Leopard Puffer vs. Valentini Puffer

[Jmifland]

I would really like to add a puffer to my aquarium. Below is the aquarium setup.

40 Gallon Breeder
1-2 Inches of sand
25-30 pounds of dry live rock
20 Gallon High (sump w/ refugium)
Protein Skimmer

Tankmates:
2 x True Percula Clowns
2 x Banggai Cardinal
1 x Fathead/Sunburst Anthias

I would like to get one of the above two puffers and I don't know which one would compliment the aquarium the most. I have come to the conclusion that my current clean-up crew that I will be transfering to this larger tank will likely be treats for the puffer and I will be getting a scraping tool to keep the tank clean. I just want to make sure that there will be enough room for the puffer and that it won't nip at corals or the livestock that will be in the tank. All of the other fish will get roughly the same size as the puffer full grown so hopefully they won't mess with them too much. If anyone has personal experience or knowledge about these two puffers please provide everything It would be greatly appreciated.

[Toomz85]

Hey there I found that the valentini puffer was fine in my tank with my clowns, coral beauty, my shrimp but I forget the name as was sold under the wrong identity and my corals in an aquarium of the same size the only corals that he did nip as was my very small xenia coral that was so small it jus sort of started growing from nowhere although remember every puffer is different u may get one that's fine or one that isn't I'm afraid it's a little trial and error but you should be ok if you have leathers toad stools mushrooms and that they taste nasty so pay nip but then will jus leave it because of the taste I hope this will help you some

[Jmifland]

That has helped a lot actually. I have been leaning towards the Leopard Puffer because it only gets 3" and a site that I found says that it can be kept in a minimum of 25 gallons. I just want to make sure I can keep the other stock as well. I have a number of zoanthids and palythoas (poisonous) so I think that if he took a nip he would definitely regret doing so and stay away from all the corals. I just want to make sure that he doesn't put a hole into my fish since I have read people saying that they can do that. I really like my current fish and since I would be ordering this fish online it would be very hard to return it if he decides to be temperamental. I will continue to do some more research.

I am also assuming that you don't know the name of the shrimp that you had with the puffer? The sentence was a little confusing but that is what I got from it and wanted to make sure that my assumption was correct.

[suvattii2012]

Is a leopard puffer a GSP? The valentini looks cool i never seen that type before. Won't either attack your other fish?

[El Scorpio]

No. The leopard puffer is in the Canthigaster genus and is a toby. And, I've never seen any species of toby over 3 inches long in an aquarium. Camille is about that length and she has stopped growing.

Is a leopard puffer a GSP? The valentini looks cool i never seen that type before. Won't either attack your other fish?

[Pufferpunk]

It's common name is actually a Panther puffer.



I've kept many tobys & never saw them picking at any of the CUC, only corals.

[Toomz85]

Assumption correct my lfs had it labeled under a different name but it was a clown orchid shrimp there are awsome!! Looks just like an orchid flower (I'm sure u guessed already) if a fish swap it to it he jus batted them away great shrimps with great colours they are white whith electric blue rings ...... Glad some of my informating was of some use to you plskeep us all updated

[Toomz85]

Also my Toby only got to 3.5 inches in a 100 gallon tank and my mate also has one in a 30g tank and is very happy too

[Jmifland]

I am leaning towards the Leopard Toby because they say the max size is about 3" and I really like the colors more. I really like the Valentini as well though. The biggest problem is the corals. I plan to have a large number of corals in the tank for the colors and they are really fun to watch but I don't want to risk paying a lot of money for corals just to have the toby running around and eating them. Do you think if I introduce them after he has been introduced that he would leave them alone. Instead of swimming around and sampling everything. I could put him in the tank with some palythoas and once he gets a bite he will immediately turn back. I don't know if that would stop him from trying the others though.

[Pufferpunk]

I don't want to risk paying a lot of money for corals just to have the toby running around and eating them.

Then don't get a puffer.

[Jmifland]

They are so cute though!

[Pufferpunk]

Then just keep cheap corals. Then get a separate tank for a nice reef, like mine:

[Jmifland]

Moving into an apartment at the end of February and I won't have the money right now to setup two aquariums. I would much rather stick with just one so I will continue to do some research about a centerpiece fish. Was hoping to fill that spot with the Sunburst/Fathead Anthias and the puffer but it doesn't look like the puffer is going to work too well.

[Pufferpunk]

I think you are making a wise decision. Keep us updated.