The Puffer Forum

A friend of mine is trying to figure out which puffer he wants to put in his 55 gallon, so we're going through the PufferPedia and trying to figure out a nice puffer for him. We've narrowed it down to (we think) either an Abei or a Palembang, but he's looking for a puffer who will be relatively active. Does a Palembang fit this category, or do they tend to lay around a lot and do nothing?

I'm pretty sure they are rather lazy.

Mine only comes out when he's hungry.... which isn't every day. Normally he just stays in his cave and peeks out once in a while.

Hmm, fair enough. Anyone have any suggestions of other active Freshwater puffers (other than Abeis) that don't obliterate plants? He wants a few options. Remember, it's going in a 55 gallon, but he doesn't mind if it's sorta small (anything less than 3-4 inches is probably too small, though, unless he were to get DPs).

I'm going to show him my DPs when I pick them up (hopefully soon-ish!), and then he can decide. The DPs will be nice for him in the case of algae, as he can put in some Otos and a larger shrimp.

sap's maybe?

They aren't as personal as normal puffs though, and dentistry isn't always fun.
T. Sabahenesis might work, they could possibly be able to live in full FW, but that's still being debated.
There's really not many puffers that are active that could work in there, dwarves could, or irrubescos if you can find a whole lot that are peaceful.
At my LFS they have 2 abei's in a tank together for a few months and they don;t look aggressive towards each other. They each have their own territories in a 10 gallon tank though, which is completely bare. I might get one (or both) if they are still there after I setup a FW tank in my new house(this weekend).

He's not worried about volume, just looking for something personable and active. SAPs are out because he's not up for constant dentistry. He doesn't expect it to zoom around at everything, he just doesn't want it to sit at the bottom of a cave for the entire day, haha!

We're going to take several trips when some puffers come in so he can see some different types.

Hi. I think you are doing the right thing by waiting and finding the right puffer for your friends needs and exactly what you want.
I have two great little Palembangs. They are real characters and i have great fun feeding them from the end of a line.
They should grow to a good eight inches total and can be tempted out of their caves with a good prawn.
They only eat once or twice a week so other than a regular 50% water change and a clean around the tank. You can just chill out and enjoy the fish.

just a reminder that the tank sizes quoted are sugested minimum's so there are plenty of puffers that would like a tank of that size. What about a few F8 if he is willing to mix a little salt?

He's looking for freshwater so he can keep various plants (I know there are brackish plants, but yeah). And yeah, he's not looking to super-stock the tank, but he wants to find something that will USE the tank, if that makes any sense (ie. he doesn't want something that's going to sleep in a cave all day).

An abei sounds like the best bet, it might grow a little extra in that size tank too.

I get what you mean Agnate, there isn't much in the way of size and activity that breach the gap between the red eys and a fahaka really. I think Rocco's suggestion of an abei is a good idea

Yeah. He's either going to try for a pair of red eyes or get an Abei. I warned him, though, as there is a possibility that the red eyes will eventually not tolerate each other. However, if an Abei shows up at the LFS, I imagine he'll be interested in him instead!