lil' Muncher

Sorry for the distortion, but this is a photo of Lil' Muncher in an isolation vase. It's not a friendly, neighbor-type of fish. He's a green puffer. Little dude, maybe an inch and a half long at the moment. Middle kid purchased with her father a couple of nights ago because "it was cool" and drew their attention from the cat litter aisle. So, into the community tank it went before bedtime. Spiffy color. Very exotic. Look how its eyes kind of swivel. Ooh, yeah, and it moves forward, backwards, sideways. Very cool.

I get online after those light go out...something in me says "freshwater?" that doesn't sound right. So I become  educated and find out that yes, some puffers are. Some are brackish water creatures (a mix of salt and fresh) and some are pure salt water. That's pretty neat, too. I read on.

Sharp teeth. ... "It should be fed snails and unshelled shellfish (such as crab legs, mussels etc.) regularly, in order to maintain its sharp teeth."  In all the tanks I've kept over the years, I've never had a swimming member who came with a warning over "sharp teeth"... But, cheap pet stores will tell you (or in this case, not tell you) anything to make a sale.

Intolerant ... "the green puffer is not a particularly good community fish. It will often harass and nip the fins of tankmates" ...


Crushing ... "interesting adaptations. They are one of the few fish that can actually blink or close their eyes, which only serves to add further charm to what is already a fish with bags of character. ... beak-like mouth parts, ... used to crush shelled invertebrates, the favorite food of most puffers." 

A few of these words get my goosebumps rising, and I print out the descriptions for the kid to read at breakfast time. I fall asleep with brief, mostly happy thoughts of the albino loach, the long-finned black angelfish, the cute little African frog.

First day - no big deal. Mom's overly concerned internet research is skimmed. It's fine, Mom, see for yourself. Work ... school. Mom and Dad head out on the second evening. 


Second night? Big deal. I get a text from 45 minutes away that at home there's a "life and death" situation. Middle kid's favorite loach has now been munched (well, I can last almost a whole day before I get really hungry, too!). Tail fin nibbled down to nubbins, side fins no where to be seen.

Lil' Muncher is moved out of the group home. I'm trying to figure out if I'm up for this. Do I ask the dad to return said "community" fish? I read online again... "Tetraodon fluviatilis is a true brackish species. Despite this, it's often seen for sale in freshwater, but should be acclimatized to brackish if it's to survive long term."


The long term part keeps me re-reading. Brackish tank would be needed. What am I thinking? Long-term? This would make tank number three and it'd only have one little mean, prima don(na) fish in it. Well, with snails and other little crunchies to keep someone's sharp teeth from over-growing.

What to do?

Why am I even contemplating keeping this thing?

Neurotoxins ... "Many parts of the body of puffers contain the deadly neurotoxin tetrodoxin. This is the same poison found in the notorious blue-ringed octopus. ... no known antitoxin and to humans it is over 1000 times deadlier than cyanide."


This is crazy. Back it must go. But what really ticks me off is that some un-informed pet merchandiser will keep it listed as a freshwater/community and some other people's fish will suffer, and ultimately, so will the little green meanies. I'll send along a print out of the condemning descriptions. They will have to scrape up some kind of conscience, I suppose, to make it right.


Thanks to the folks at http://www.seriouslyfish.com for giving me some important info -- that wasn't in my books -- right when I needed it!

Oh, did you notice bit about the "third tank" up there? "First tank" is a different story. Has something to do with a bargain-priced goldfish that turned out to be a large-edition pond koi. Or something. I'll have to tell you that one another time.