Porc Pufferfish.. how long until full size?
 

Like the subject line says.. how long does it take for a porc puffer to reach full size?

Tagging along.
Mine has grown over an inch in four months.

My Porc just hit a growth spurt and is growing ~1 inch a month (went from 3 to 5 in 2 months).

and reaching its full size is kind of a touchy subject, and some puffers grow larger than others. One at the Local aquarium is pushing 2ft.

Mine's also doing a little over an inch in four months. As far as I've heard, that seems pretty standard. So, with the size most porkies are commonly sold at in the trade, I'd say maybe something like three years? Just a guesstimate.

For some reason, I've rarely heard of people on RC with full or near-full-grown porcupines puffers in their tanks. Almost everyone I've seen has 3-6" puffers.
It would be interesting to get feedback on growth speeds from people who have actually owned one through it's entire juvenile to adult growth.

Mine is still quite small but my brothers is 7 years old now and pretty big. I think he measured it around 10" which is pretty big for a Porcupine. Its also quite wide too. He has a HUGE stars and Stripes Puffer in the same tank that makes the Porc look tiny. Both in a 400G tank by themselves. I will ask how long it took to grow to 10" the next time I talk to him. I can get a pic from him too.

I know lately the Porc has not been eating well and my brother thinks maybe he is slowly dying. It seems to have also lost eye sight in one eye. Kind of sad because this fish is just like a puppy dog...Everyone who goes to his place ends up spending all their time over at his Puffer tank.

I think there is two species of porc puffers, correct me if I'm wrong. I think the hystrix gets the biggest.

the different porcs and their lengths are listed here...

[url]http://www.wetwebmedia.com/diodontpuffers.htm[/url]

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11541927#post11541927 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jmccown [/i]
[B]I think there is two species of porc puffers, correct me if I'm wrong. I think the hystrix gets the biggest. [/B][/QUOTE]

There are more than just two species of Porcupine Puffers but yes, out of the commonly available ones, the Diodon hystrix is one of the biggest. They can reach close to 3 feet. The public Aquarium I am a member of, has one about 2.5'. This Porcupine Puffer is obviously not the best species to be kept by most of us in our small aquariums. These guys are generally more spotted than Diodon holacanthus, which is the species most people have.

Diodon holacanthus stays around 10" or up to about 12" in the wild. So much better to have at home.

My holocanthus are around 10 inches.
My largest hystrix is ~30 inches.

OMG Kelli! How long did it take for your hystrix to reach that size?

I want pictures!!!

Puffer Queen: Do you have any pictures of your 10" holacanthus by any chance? I've been searching for pictures of a full-grown one everywhere, but can't find any.

Julian

PQ-I never knew you had a hystrix, any pics?

i saw a guy throw a net in the beach at night in puerto rico and by mistake he pulled out a puffer inflated the size of a basketball that was cool

I saw one of the "little" ones today. My LFS got in a spiny box puffer that outgrew someones tank. They were housing it temporarily in a 75, and it clearly was way too big for the tank, with barely enough room to do anything. The fish was at least 10 inches long, but it was massive! huge head and eyes, and really thick. it was $49. Even though it was 2-3X the length of specimens I've seen before, the scale was totally different.

Local fisherman grabbed me a couple of these last month on seperate days as they are looking for eating fish and don't want the puffers. Each one is about 11-12 inches in lengh, and boy do they love to eat the local crabs that I throw in every day.