head and top of the body, the belly varies from cream to vivid yellow. The caudal in is long and also yellow in colour. The eyes are orange.