Choosing a Puffer

[Sentinel138]

I have a new question/idea....

Does anybody know any Fresh, or Brackish Water Puffers that can live alone in a 20 Gallon tank?

I have decided even though I could put Red Tailed Puffers, or SAPs with the Eel. I'm not going to... Now I have a new idea. I want to let my Eel live happily for a long time. So, I'm going to see if I can do a puffer in it's own tank alone. I'm willing to get a bigger tank too. 55 Gallons and no more. So if you have any idea if I can do a puffer in a 20 Gallon/55 Gallon tank. That would be great if you could help.

It's just too dangerous to put them with my Eel I've decided. The thing is though, I want to become a puffer owner. So, now I'm going to go with a new idea.

I want to do a puffer that can live alone, that isn't so aggressive it bites my hand when I put it in. If you have any idea for a puffer like this tell me. It can't be too aggressive, so I can't change the water without gloves, but a little aggressive is okay. Something that actually will live for a long time, and is fun to watch. I don't mind high maintenance.

I'm willing to try anything. It doesn't have to be exactly like the traits above, but those are just some ideas. Please respond and help.

[Brent]

You could probably manage a Miurus in there, though it'd be tight. I know PP had a fairly small tank for hers.

[Brent]

I meant in a 20g in the above post. If you got any bigger aa Miurus would be great!

[Pufferpunk]

My miurus lived in a 15g. She didn't move much & I did 75% WC on it.

[marksrush]

You actually have quite a few choices, especially if you're willing to go up to a 55. I could list quite a few types of puffers, but I think it would be more informative for you if you would look through the PufferPedia's freshwater and brackish sections. The articles will give you a good idea as to tank size requirements, temperament, and other facts you'll need to know. Good luck, and let us know what you decide!

[bazil323]

I second that motion! You can get a good idea about the basics of those puffers and get a general idea of what they look like. Once you find a few you like, then come back and post what you're leaning towards and we'll try to help ya out.

That said, there are 2 pretty common puffers that would work for a 20g. You could do a few dwarf puffers (check out the profile in PufferPedia for more info on how many, etc.). The other one that comes to mind is Figure 8 puffers. Both of these are *relatively* peaceful (keep in mind that relatively), and they probably won't attack you. I've had the same Figure 8 puffer for about 1-1/2 years, and recently got another one. Neither bothers me when I do water changes (mostly run away and hide during this time, lol), and neither has ever made any move to bite me. I have no personal experience with dwarf puffers (LFS had them once, and at the time, I didn't have a tank for them, missed the boat), but I have never heard of a DP biting their owner (except maybe if it was being harassed).

I know there are some very cool puffers out there that would work in a 20g, but the 2 mentioned are some of the most common that would fit. I think some of the others you might have to search for depending on your location.

[Sentinel138]

Well, thanks for the idea on the mirius. I'll look into it.

Here is some puffers I was looking at but I'm worried some of them could be too aggressive.( Bold, and underlined are those that I thought could be too aggressive, was hoping that could work though){It also means I'd really like to try those.}

Monotrete Abei=Abe's Puffer
Monotrete Cochinchinensis=Fangs Puffer
Tetraodon miurus=Congo Puffer
Monotrete Bailey=Hairy Puffer
Monotrete Palembangensis=Palembang Puffer
Tetraodon biocellatus=Figure Eight Puffer { Bold and underlined because they're Brackish, and because they could live
Tetraodon nigroviridis=Green Spotted Puffer (together, or with their own members of their species. So, I've heard.}

All small little puffers that I was hoping/think would do okay alone. All of them are active, and could live in a 20-55 Gallon tank.

Tell me what you think.

[P.S.]If it seems that a lot of these puffers are aggressive... I don't know why, but I just seem to be interested in the more Aggressive species, even if they're harder to care for.

[Sentinel138]

I second that motion! You can get a good idea about the basics of those puffers and get a general idea of what they look like. Once you find a few you like, then come back and post what you're leaning towards and we'll try to help ya out.

That said, there are 2 pretty common puffers that would work for a 20g. You could do a few dwarf puffers (check out the profile in PufferPedia for more info on how many, etc.). The other one that comes to mind is Figure 8 puffers. Both of these are *relatively* peaceful (keep in mind that relatively), and they probably won't attack you. I've had the same Figure 8 puffer for about 1-1/2 years, and recently got another one. Neither bothers me when I do water changes (mostly run away and hide during this time, lol), and neither has ever made any move to bite me. I have no personal experience with dwarf puffers (LFS had them once, and at the time, I didn't have a tank for them, missed the boat), but I have never heard of a DP biting their owner (except maybe if it was being harassed).

I know there are some very cool puffers out there that would work in a 20g, but the 2 mentioned are some of the most common that would fit. I think some of the others you might have to search for depending on your location.

Even though Dwarf Puffers would work, for some reason I just don't want to do them.

[Sentinel138]

Well, I certainly think you'd have alot of choices if you want to keep a puffer on it's own in either a 20-gallon, or a 55-gallon tank. I have many different kinds of puffers, and none of mine are so aggressive that I can't put my hand in the tank. I've been bitten several times too, but not so hard as to break the skin, and usually it's been what I think is a curiosity bite -- except for when I've been bitten by my suvattii. Them I have to be careful with because they see your fingers and they think food and shoot up and got you before you know it!

Sorry .... I got away from the topic there ....

My Fang's puffer is interesting to watch, but so is my Abei too. I think maybe you'd be better off looking through the PufferPedia, and making notes of which ones you'd like and then go from there. The list is actually quite long given the choice between a tank of 20 or 55-gallons.

Well that's what I was hoping. I really want to try Abei and Fang's Puffer. Are they hard to care for? Please respond.

[marksrush]

Hard to care for? Puffers of almost any sort are among the most demanding and difficult kind of fish you can ever hope to have in your care, and definitely not for the casual hobbyist. However, if you can commit to doing regular water changes (as in every week, since puffers need ultra-pure water), providing them a appropriately sized tank, and giving them the right foods, then you should be able to keep one as successfully as anyone else. Just DO YOUR RESEARCH before buying - failing to do so is a major source of death for the fish and heartbreak for the keeper. And since this site is the premier site for reliable information on puffers, browse the PufferPedia and start reading through some of the forums so that you can educate yourself.

Abei: ug.php/v/PufferPedia/Freshwater/T_abei/
Fangs: ug.php/v/PufferPedia/Freshwater/T_Cochinchinensis/

[Sentinel138]

Hard to care for? Puffers of almost any sort are among the most demanding and difficult kind of fish you can ever hope to have in your care, and definitely not for the casual hobbyist. However, if you can commit to doing regular water changes (as in every week, since puffers need ultra-pure water), providing them a appropriately sized tank, and giving them the right foods, then you should be able to keep one as successfully as anyone else. Just DO YOUR RESEARCH before buying - failing to do so is a major source of death for the fish and heartbreak for the keeper. And since this site is the premier site for reliable information on puffers, browse the PufferPedia and start reading through some of the forums so that you can educate yourself.

Abei: ug.php/v/PufferPedia/Freshwater/T_abei/
Fangs: ug.php/v/PufferPedia/Freshwater/T_Cochinchinensis/

Yeah, I've been trying to research to a wide variety.I'm also fully willing to care for a puffer. Whether it's breeding snails (as I'm probably going to have to), or doing water changes every week (I already do that anyways). I was just wondering from anybody's personally opinion are they one of the harder species to find, and care for?

I know they're aggressive, and both get to a small size,(3-4Inches) and need a tank only up to 25 Gallons. My question is are they a harder species and wouldn't recommend to Beginner Puffer Keepers. That's all I was saying.
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Something else is not everything can be answered on the PufferPedia. Like whether or not a Fang's Puffer by no tankmates, means no puffers of the same species.
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(The 2 puffers I've decided I'm going to try to look at are the Fang's Puffer, and the Abei Puffer.)

If you know additional information such as what they prefer in the tank and whether I can/should house more than 1 of these puffers of the same species. Please tell me.(These are things which you can't get from the PufferPedia.)
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P.S. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the PufferPedia, I'm just saying that some things are best answered from people with experience towards the species of puffers. It can help people understand them a little bit more. This is why the Forum was built.

[marksrush]

I don't think they're supposed to be harder to keep than any other puffer, from what I've read. Hopefully someone who owns one of these puffers will post and help us out.

When the PufferPedia articles say "no tankmates", that means no tankmates, period. No other fish in the tank of any sort. There are exceptions to every rule, of course, and sometimes you can luck out and find a male and female that will buddy up together, but with most puffers, you should plan on it being the only fish in the tank - although many of us have had at least a little luck keeping certain other carefully chosen kinds of fish with our puffers. Most of the time, though, something ends up dead and it's not the puffer.

Yes, you're right, not all answers to puffer questions can be found in the PufferPedia: it's a work in progress, and probably most of us have wished one time or another that it were more complete. Part of the problem is that these fish are simply not yet well understood by the scientific community, so often there's not a whole lot of information to gather together to put into an article, if any. Not to brag on this site, but many of our gurus like PufferPunk, Corvus, yunachin, and others are considered to be among the foremost authorities on a given type of puffer, and you'll see TPF articles quoted on many other aquarium-related websites - so quite often what you see here is the current state of the art. What's missing in the PufferPedia part of the site can be commonly be found in this site's many forums, where you can read about people's actual experience with a given type of puffer while you're waiting for someone "live" to respond to your post. You might try using the forum's Search feature, which is a good way to pull up lots of valuable information on whatever puffer or related topic you are wanting to investigate. It's helped me a lot, many times.

[marksrush]

I was thinking all the time that it seemed like schismy007 told me that she had a Fangs puffer, but I wasn't sure. I checked her profile, and yes she does, so maybe PM her and get her feedback? I don't know if there's a way to search people's profiles to see what kinds of puffers they have, but if you could, that might be something to try as a way to hook up with actual owners.

What about a suvatti, or a miurus? They'd probably be OK in a 20-25 gallon tank, since they're lurkers and like to spend most of their time hidden or buried. They get a little bigger than the ones you are asking about, but if that's OK then check them out.

[Sentinel138]

I don't think they're supposed to be harder to keep than any other puffer, from what I've read. Hopefully someone who owns one of these puffers will post and help us out.

When the PufferPedia articles say "no tankmates", that means no tankmates, period. No other fish in the tank of any sort. There are exceptions to every rule, of course, and sometimes you can luck out and find a male and female that will buddy up together, but with most puffers, you should plan on it being the only fish in the tank - although many of us have had at least a little luck keeping certain other carefully chosen kinds of fish with our puffers. Most of the time, though, something ends up dead and it's not the puffer.

Yes, you're right, not all answers to puffer questions can be found in the PufferPedia: it's a work in progress, and probably most of us have wished one time or another that it were more complete. Part of the problem is that these fish are simply not yet well understood by the scientific community, so often there's not a whole lot of information to gather together to put into an article, if any. Not to brag on this site, but many of our gurus like PufferPunk, Corvus, yunachin, and others are considered to be among the foremost authorities on a given type of puffer, and you'll see TPF articles quoted on many other aquarium-related websites - so quite often what you see here is the current state of the art. What's missing in the PufferPedia part of the site can be commonly be found in this site's many forums, where you can read about people's actual experience with a given type of puffer while you're waiting for someone "live" to respond to your post. You might try using the forum's Search feature, which is a good way to pull up lots of valuable information on whatever puffer or related topic you are wanting to investigate. It's helped me a lot, many times.

Thanks! Now I'm getting somewhere.

[Sentinel138]

I was thinking all the time that it seemed like schismy007 told me that she had a Fangs puffer, but I wasn't sure. I checked her profile, and yes she does, so maybe PM her and get her feedback? I don't know if there's a way to search people's profiles to see what kinds of puffers they have, but if you could, that might be something to try as a way to hook up with actual owners.

What about a suvatti, or a miurus? They'd probably be OK in a 20-25 gallon tank, since they're lurkers and like to spend most of their time hidden or buried. They get a little bigger than the ones you are asking about, but if that's OK then check them out.

I actually like the idea of a bigger puffer. The thing is though I wouldn't do a suvatti just because I talked to schimsy007 she says its more aggressive than her Fang's or Abei. The miurus I just really haven't looked into very much.

The thing is though I sort of liked the idea of a Abei or Fang's Puffer. What I'm really looking into is the Abei. I really like the idea of an Abei, but I'm good with the Fang's too... which is okay because if they got Fang's instead of Abei's when I ordered them I'd really be okay with it.

So if you have some more info. than provided about a Abei or Fang's Puffer please respond. Example: Do they prefer live plants? Which do they like better... sand or gravel? When you set up the tank what should you try to go with to make them happy?(peek holes or lots of places to run around)

Please respond.