Where Can I Buy a Puffer Fish in Texas?

Question: I'm wanting to get my aquarium going again and get a puffer fish. If I can afford to get two maybe I will. Where can I buy a puffer here in Texas? I'm not knowledged on the aquatic stores here in this area. Please help.

Rachelle Eatef replies:
It sounds like your rushing into things you aren't ready for. You haven't even got a tank setup yet and your already wanting the fish. Don't forget the nitrogen cycle before adding fish. Sometimes it takes weeks to a month do.

Puffer fish are usually very territorial fish and you can't mess around with them. They are so dangerous of a fish that I advise you to do a lot of research before just buying them. People die all the time from eating their meat in the wrong way. It's a delicacy to eat the meat in some countries and if eaten or cooked wrong.. Can prove to be fatal.

If your a beginner aquarist, I would say a puffer is just past your experience level. To answer your question though, there are loads of tropical fish and aquatic stores here in Texas. I have even seen some Walmart stores carry some puffers but not sure I would buy from there. You always have the large chain stores like pet smart, Petco and so forth. People complain about them but they do a great job for how wide of a variety of animals they care for. Most small aquatic stores are smaller end shops owned by local business owners. Some prefer to give their money to these mom and pop enthusiast stores. It's really up to you where you want to get the fish.

Pete Souge replies:
I buy all my fish online. They deliver the fish within 24 hours of purchasing it. You spend some money in shipping but they have the system down pat pretty darn well. The fish are safe in cooler like setups and the mail people know exactly what they are.

The Figure 8 Puffer is going to be your best bet. You could put one in a 30 gallon tank and have the water slightly brackish. They are the easiest puffers but still need perfect water clarity and tip top nutrition. They are tough to care for and a lot of people figure that out the hard way by having their expensive fish die.

But past that, a puffer is a pretty hard fish to care for ya know. I wouldn't advise them anyone who hasn't been caring for fish for at least 5 years. The fact that you say you feel like getting your tank back up and running kind of gives off the beginner vibe. I think all of us would never have our tanks "not running" and we are that crazy about our tank setups.

Not trying to burst a bubble but these fish are tough to care for and almost need really big monster tanks to run around in. They get territorial towards other fish and kill them pretty easily. Not to mention of you handle one wrong you could get stung and die.

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