Help me pick a puffer

[bigpuff]

I've been darting around all over the place with ideas and reading all the articles, but now I just want to get back to basics and ask the experienced puffer keepers what they think.

I have a 55 gallon tank, no fish or even water in it yet. What are my pufferfish options? Fresh, brackish, salt, whatever. I just want to know what the possibilities are in your opinions.

Note: I'd prefer not to have to have a snail breeder tank and to have to clip their beaks all the time. This isn't a deal breaker but it may put one puffer above another in my thinking.

[Welch4]

A single Green spotted puffer. Tetraodon nigroviridis. Full salt water. This would require live rock and a skimmer. Great personality. One in a 55 would live like a king. Crunchy and meaty foods and you wouldn't need a snail breeding tank. The occasional small live crayfish as a treat.

[bigpuff]

Cool, thanks! What about Figure 8's, would I need a snail tank for those?

[Welch4]

A snail tank is not nessesary for any puffers really.(the only exception here would be SAPs) It just give the keepers an on hand supply of crunchy foods. And they cost next to nothing breed. As long as you keep a diet of crunchy and meaty foods you should be good. Figure 8s would do well in a 55 but brackish can be more expensive to keep. Not being able to protein skim you will need frequent water changes and salt is not cheap.

[bigpuff]

What would be good crunchy foods that I wouldn't have to keep live?

[G S P Freak]

Clams on a half shell. Snails can be bought online and frozen, though it's easy and cheaper to breed them.

[Pufferpunk]

I also like the ease of tossing in FD foods on occasion, like plankton. I buy that in bulk.