Cant decide which puffer species to get

[smartallick]

Hello!

Brand new to the forums. Quite a bit of experience in the freshwater hobby (spread over about two decades at this point, although some time away from the hobby in there too).

0 experience with puffers and decided they are my next project

I likely can't get all 3, but possibly could accomodate two of the following species:

Pea puffer, Red Eye Red Tail (Irrubesco), Spotted Congo.

Space and weight are my limiting factors here.

I have a 2 meter long space I can use and at the most probably 60cm depth. Height can be whatever it needs to be really.

I am looking at setting up a heavy duty shelf (or racking) in this space. Feasibly I think I could get a 180cm tank into the room in terms of access but probably not any single tank longer than this (but could get multiple smaller ones either stacked or end to end).

Ideally I wouldnt want more than 250l worth of total volume, at a push could maybe go to 300l.

In an ideal world I would just get all 3 species in thier own tanks but the space and weight limitations means at best I can probably only accomodate 2 species in reality.

So, firstly I would love to hear any annecdotes or stories that may sway me as to which of the three species mentioned I should go with. I'm particularly keen to hear how similar the personalities of the dwarves are (is it more or less an aesthetic choice between these two) and are the congo's really that much better in terms of personality?

A few more specific questions now.

My research so far seems to suggest peas really need to be in a group to truly thrive and that should be 5 at a minimum. Is it the exact same story with the irrubesco? Or could I do a solo or even a trio of them? Seems less clear with these guys. From what I gather Congo's are fine alone, and frankly I don't want to spend the sums required for a group of these anyway.

Next question, fairly confident peas and irrubesco would be fine in a shallow tank (30/35cm) but would a congo be ok with that height or is it too shallow?

Love that the dwarves dont need teeth trimming, how likely/often would trimming be with the congo? Sounds incredibly stressful for owner and fish alike!

And lastly, I know conventional wisdom would suggest peas and irrubesco cannot cohabit and I am fine with that if that really is the case, but do you think a group of each could co-exist in something like a 180cm long x 50cm wide x 30cm high heavily planted / hard scaped tank? Like either a solo or trio of irrubesco + 8 - 10 peas? Or still a hard no on this?

Any input you think could help me make some decisons here would be much appreciated, having made the decision to go ahead with puffers I am really struggling to decide which way to go between these three species! I want them all!!!

[Pufferpunk]

We have lots of info here on different species: viewforum.php?f=38
Great link to fantastic articles also, here: https://www.pufferfishenthusiastsworldw ... pufferfish