How's mbu with others ?

[bottles]

Wow! nice setup. That mbu in your tank really scares me though. I had a friend whos mbu ate the eye out of a nice marble ray.

http://arowanaclub.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=3032

Machete from the other fish forum tried it and ended up, surprisingly, with a dead 22" mbu with a ray stinger stuck in it!

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?109694-Rays-with-mbu-puffer

I have noticed my Mbu at one time attempting to pick on my ray's eye. A friend was over and he told me he knew of another incident of a Mbu actually biting a ray's eye out

http://forums.****************/lofiversion/index.php/t88754.html

Definitely risky, but there's a number of success stories too. Up to you.

 

[calgaryflames]

And the guy who's post that is just so happens to be a buddy of mine. That mbu is a very large those pike were 16" long two years ago. Also know of another friend keeping a two foot mbu with all types of rays and fish.
No two fish are the same you cannot say that because yours bit a thermometer it will bite my rays.


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[calgaryflames]

I've had fish that love destroying anything in the tanks but never touch another fish.


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[Jenerik]

It sounds to me like you are going to do this anyway, regardless of what we do or don't say, so I would just do it and hope for the best. Not sure what else there is to say.

 

[calgaryflames]

Well I'm kinda just after your guys experiences with the mbu puffers. So far you are the only guy with any new info to me on keeping them.
I've got mine in with some smaller snooks right now and he's only interested in snails.

I think they need to be well trained before I put with my rays. I do value your input as I value my rays. There's no way this mbu will go in with my rays if he chomps one of these snooks. But if I keep him very well fed and trained to only eat that he will be fine I think.

How often would your mbu take a new food ? Usually fish and rays will test out something new and are picky.


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[Jenerik]

Well I'm kinda just after your guys experiences with the mbu puffers.

We've all told you our opinions and there are bunch of first-person accounts in one of those threads the other guy posted, telling how this or that Mbu bit someone's ray but it seems to me like you are just going to keep asking around until you get the answer you want to hear. Sorry, that is just how it looks to me...

...I've got mine in with some smaller snooks right now and he's only interested in snails...

Comparing a free-swimming, pelagic fish like a Snook to a ray, in regards to how an Mbu will act toward it, is like comparing apples to oranges. And like I said earlier, what a small Mbu will do and try toward other fish is a lot different that what a big one will.

...I think they need to be well trained before I put with my rays...

You can't train an Mbu, it doesn't work that way. Again you are missing the whole point of why an Mbu would bite this or that other fish. It has nothing to do with feeding response or aggression, it is their natural and innate curiosity. You can't train an Mbu "not" to go around tasting things and as you can imagine, when an adult Mbu tastes something, it only ends one way.

..But if I keep him very well fed and trained to only eat that he will be fine I think...

I think you are in denial about Mbu biology and behavior, or at least adult Mbu behavior, but it's your fish, so nothing I say really matters.

How often would your mbu take a new food ? Usually fish and rays will test out something new and are picky...

LOL, not Mbu. If it resembles any form of crustacean or mollusc, there is zero hesitation. I feed ours daily.

 

[Master of Puffers]

LOL, what is "large" to you? I know, for example, that what my Mbu will do at 25" is different than what he would've tried at, say, 12".



You're missing the point. It does not matter if the Mbu thinks it is food or not and has nothing to do with aggression. Mbu are curious ands "sample" anything in their environment which catches their attention and they do this by biting it. If that just happens to be part of another fish, oh well, LOL. My Mbu has bitten the nozzles off powerheads, any thermometer mounted inside the tank, as well as a suction-cup mounted grounding probe. Nothing is safe from a large Mbu unless it can physically swim out of the way. They will bite anything.

I'm not arguing with, just saying that I know exactly how it would end up for a stingray if one was ever in the presence of a large Mbu. The issue is that most people define "large Mbu" as anything near 12" and in my experience, they aren't even getting started at that age.

Just my 2-cents, accept or reject as you please.

mbus are as bad as small children regarding mouthing objects ..siphon, bitten.. tap on hose, bitten..tried to bit the tank heater..and mine's a wild caught 12 incher...when he arrived he was only 9 inches...

I certainly wouldn't risk a ray with a mbu. I have a couple of catfish and 3 ottos in his tank. One of the ottos sleeps on the mbu's head..I really need to photo that some time.

 

[Master of Puffers]

And the guy who's post that is just so happens to be a buddy of mine. That mbu is a very large those pike were 16" long two years ago. Also know of another friend keeping a two foot mbu with all types of rays and fish.
No two fish are the same you cannot say that because yours bit a thermometer it will bite my rays.


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True..I had a mbu share a tank with a fahaka for several weeks and they were fine together..both were ..(.well tame isn't the word) laid back fishies who didn't bother each other.

I wouldn't do that now with the mbu and fahakas I currently serve.

 

[6freddy8]

Heres mine at 24inc but theres only one way to find out

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[Master of Puffers]

Well I'm kinda just after your guys experiences with the mbu puffers. So far you are the only guy with any new info to me on keeping them.
I've got mine in with some smaller snooks right now and he's only interested in snails.

some fish eat just on foodstuff...others will munch on anything and everything..They go through growth spurts which makes them super hungry just like children.

I think they need to be well trained before I put with my rays. I do value your input as I value my rays. There's no way this mbu will go in with my rays if he chomps one of these snooks. But if I keep him very well fed and trained to only eat that he will be fine I think.

You can't train fish..or even tame them if they have been wild caught as nearly all mbus are..mbus can be taught to carefully remove food items from fingers if they are young enough but I wouldn't recommnd this as a feeding techinque until you are really really sure of your puffer.

How often would your mbu take a new food ? Usually fish and rays will test out something new and are picky.

Both my current mbu and my previous one would try anything put into his tank. Which is one of the reasons I have a freezer full of fish munchies. crabs, lobster legs, prawns in shells, mussels, clams etc..