mini killer trimac

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R

RedSnooks

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 22, 2010
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NEw Yawrk
Hi I just wanted to throw this out there see if this was normal behavior. My buddy was getting rid of his fish tank so i decided to take his 6 inch Figure 8 puffer off his hands. Wasn't sure which tank to put it in. It was either my 125 with 2 snooks.. a 120 with my fastae pair or in a 120 with a 2.5 inch trimac i picked up from Ira randomly. I chose the trimac tank because i figured its big enough for 2 fish and the trimac probably isnt all that aggressive yet. I put the puffer in watch him for about 15 mins everything is fine. Go to the store .. im gone no more than an hour come back and the puffer is floating .. upon closer inspection he was gutted his entire stomach was eaten out.. I dont know much about puffers soo i was wondering was this irresponsible of me or is my trimac just crazy?
:screwy:
 
Could be both. Trimacs, along with most other Amphilophus, are definitely on the higher end of the aggression scale. Yeah, you'd think a 2.5" fish would still have a few inches before they go crazy but sometimes that's not the case. Have you ever had anything else in with the trimac before that would have hinted to you this might happen?
 
He used to be in a community tank and he would chase and nip but never anything serious.. i thought it was strange especially since for some reason i thought puffers were aggressive i did not see that happening like that
 
I had a similar fate in a tank I had over 10 years ago. I had put two 2 inch puffers in a breeder net box in the tank with my favorite oscar. I figured it would be ok for a day until I could get the brackish tank up, the puffers were a rescue anyhow and not used to salt. I went out to grab dinner and came home to find the breeder net floating, one scared puffer on the bottom (later died), the oscar half floating on it's side, and no other puffer. All I can figure is the oscar got curious and set the puffers free and then ate one which puffed up inside him and killed him a couple hours later. I never thought it would happen, I actually sat down next to the tank and wrung my head out for being stupid. I look back now and realise that it happens sometimes. My oscar had never bothered any other fish, he was in that tank with platies and gourami. I'd take it as a lesson learned.
 
6 inch figure 8? I thought those only get like 3", is it maybe a spotted puffer?
 
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