The Puffer Forum

So after what seems like years I have finally persuaded my other half to let me upgrade my 60 litre. The new tank is approx. 200l, 44G, 53(US)G and the salinity will be approx. SG1.003@25DegC, its in the house now but we are in no rush to set it up just yet.

The tank will house my current Figure 8 puffer and because it has been historically placid I want to add some other fish, I've compiled a list of potential tankmates and have discounted some due to one reason or the other which I will detail below, I'd be grateful if you could look at the list and make any comments that you have, for or against, their stocking in the tank. Advice from personal experience would be much appreciated but advice from others research would also be gratefully received.

1. Toxotes Microlepsis Archer.----------------------------------Discounted due to risk of it eating the puffer.
2. Orange Chromide.------------------------------------------------Still a possibility but worried about it being too aggressive.
3. Marbled Mollie.
4. Kribensis.------------------------------------------------------------Discounted as only tolerates brackish water.
5. Celebes Rainbowfish.--------------------------------------------Discounted as only tolerates brackish water.
6. Wrestling Halfbeak.-----------------------------------------------Discounted due to it being too aggressive.
7. Florida Flagfish.----------------------------------------------------Discounted due to it being too aggressive.
8. Ceylon Killifish.-----------------------------------------------------Still a possibility but worried about it being too aggressive.
9. Bumblebee Goby.
10. Knight Goby.---------------------------------------------------------Still a possibility but worried that the long dorsal fin may prove too tempting for the puffer.
11. White Cheek Goby.------------------------------------------------Discounted due to it being subtropical.
12. Humpback Limia.---------------------------------------------------This is one of my most likely choices.
13. Kanu Goby Mugilogobius.----------------------------------------Likely Singleton choice.
14. Golden Wonder killifish Aplocheilus Lineatus.--------------Still a possibility but worried about it being too aggressive.
15. Rhinohorn Goby Redigobius Balteatus.
16. Filament barb.-------------------------------------------------------------Discounted as too large and subtropical.
17. Indian Glassfish.-----------------------------------------------------------Discounted as transparent and so may not be noticed.
18. Horseface loach.----------------------------------------------------------Discounted as too large.
19. Spotted Blue Eye Rainbowfish Pseudomugil Gertrudae.------Discounted as only tolerates brackish water.
20. Pacific Blue Eye Rainbowfish Pseudomugil Signifer.------------This is one of my most likely choices.
21. Black Banded Rainbowfish Melanotaenia Nigrans.--------------This is one of my most likely choices.

Thanks for looking and your insights will be most helpful.

Orange chromides are not aggressive & are a great addition to F8 puffers. I also really loved my knight gobies & they spawned often.

Thanks Pufferpunk! Did you have a pair of Chromides or a group? Good news about the Knights as well...

I can't remember but I think I had 2 chromides. Good luck finding them.

Cool, I do notice them occassionally but I reckon no matter what I end up choosing it will have to be ordered in because there aren't any LFS's around that stock brackish species anymore.

My Humpback Limia were extremely prolific. I started off with a trio, and was over run in short haste.
I think your puffer will thank you for some tastey treats.
Golden Wonder Killies are fun to keep and as long as they can't fit what their in with in their mouths ( your puffer is safe ) and would make good tank mates. A tight cover is a must though....

Thanks Alleycat. Do the Golden Wonder Killifish peck at or chase away other fish that stray too close to the water surface or do they ignore them?

I had mine in with some Gymnogeophagus Balzani and a type of Goodeid ( Ameca Splendens ) and other than losing some fry to the Killies, they pretty much kept to themselves. For the most part the killies stayed at the top area of the tank and pond they were in, and were fun to watch when a fly landed near by ...

Many thanks for the info

At the moment I am swaying towards 8 Pacific Blue Eye Rainbowfish Pseudomugil Signifer and a few Bumblebee Gobies with my puffer.

Possibly a couple of Chromides but does anyone think that an Orange Chromide would see Bumblebee Gobies as a snack?

Chromide are pretty mellow cichlids. Worry more about your puffer.

That's good news.
My puffer has tolerated BBG's before so a bit like Doris Day I've got high hopes....

Well my tank has sat in the house for almost a year now and it has finally been set up!!

So we eventually got the front room, plastered, painted and carpet changed so the other half was happy for me to put the tank in place. We put it in place about 6 weeks ago but almost as soon as we did our 6 year old hit a balloon on top of it and decided to climb up and grab it and broke the side pane - luckily the tank wasn't full of water and he came down unharmed and with his balloon in hand. So more DIY required and I ordered a new pane of glass and siliconed it into place, overfilled the tank and left it for a couple of weeks in the conservatory so that it could experience some temperature fluctuations, happily it didn't leak so we moved it into the front room.

It turns out that the IP65 light holders that I had bought didn't fit the LED tubes so I'm waiting on another set to turn up so unfortunately we have no lights yet but our puffer is loving the extra room.

So I'm back to thinking about tank mates and I'll be off to the LFS this weekend and will most likely order a male and female Orange Chromide, 6 Bumblebee Gobies and 8 P Signifers.

Once the light's are in I'll take a few pictures, hopefully my plants will survive until then...

Any comments on stocking would be gratefully received.

Interesting project! Any updates?

Not with respect to livestock, i've asked an LFS to see what they can get but so far they've found nothing. I've got a couple of rubbish photos that i took of the tank with my tablet a couple of weeks after I set it up. It looks a bit better now so i'll have to try to improve my non-existant photography skills and take a couple more pictures.