"Cenote Tanganyika": 300G build for our 26-inch Mbu puffer...

[BuffaloFish]

Really, really nice. Inspirational.

I will look to add some pothos into my 360-gallon, as well. Are there any other plant species you'd recommend as being particularly good for this job? I also have an FRT in my tank, so need to make sure whatever plants I use are not poisonous, since he'll likely nibble what he can of them.

 

[giant19000]

That tank is just beautiful !


Sent from my iPod touch using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

 

[strollo22]

Jealous


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

 

[Egon]

Thanks. The plastic baskets are actually from Lowes or Home Depot, I don't recall which. They are for planting pond plants, about $3 each. I cut down a length of 1/4" aluminum strapping to act as a brace, sprayed it black, and affixed it between the tank's cross braces with some stainless bolts and nylock nuts. Those baskets are heavy when they have a big plant in them, so I wanted something rigid to span the crossbrace and not place all the load on the plastic eggcrate.


Those are indeed wire shelves from the home storage section at Lowes or HD. It is vinyl-coated, so will not rust. I cut them to fit with a dremel tool and cutoff wheel.

Thanks for the info! I will be using this set up soon

 

[Jenerik]

...Are there any other plant species you'd recommend as being particularly good for this job? I also have an FRT in my tank, so need to make sure whatever plants I use are not poisonous, since he'll likely nibble what he can of them.

Don't know if I have a solid answer for you on that. I used pothos and peace lilly because I had read about others having luck with them and they are both species that are easy to come buy at local retail outlets. I do not believe either of these two species is toxic but don't quote me on that, since nothing in my tank eats them. You might google a list of houseplants that are toxic to dogs and cats and start there? Just a thought. Best of luck to you.

Thanks for the info! I will be using this set up soon

You bet, I'm sure it will work out great for you.

Here is a nightime pic of the tank with the LED backlights I picked up at Ikea. You can control the colors with a little dial. My wife prefers blue, I like the green. It's a nice ambient light for watching TV...

 

[Pufferpunk]

Since I cannot link to my puffer forum here, I thought I'd post RTR's story of his mbu that jumped. It might give you some ideas on filtration for these massive beasts:

Mbu Puffer

A long sad and story which I really do not enjoy relating, but they are wonderful fish...
Mine stepped up from 40 -> 75 in only a few months, then to 180 at between 2 & 3 years, and it should have been sooner. Eventually that was too small. He did permanent damage to his caudal fin that never straightened out. The first damage was done in the 75, later got worse in the 180. He really could not turn comfortably even in the large tank. It should probably have required 3-4'H x 4'D x 8'W to keep from cramping him (or on the order of 1000 gallons for the display only), and larger would have been better. He was my favorite (and my wife's) by a wide margin of all the fish I've kept, but is probably not suitable for hobbyists. They are just too big. His system was the 180 with him, a 120 veggie filter, two 40-gallon veggie filters, a 20-gallon Daphnia filter, a 20-long filter-feeding shrimp filter after the daphnia tank, plus a twin-tower W/D, two large Eheim external canisters and multiple internal Eheims, and 2- or 3- 50 gallon partials per week (alternating weeks). He was stunted, only about 18-20" standard, but with the huge caudal fins these fish have, he would have been ~26" full length with his caudal flat at which it could not do with the vertical curl at the rear & he always seemed to turn the same direction. Very friendly, very excited to see us, very much a high-personality pet. I doubt that I will ever keep another, as I cannot house one properly. I don't track my tank expenses, but I don't think his feeding was that bad, considering that he required about half the tank room just to support him & his electric bill was likely pretty high though & all those lights on his veggie filters. I did breed some albino bristlenose cats in the veggie filters then, to offset part of his food supply (trade goods). Unless you have the space, the time, and the price of luxury car to put into a fish, they are just not suited to private keeping. If I could and was willing to do it over, I'd devote the entire tank room to the one fish. It would house only the single tank, Monaco style, custom built in place, with customed filters and automated changes. That was what I had originally planed for the space, but reality intervened, along with college for the kids.

~RTR

He has written an article on his veggie filters: http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article69.html

 

[Jenerik]

I'm sorry to hear that gentleman had poor luck with his Mbu. I raised mine to 24" or so in a 48" tank, then he later went into the stock tub for the six months during which our house was getting remodeled and he now happily is residing in the 300G. No stunting or other health issues. I've been keeping fish for 30+ years and never heard of half those "filters" described, above, and can tell you that all I have ever done is either a couple of canister filters + a sponge, the live plants (of course), or the new wet/dry's on the 300G.

Obviously, I have no firsthand knowledge of the gentleman you are quoting or of his actual setup in regards to the Mbu but I can tell you that you do not need all that stuff just to raise one (or pretty much any other freshwater fish, for that matter...), nor does it cost any more than any other fish tank in terms of power bill or upkeep. In fact, at first glance, I would say that he put the cart in front of the horse and needlessly complicated a simple equation and possibly, that has soured him on the whole deal. I know, for example, that if someone told me I would need an in-ground lift, a 3-bay garage, and $10K worth of tools just to do routine maintenance on my truck, I would probably never want to buy a truck again, either.

As I mentioned before, our Mbu has been unproblematic in terms of maintenance and honestly, I find him hardier and more robust than a lot of other fish we have kept. Are they for everyone? No. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't or couldn't try to keep them.

I would extend this invitation to anyone: If you or the gentleman who made the above post would like some tips or advice on keeping Mbu, feel free to post up in here or shoot me a PM. I am not any expert on this but can tell you that I have a very happy and healthy Mbu puffer who has none of the issues you apparently keep trying to "warn me about" or whatever, LOL, and am glad to share what has worked for me. Or, if you are ever in Central Texas, feel free to come by and see him and see the setup in person. My wife and I would offer you a beer or cup of coffee and you could feed him, yourself, and ask all the questions you want. Ditto to your friend who you are quoting. Thanks again for your concern.

 

[Rome]

Nice build. He ever bite u?


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

 

[Jenerik]

Nice build. He ever bite u?


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

Thanks. LOL, not me, but "yes" my wife. She had been feeding the dither fish a chunk of frozen bloodworms once and I guess, left her fingers dangling in there for a while and he "tested" one of them. She shrieked and yanked her hand out of the tank but no real harm done. I say "tested" because I'm sure that if he meant to, he could've taken off the tip of that finger quite easily. These guys just go around and "test" things by nibbling on them.

Here is an interesting story: Back when I had him in the stock tank, I picked up a medium sized Synodontis eupterus at the local fish store, as a cleanup fish for the puffer's uneaten crawfish parts. Dumped the eupterus in there, saw him once in a while, never really paid more attention than that. Anyway, while I was bagging all the fish up to transport them from the stock tub to the new 300G, I netted up this catfish and lo and behold, he is entirely missing his tail. Not just the fin part, but the whole base of the tail and everything. Appears healed over the though he looks funny and swims funny, is otherwise healhy. All I can conclude is that he must've gotten between the Mbu and some food at one point then, well, you can figure out how that went.

 

[Horiyoshi III]

I ALSO use emergents above my aquarium, I have a 90 with 2 varieties of Pothos, a few peace lilies, and 2 varieties of Dracaena, that is another one that grows fast and strips waste, you might want to consider them.Like lucky bamboo, or the dark green/white striped ones you see at petco mislabeled as full aquatic.