How long can these fish last in a 34 Gallon? PLEASE ANSWER!?

[Gagsy_The_Pufferfish]

How long can a

Very Small Picasso Triggerfish,
Small Dog Faced Pufferfish,
Small Maroon Clownfish,
Small Longnose Hawkfish

Last in a 34 gallon before I have to upgrade?
I will not be able to upgrade for 10 months due to money issues BUT after that period I WILL be able to buy a much larger aquarium.

My Water parameters are great!

the Nitrites are 0,
the Nitrates are 0,
the Ammonia is 0,
the pH is 8.3,

I have an over sized external filter, a good protein skimmer, and lots of live rock.
I do a 10-25% water change every week and sift the sand every day and clean the glass every other day, I clean the filter once a month, and feed a very varied diet.

Is this OK?

Please, no nasty comments or they will be reported, Please leave helpful comments.
Thanks very much!

(My tank is saltwater)

[julianchan]

Don't know too much about the others, but the dogface will not last more than 2 days...and a painful 2 days at that. It will definitely be stunted in the 10 months, even with 2 times daily water changes. I would just wait till you can get your 160gallon or larger tank.

I think the maroon clownfish should be ok for life, as long as its the only fish in there.

[Gagsy_The_Pufferfish]

He is only 1.5 - 2 inches at the moment and may water quality is perfect.
He is eating very well too.
this is the kind of setup I have at the moment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch#playnext=1 ... lPfSVEXSV0

[julianchan]

Gotta be honest with you, dogfaces, from what I have heard from owners here, grow fast. So any extended periods of time in a small tank will lead to stunting which leads to premature death. I would recommend returning the puffer and waiting till you get the bigger tank. It is only going to be a 10 month wait. No doubt you want to do the right thing, otherwise you would not be trying to find out more information. Please check out pufferpedia in the learn tab above for more information on the dogface.

[define999]

10 months is a long time.... the question is surviving or thriving? Yes all those fish might survive for 10 months but some and definatly the dogface will have some damage associated with the lack of space. From what I know about these fishes the puffer is the most vulnerable to these conditions, even small. What are the reasons of you aquiring these fish? Did you inherit them? buy them? If you were givin these fish than all you can really do is keep water quality high and try to find a home to keep the dogface until you upgrade. If you bought these fish than I would return(for refund hopefully) the dogface and explain your space situation to the owner. If you bought these fish from a pet superstore than they might be unwilling to take him back. A small owner operated pet shop might take him back. I see dogface puffers all the time in shops so you can always re-aquire one when you upgrade.

Also you could always buy a used tank on craiglist for the time being, a cheap hang-on-back filter, cheap powerhead, and throw some of your live rock and filter media to seed the used tank. Even without lights and substrate the dog could live in there until you can afford your nice new setup.... that even might be better than waiting.... go the cheap route until you can afford to do it right! By the way welcome to the boards.....

[diverchic]

Hi,
Sorry if this is a dumb question but I'm confused. Going by the comments on the post on youtube that video has been on there for a year. Have they already been in there for that long and you're considering another 10 months before upgrading?

Edit - Just saw you said 'kind of set up' so I'm guessing that's not your tank. Even the comments on youtube say that the tank is way to small for those fish.

Please wait until you get a larger tank before getting the dog face.

[PolishPuff]

Please wait until you get a larger tank before getting the dog face.

I also agree with diverchic. By rushing you would do more harm then good and a dog face puffer in commonly traded so you wouldn't have a problem of getting one later

[Pufferpunk]

How is it your nitrate is 0? If you care about these fish at all, you will discontinue adding stock to that tank & upgrade ASAP. I have already posted to you NOT to add a DF puffer in with the sharpnose! I do not suggest stocking a tank for future upgrades. Responsible fishkeepers stock a tank for what adult fish it can hold now. There are always money problems that can surface in the future & then what are your fish going to do?

[pufferpuggirl]

Sorry to be negative, but from what I read on the YouTube comments, I think that IS his tank and that those fish have been in there for a very long time. I'm not at all experienced in marine aquariums, but even I know that it's way over stocked to have all those fish in there, and I have to agree with one of the commentators -- it's cruel!

I'm also concerned because this person is saying his water parameters are good -- no nitrate isn't good!

[Mek0ng]

[define999]

fish have been in there for a very long time

If this is your tank, I really believe you could find at least a 60 gallon on craigslist cheap..... you could put that puffer in there until you upgrade to ease the space issues a bit.... now this is only a temporary solution... many times the used tank will come with some sort of used HOB filter. Use the tanks cheap fresh water lighting or ambient lighting even.... throw some of that live rock in there and you dont even have to buy substrate if you dont want.... you could probably do this for under 80 bucks..... get you a cheap heater from petsmart and a cheap powerhead and use this as a temporary solution until you find the time and money to truly upgrade your system..... over time get some more cheap used equipment, man im telling you sometimes I find stuff people are just practicly giving away!

Dont let the comments scare you, as long as your trying to do the fish right. The community will help you!!!

Also just thought of this.... local fish clubs can be life savers I hear. And might even be willing to throw you some stuff cheap after learning about your story.... or be willing to house the puffer for you. What area do you live?

[pufferpuggirl]

Unfortunately Gagsy is in the UK, we don't have the sort of Craigslist that you have in the US, but we do have something called 'Aquarist-Classifieds.co.uk' and I'm sure he could probably find a cheap, if not free, tank on there, especially if he let it be known that he needed one desperately.

We're not trying to be unkind Gagsy, but you have to think of the fish in that tank. You don't want to stunt your puffer and possibly have it die prematurely, do you? Like define999 said, we are here to help and we will help you, but you can't put that puffer in a tank for 10 months when it's going to outgrow it much sooner than that.

I hope you understand why everyone is trying to put you off putting that puffer in such a small tank, we are not against you, just trying to help you make the right decision.

And while I'm here, I need to bring it to your attention that either you made a mistake, or your tank isn't cycled, you cannot have a nitrate reading of "0" and your tank be cycled.

[Pufferpunk]

I am under the impression he doesn't have the DFP yet.

[jdak]

My Fishes: (Saltwater)
X1 Longnose Hawkfish:
x2 Pajama Cardinalfish:
x1 Yellow Stripe Maroon Clownfish:
x1 Picasso Triggerfish:
x1Blue Spotted Puffer:
x1 Scooter Blenny:
x2 Turbo Snails:
X1 Dog face Puffer: (coming soon)

Thats more than you listed in your post...

May i add the kid is 15 yrs old. Has some learning to do. Might have bought these fish with his hard earned lunch money.

[Pufferpunk]

Let's just hope he doesn't get that dogface.