Cross river puffer colouration

[lingi]

I got my first cross river 25 days ago. This first picture in a bare tank was what the seller sent me before shipping out.



It took 3 days to arrive and the colour was very dark, but I chalked it up to shipping stress. Took 3 days to develop some appetite and he’s a picky eater but he has been eating consistently since then, mainly ramshorn snails and live wild type cardina shrimp. He absolutely won’t touch frozen shrimp or bloodworms. Water parameters are all on point and temperature 25c. He is the boss of the tank, quite active, looks and acts healthy, just not as enthusiastic an eater as my Spotted Congos. He’s 10cm long head to tail.



I’m just concerned that he never got back the colour he supposedly had. Was I the victim of a bait and switch? The seller insists it’s because I have black sand and a black background, which I find hard to believe. What do you guys think? I really want him to get the colouration that comes to mind when we think of cross river puffers! Could it be because he’s still small?



Looking forward to hear your thoughts!

 

[Simonas]

He's still a lovely looking fish. I had one for a few months that got to about 8 months then I stupidly sold it. Mine was stupidly greedy and the colour intensified as it got older. Just give it time its still quite small

 

[lingi]

He's still a lovely looking fish. I had one for a few months that got to about 8 months then I stupidly sold it. Mine was stupidly greedy and the colour intensified as it got older. Just give it time its still quite small

Thanks! If I may ask, what did you feed it? And what size was it when you got it and then when you sold it? I’m so excited to watch this little one grow!

 

[Milingu]

Yours looks quite normal. It's unnaturaly coloured in the first picture because it's kept in a white tank.

Here are some pic of adults. The first two pics show the same individual, the third pic a different one. The tank is most of the day directly hit by sunlight.

 

[lingi]

Yours looks quite normal. It's unnaturaly coloured in the first picture because it's kept in a white tank.

Here are some pic of adults. The first two pics show the same individual, the third pic a different one. The tank is most of the day directly hit by sunlight.
View attachment 1573022View attachment 1573023View attachment 1573024

Wow those look like some big boys you got there! How long have you had them and did you get them small like mine? Are they kept together? Thank you so much for the reassurance, this issue had been really bothering me!

 

[Milingu]

They are not mine. My favourite LFS kept the one in the third pic as mascot. One day a customer was willing to pay a lot for it and it got sold. People kept asking for it and so they got a new one (first two pics). It's there for two years now.

 

[Simonas]

Thanks! If I may ask, what did you feed it? And what size was it when you got it and then when you sold it? I’m so excited to watch this little one grow!

I got it about 5" and it was about 8-9" when it went but it got so much better colouration as it got bigger
beautiful fish and I think I am going to find another and dedicate a tank to it
I fed it lancefish, mussels and freshwater crabs from my local asian supermarket. I highly recomend the crabs because its amazing to see how much fun it seems to have chewing the shell to get to the meat

 

[jr71]

Our LFS has one, well over a foot in length, and the color is much like yours. Simply beautiful. I think that top picture shows one washed out, maybe stressed due to bright tank and surroundings?