fishy_t Posted March 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2006 Mr Hanky, the Christmas Poo, He eats shrimps and he likes them too! As I'm sure you can guess from my latest remake of the famous South park song - Mr Hanky finally had his first meal, comprising of shrimp!! The plan was to catch some freshwater shrimp so they could live with him until he wanted to pick one off but my first attempt failed so I decided to get some from a rock pool instead which is much simpler! They seemed to survive for over half an hour in the freshwater tank which was pretty impressive really! The only trouble was I don't think Mr Hanky’s feeding behaviour is suited to shrimp that are racing around the tank trying to find some cold salty water! From what I've seen so far he is allot more patient than most people! He likes to lie in wait (no surprise) but even if some food is close he still sits and watches it for a good half a minute. If it's still there (as you can guess for last nights shrimp this was a rare occurrence!) The he 'starts up his engines' (if you haven't seen one swim, each pectoral fin look like helicopter blades and also his dorsal and anal which are set far back) and then he glide VERY slowly towards his prey. If all goes well he seems to strike at about 2 cm! This whole process takes over a minute so last night I only saw him get one chance to go the whole way to striking and he missed! After about 20 minutes of watching my partner (who is not a fish person!) said "Mr Hanky is boring" and went back to the telly, and I followed 10 mins later! The shrimp must have died pretty soon after which was no real surprise and I managed to get Mr hanky to eat 3 big ones using some tongs so he did have some to eat, but I'm hoping some freshwater ones will survive longer and relax so he has a chance to catch them himself... Another update soon! (Please let me know if you know of any definate Feshwater Shrimp siteings near Wellington! I couldn't find any in my local stream in Te Marua) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ktttk Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 hey, nice unusual fish you got there. This maybe a silly question, but seeing as he is called a 'puffer' fish.. does he actually "puff" up?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishy_t Posted March 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 Yep he does - I've seen him do it once so far (not really sure why he did it!) He's not spikey like some marine puffers and its only his throte/belly that puffs up but he does nearly double in size... I'll try and get a pic next time he does it!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LYNDYLOO Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 Fishy-t, Now thats a pretty big ask, you wanting to get some freshwater Shrimps, so they last a little longer and can RELAX in the tank, (well yea, like that's gonna happen lol) so Mr hanky can then devour them. Now, I just can't imagine, how relaxing that would be, just waiting to be devoured by some great big Puffer Fish. :lol: :lol: Poor wee shrimpy's Lynda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southern man Posted March 11, 2006 Report Share Posted March 11, 2006 sounds like u need a butchers glove for this fish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishy_t Posted March 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2006 Just an update for anyone who's interested!: He seems to puff up almost every morning - seems to help him wake up or somethings! He spends most of his time in the sand up to his back with lets you see just how evolved for being buried he is - eyes, mouth and even gill slits are positioned on the top of his 'face' very odd!! I have also discovered how much he likes bullies - he feeds him self one of those every 3 or 4 days now (Big 3" ones) and as he isn't a very tidy eater, if he doesn't gulp the whole fish up in a oner, the part which breaks off is usually just left to float around the tank!! (last time this was the head up the the pectoral fins!) He seems pretty happy and its really cool watching him dig - he angles himself at about 30 deg. to the sand and with a few beats of his tail he's under!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishy_t Posted August 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2006 Hi guys, I thought I'd post a pic of him (her) and also that it turns out he's not a congo puffer - but an arrowhead puffer! (Tetraodon suvattii): The main reason I'm adding to the post is to try and track down anyone also in NZ who has another one - as this COOL fish isn't on the import list I think it would be really awesome to get two together and see if they fall for each other! Apparently its not that hard to breed these fish and it would be great to give it a go and try and increase our population!! If anyone has any leads please get in touch!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted November 14, 2006 Report Share Posted November 14, 2006 hey there fishy_t. I'm loving your puffer. I was actually thinking about getting some brackish puffers myself but your puffer looks amazing. What are your tank specs and where did you get your little baby frow/how much was he (her)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishy_t Posted November 14, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2006 Hey there, I got him from a private owner - which makes me his second owner in NZ and I have no idea how to get anymore! He is a completely freshwater species and has his own 150l tank. Puffers are awesome and always have great personalities but remember that getting a brackish one means you are going to have to set up a marine tank at some point (I think??!) so you are making a big commitment... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meesheelly Posted November 14, 2006 Report Share Posted November 14, 2006 Ive been trying to get my hands on some dwarf pufer but apparently they are not on the wholesalers lists at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwijaydee Posted November 15, 2006 Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 I got my three Palembang Puffers (Humpback/Dragon/Black River) from Redwood Aquatics here in CHCH. I've fallen in love with puffers.. these three are amazing little guys and after working things out, are all well behaved and relatively easy to look after (once you get the hang of it). I'll be talking to the guys at Redwood again soon, as I am interested in getting other freshwater puffers, if they're available and able to import them. (I've got some spare 200L tanks empty and waiting!) So if you guys want, I can let you know what the verdict is with them... :-? FYI - There was a load of Figure 8 puffers at Petworld on Ferry Road (last weekend) in CHCH... I didn't get any though, as I'm not 100% ready to go brackish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishy_t Posted November 15, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 Cool! do you have any pics?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afrikan Posted November 15, 2006 Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 We once had some little dwarf puffers, and I had never met such a small fish with such big attitude, they were just gorgeous :lol: Made my Africans look tame in a sense Would definately own some again if we got the chance. Mekhaela Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwijaydee Posted November 15, 2006 Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 Only very very bad ones. Lol. The camera isn't good enough to handle it.. but I'll be borrowing my mates camera hopefully this weekend and will snap a few of them and post them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishy_t Posted March 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2007 Hey guy's I thought I'd stick it here first so anyone who's added to this post gets the heads up! I'm thinking/probably going to sell Mr Hanky... I'm going to downsize my fish a bit and unfortunatly Mr Hanky is one of the guy's that going to go - pm me if you are interested - I'll give it a few days here before I stick it on a trade thread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snookie Posted March 6, 2007 Report Share Posted March 6, 2007 thats a cool fish . i actually read about a guy that breeds these but he is in England . Practicalfishkeeping jan 07 also the guy has website www.thepufferforum.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted March 6, 2007 Report Share Posted March 6, 2007 I am the only other owner of an arrowhead puffer on FNZAS possibly NZ... I just want to emphasise what fishy-t says- these are a wonderful fish- definatley not the most active species but they are a real talking point I know that as each time my parents have friends round they don't forget to go into my bedroom to show them my puffer (Called Peter) So yeah I would have snapped up mr. Hanky but I had a big talk to fishy-t about breeding him and we decided it was not the best idea as my peter has already eaten his partner (yes there were origionally two) and we don't want to take that kind of risk with such awesome fish! so yeah- A reccomended buy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishy_t Posted March 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2007 very true david - not the most active fish! but really cool all the same and they are pretty hard to come by! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 8, 2007 Report Share Posted March 8, 2007 if the creeks got bullies in it you might get some shrimp as well their shells will save a trip to the beach my creeks got tons of them also got some large 15 cm or so banded kokopu if anyones intrested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishy_t Posted March 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2007 Oh! Forgot to say that Mr Hanky is officially on hold and probably sold. Just thought I'd let people know before you all start dreaming! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snookie Posted March 11, 2007 Report Share Posted March 11, 2007 Not a community fish 8) http://dabble.com/node/8383366 Please note i do not condon what happens on video i just found it whilst surfing bout these guys :-? not meant to offened , Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted March 11, 2007 Report Share Posted March 11, 2007 thats disgusting. I put feeder fish in my puffer tank occasionally but i woul;d never hold a live fish while my puffer chewed it to bits!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snookie Posted March 11, 2007 Report Share Posted March 11, 2007 Found it while surfing bout these guys . i was just amazed by the size of fish it ate ! i can see why he aint a community fish . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishy_t Posted March 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2007 yeah that is pretty full on... and why I always give him fish he can eat in one mouthfull! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted March 12, 2007 Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 i just hand fed my puffer earthworm for the first time. i normally hang it on a string and he eats it off that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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