SAP puffermates?

Shawn91 · Post by **Shawn91** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 3:41 pm

Hmm.. the water in the aquarium has gotten stable(0 nitrite) and the circulations working well. I'm lucky to have gotten true this with my saps still alive and well. Are there any puffers that are suitable as tankmates for my fishies? I've read through the profiles of different puffers on pufferpedia, but i can't seem to find any. Any suggestions?

Ps: I only have 2 saps

kass · Post by **kass** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 4:38 pm

I'm pretty sure there was a thread somewhere about good SAP tankmates. Try searching for it.

Post by **nmonks** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 6:55 pm

My SAPs have been mixed with a variety of fish over an 18 month period. To summarise:

==Works perfectly (no signs of nipping, ever)==
Bleeding heart tetras
Glassfish
Dwarf synodontis
Panaque nigrolineatus
Wrestling halfbeaks
Pelvicachromis taeniatus
Mikrogeophagus ramirez
Asian "freshwater" flatfish (Brachrius sp. indet.)
Carinotetraodon irrubesco

==Works acceptably (occasional nip)==
Celebes halfbeaks (big, old females)
Diamond tetras
Cardinals
Hatchetfish (no direct damaged, but when startled and fly into tank hood)

==Works poorly (regularly nipped)==
Platies
Mollies
Rhinogobius duospilus (=R. wui)
Awaous flavus (=A. strigatus)
Corydoras spp.

Cheers,

Neale

Boxermom · Post by **Boxermom** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 8:17 pm

I personally would not put ANY other type of puffer with the SAPs.

Post by **Corvus** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 4:53 am

"My SAPs have been mixed with a variety of fish over an 18 month period. To summarise:

==Works perfectly (no signs of nipping, ever)==
...
Carinotetraodon irrubesco
..."

How do they interact?

Does an (eventual) male C. irrubesco attack the C. asellus?

How many of each species in what tank size?

Sounds very interesting to me, although I wouldn't have dared to put these two puffer species together. If it works in your tank: great.

I have seen C. asellus together with C. travancoricus in several tanks. However, some C. asellus had tiny bitemarks in their fins.

Post by **nmonks** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 7:32 am

Boxermom -- Generally I'd agree, but C. irrubesco does seem to work. The only aggression the C. irrubesco exhibit is towards the dwarf cichlids. And it's head-to-head aggression -- not nipping -- and it's the cichlids that start it. Appears to be competition for caves, and the *females* oddly enough in both species are the ones doing the threat behaviour.

Corvus -- It's a 180 litre (40-ish gallon) tank. Two SAPs, and a male/female duo C. irrubesco. (I hesistate to call them a pair at the moment). Interactions are minimal. SAPs rarely come close to the substrate except when picking off items of food, and the C. irrubesco rarely swim in midwater. The C. irrubesco are more interested in each other and the dwarf cichlids than the SAPs, and the only aggression the male C. irrubesco shows is to his reflection in the glass! C. irrubesco seem very mellow -- right now, I'm watching a glassfish steal food from the female. I've had them since February and never once seen them misbehave except possibly nipping Corydoras dorsal fins.

C. travancoricus are in a totally different league, and I agree, would be much less reliable. I also keep my tanks fairly busy, and I'm convinced this prevents fin-nipping by keeping the SAPs on the move at all times. There is much more for them to watch and interact with, and at feeding time they have to work hard to get the food. There's also lots of water current and only have the tank has plants, which gives the SAPs lots of room to swim, which they seem to like.

Cheers,

Neale

Post by **Corvus** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 8:13 am

Thanks for the explanations. It's tempting. Actually I wanted to have a South America (NE region, lower Amazonas) tank with C. asellus with 160 or 240 litres, typical plants and other fish, which were reported in association with C. asellus. But a tank with two puffer species is worth a thought. Anyway, it would have to wait until the end of 2007.

Cheers.

Post by **Myaj** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 2:44 pm

I kept my SAP with rainbowfish, corydoras and a pair of dwarf puffers.. in a VERY heavily planted tank. No nipping or issues at all.

But the tank was really thick in plants, with plenty of snails and shrimp for the puffers to keep busy with, they ignored the other fish. If anything, my SAP was scared of the other fish!

Fella · Post by **Fella** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 5:38 pm

I keep a pair of irrubesco in a "community" tank and have done for some time without issues. It's the other fish i've kept with them that have been the issue...

sPuffalopagus · Post by **sPuffalopagus** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 9:55 pm

Will there be issues keeping SAPs in an Angels Tank? Any experience? Or should I be the first? hahahah

Post by **Myaj** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 10:10 pm

I wouldn't, honestly. Angels are nasty things, cichlids after all. Like I said, my SAP's were rather timid. They did well when kept with a pair of kribs that stayed in the rockwork, but angels are pretty much fearless and might beat the crap out of the sap's. And of course if the SAP's retaliate, those long fins are very chew-worthy!

I think they can mix okay if you stay away from aggressive fish and slow moving fish...

Post by **nmonks** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 6:36 pm

I'd tend to agree with Myaj. There are too many variables there. Besides the ones mentioned already, I'd add that speed seems to work in a fish's favour. Anything fast and agile gets ignored (even SAPs are relatively slow fish, however fast they are compared with other puffers). Angels would seem a temptingly slow and clumsy target.

As Myaj says, angels are almost as unpredictable as puffers. I've seen some psychotic angels that could frighten fish twice their size, and then I've seen angels that are total muppet cats and make the most wonderful pets. Frankly, I think there's been too much inbreeding for colours and finnage instead of decent size and behaviour.

Cheers,

Neale

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SAP puffermates?

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