Tank Idea/Need Help

[purplecandle]

If you want to remain frugal..use craigslist and ebay...

Tanks mates for a GSP is just such a difficult task..especially if he is an adult..

By the way..how big is the GSP you have?

[Mother Yoda]

By the way..how big is the GSP you have?

It's in the 2 -4 inch range right now...

[Nick]

Owning either 30 or 40 gallon breeders for fish, unless you get one secondhand for next to nothing, has always seemed like a waste of space to me. A 65 gallon tank has the same footprint and has a lot more water. More waste dilution is always good for your fish, even if it doesn't add much territory, it adds more exploration space by giving more height for interesting live rock formations.

[Mother Yoda]

Owning either 30 or 40 gallon breeders for fish, unless you get one secondhand for next to nothing, has always seemed like a waste of space to me. A 65 gallon tank has the same footprint and has a lot more water. More waste dilution is always good for your fish, even if it doesn't add much territory, it adds more exploration space by giving more height for interesting live rock formations.

Would that allow Eric Cartman (My Puffer) to be able to have tank mates? If so what kinds?

[Nick]

Potentially... IF(big if)
He accepts them
They don't challenge his territory as they both mature
They are not tasty
He doesn't go all fahaka on them.

[Mother Yoda]

Potentially... IF(big if)
He accepts them
They don't challenge his territory as they both mature
They are not tasty
He doesn't go all fahaka on them.

So your saying it's extremely slim in otherwords?

[RTR]

There are some other nasty-tempered Clowns, but the Maroons take the prize. Puffer have big dental plates in very strong jaws, but clowns have lots of tiny sharp teeth and do plenty of damage on their own. A breeding pair of ephippiums routinely and regularly savaged me, despite wearing steel gauntlets under heavy drybox gloves when I worked in their tank. Tomato clowns could be equally nippy and did not even breed. No more - I gave up fish where I could not or would not put my hands in the tank.

[jus85411]

the main reason for the minimum tank requirements for puffers is the amount of waste they produce. constantly trying to find something to eat and constantly producing waste. if you were to do the 40 gallon then you might be able to do the damsels or a clownfish. i wouldnt go maroon as they are the most aggressive ones, and you dont want a situation like pufferpunk where he starts nipping at your GSP. if he nips the GSP will either be entirely too stressed to even come near the clownfish, or he will decide hes not going to deal with being bullied and take a chunk out of the clownfish to see if that stops him from being aggressive towards him. and if he doesnt stop with a chunk taken out, the clownfish will probably end up dead. but it really comes down to your puffer, how he feels about the tank, if he feels comfortable enough in his space to allow something living with him. since he is almost already 4 inches, he might not allow anything, especially if he has never had a tankmate. i had success with some damsels and a clownfish, even a starfish, but i think thats because he has grown up with tankmates from when he was 1 1/2 inches and in freshwater. the starfish my GSP thought was a little funny, he went to check it out, kind of tasted it without actually taking a chunk out, and just left it alone from there on out

[Nick]

There was a maroon clown in the store where I worked for about two months once, TINY one, not much over an inch when he came in. The thing attacked any hand that went into that tank with a true passion, and even at that size, could give painful nips if he got to soft spots on the hand. Getting employees to stick their hand in there for some reason became a kind of a game.