Puffers and Triggerfish in Captivity (Tetraodontiformes)

Same here! I would have loved to keep a boxfish of some kind one day if they couldn't completely wipe out a tank if they freak out for some reason. I imagine in a very large tank constantly running activated carbon a boxfish could work but it sounds like a lot of effort. I think I'll stick with less toxic fish.

 

I have seen some videos on Youtube of the Titan Triggerfish they are a beast of a fish!

 

They are indeed! I happened across a video today where there was a Titan attacking a diver, was biting the flippers and chasing the guy trying to bite him! Definitely don't want to get bit by the powerful beak, that would be extremely painful.

 

I believe they get up to around 2 feet long also being built like a bulldog. I would not want to get a bite from one!

 

For the Triggerfishes see also : Triggerfish of the family Balistidae

 

Which species has the most potent toxins? I hear about incidents of fugu poisoning in Japan from time to time, but as I understand it, fugu is not one species, just the term they use as a whole for consumed pufferfish.

 

Both boxfish families, the porcupine puffers, and the true puffers are nearly all toxic. There are some exceptions, and the poison is stored in certain places. Thus they can be safe eating if prepared correctly. I am not certain which species are the most potent, but eating puffers in general is risky idea, even if it's been prepared by someone experienced.

 

As far as I know, no species of pufferfish has more or less potent toxin than others, they all have the same toxin, tetrodotoxin, although I wouldn't be surprised if some species have higher concentrations of the toxin than others. You are correct, fugu is not one species, it can be any species from the genera Takifugu, Lagocephalus, Sphoeroides or Diodon (not really a pufferfish), but is usually from Takifugu, especially T. rubripes, the Tiger Puffer. It is true that all chefs that prepare fugu are highly trained to remove the dangerous parts (of which the liver and ovaries are the most dangerous), but mistakes do happen unfortunately, and there is no antidote for tetrodotoxin. There are some fugu farms that supposedly breed non-toxic pufferfish, since the fish themselves do not seem to produce tetrodotoxin, they accumulate it in their tissues from eating other animals that do, so by not feeding the fish any foods that contain it they do not have any of the toxin. There is some scepticism over this but it's definitely interesting.

 

They are usually only aggressive when breeding, otherwise they behave similarly to other triggerfish. I have seen a breeding pair in the wild while snorkelling, but I stayed well away (I was very wary of them) and they didn't bother me. I heard later that another person snorkelling in the area that day wasn't so lucky...

 

Well triggerfish are often synonymous with bad-tempered, several species are notorious for ill-tempered and destructive behavior in aquariums. A few (like Undulated Triggerfish) are often recommended to be kept by themselves because of it even.
Your point about the main problem on the reef being breeding is generally correct though, otherwise an occasional curiosity nip is about it so I hear.

 

Oops, when I said 'behave similarly to other triggerfish' I meant ignoring people other than maybe a passing curiosity (or nipping, as you said).