The Puffer Forum

Alright. i have a 150 gallon tank that was used for snakes. i plan to wash it with bleach as soon as possible to start my adventure. i went into petco with my girlfriend and saw the coolest fish i've ever seen. turns out it was a porc pufferfish. i did'nt exactly realize what i was jumping into, but here i am trying to get it done (because it seems worth it)
Anyway, i was told a sump filter would be way better for a 150 gallon tank than a canister. i don't quite understand it, but i believe it. i am wondering what else i would need for a tank with a porcupine puffer in it. i'm also wondering if a california stingray would be compatible with a pufferfish. (from what i know, i can get some bigger tangs and they'll do fine together. a second opinion?)

the only thing i've raised in a fishtank so far is goldfish, so i want to get this right the first time, and since porcupine pufferfish can life up to almost 15 years i'd like to start fairly soon.

also, is there much of a difference between a sump filter and a wet/dry filter? they look very similar to me.

before i get the fish themselves, i figure i'll get a cpr sys 1000 wet/dry filter (or something better if i find it) and 1 cs100 overflow. a heater, a thermometer, live rock, (live?)sand, and something for them to hide under or behind. i already have lights. and i'm getting all the ph, nitrate, and nitrite test supplies. oh, and a hydrometer.

if anyone has anything to add. PLEASE feel free.

any help... helps. ha

i just realized i couldn't keep a california ray in the tank because of temperature. the ray would need to be in 20 degree colder temperatures.

You need to get the tank cycled. A sump is a smaller tank, basically, and it can have a wet/dry filter in it, but you don't really need one. Some powerheads for waterflow, a really good protein skimmer, and a bunch of live rock and live sand are all you should need. The great thing about the sump is you can put the skimmer, heater, and many other goodies in there so they aren't visible in the main tank.

Yes, the sump is not a filter--more just a place to add extra water, to dilute the wastes further, place your skimmer, heater & additives (like carbon or Purigen). There is an excellent article on keeping SW puffers stickied in this forum.

Best advice I can give you is be patient & read, read, read!

also i would suggest to read an article on tank cycling cus that is a major part of setting up your first tank is having the patience to wait for the tank to be ready to add a fish to, especially a fish like a porc puffer cus they are very delicate fish, and marine tanks usually take between 4-8 weeks to cycle. theres an article in the library on cycleing, but im not sure how centered it is on marine cycling id have to go read it again.

MUST CYCLE THE TANK!!
you are so luck to have a 150gal tank T-T, i can't have a porcupine cuz my parents won't let me put one in the house even I have the money!!
gonna get one in the future when i get away from my parents. Ops sorry for off topic...

so right now, you probably want to just....cycle your tank, do water test everyday(or every other day) well then....get a QT, and put the puffy in for at least 4 weeks to make sure it's fine(no infection or whatever), then you can put it in your beautiful 150gal tank.
Oh remember to get sea salt to mix the water~ or you buying salt water from LFS?
with cycling and watching the puffy in QT would probably take at least 2 months, at least, might take longer.
that's what i had learn so far, hope this help.

i was going to get "kent sea salt" for the tank.

i was also planning on getting at least 2 inches of live sand on probably 75% of the tank. any suggestions?

and how many pound of live rock would i need for a puffer?

yeah i heard about the tank cycling and didn't know too much about how long to do it. thanks.

can anyone recommend a brand of protien skimmer? powerheads? basically anything you feel like i'd want to have that i wouldn't need to replace later. (other than filters and whatnot)
thanks for all of the replies guys, i appreciate it.

DerekDigsFish wrote:i was going to get "kent sea salt" for the tank.

i was also planning on getting at least 2 inches of live sand on probably 75% of the tank. any suggestions?

and how many pound of live rock would i need for a puffer?

yeah i heard about the tank cycling and didn't know too much about how long to do it. thanks.

can anyone recommend a brand of protien skimmer? powerheads? basically anything you feel like i'd want to have that i wouldn't need to replace later. (other than filters and whatnot)
thanks for all of the replies guys, i appreciate it.

PP told me to get the cheapest sea salt, cuz they are all the same (right PP?)
don't really need live sand, just use argonite sand(really finely crushed coral sand), cuz the sand will become live sand once they have long enough contact with live rocks.
2~3inches is good~ mine is 2.5 XD
150gal should have close to 150lb of live rocks ($$$$$$$), but you don't need to get them all at once, maybe get like 30~50lb and add some dead rocks, then later you can add more live rocks inside the tank, but if money is not a problem for u Oo, why not get 100lb and cycle the tank with them. (if you have fish inside already, cure the rocks before you put them in)
cycle a tank really depend on tank size, and other thing, like live rocks.Usually at least 4weeks(that's what I heard most of the time)
Protein skimmer~ I am using Remora, you mightl need a remora pro cuz you have a big tank; and for powerhead, just make sure it create great water movement, for 150gal probably need at least 4 powerhead Oo

Skip the live sand - just get live rock and it will make the sand "live" very quickly.
There's no exact rule for live rock, but I'd shoot for at least 1lb/gallon for adequate biological filtration (so at least 150 lbs in your case).

Check out Octopus skimmers - they're known to be a pretty good brand and not too expensive.
Powerheads = flow; they're sometimes used to agitate the water's surface for oxygen change, but a protein skimmer adds large amounts of oxygen so they're not absolutely necessary if you have a skimmer, but it's nice to add some flow for the animals. Koralia is the brand of choice for most. A porcupine puffer would appreciate some flow, and flow is required for most corals if you choose to add any.

Basically I'd set up a sump to put my equipment in, get the tank to stable temperature/salinity, add live rock, and monitor your parameters until you stop seeing ammonia and start seeing nitrates. Then you're safe to add a fish or two.

I agree--for a tank that size, make sure it's drilled for an overflow & get a sump to put your equipment in. You're going to need a large skimmer. I use an ASM G-2 for my 90g.

Go to http://www.reefcentral.com & find your local reef club forum. You can find LR cheap there (~$3/lb) & some folks even giving away sand.

for the cycle
just make sure AM, and Nitrite is 0, and do a WC to remove nitrate, then wait for couple days, do a water test and make sure they are 0 and nitrate is less then 10ppm, then you are good for the Porc!!
most info are gained in this forum, mostly from pp, nick, cp, and cobra XDDD.

you also need to do some serious research...

read books/websites anything you can..

look at the nitogen cycle,
look at how protein skimmers work...
look at illnesses like ich and velvet, what they look like, how to spot a fish that has it, how to avoid getting it in your tank etc...
look at the benefits of live rock, why it's put in tanks...

not only are you jumping in the deep end setting up a marine tank straight from no real fish experience, but you are choosing one of the most dificult marine fish to keep....

it's very possible, but it needs to be done SLOWLY, with considered, measured thought...

you need to sit down with a pen and paper and work out costs of ...

Enough salt to convert the tank + salt for water changes
RO water supplier or an RO unit
A hydrometer/refractometer (cheap ones are not accurate)
A protein skimmer
Powerheads to flow water through the live rock
Live rock
Sand

Sump would be good... it's not essential to start with though, just good if possible.


good enough start point for you? take it slow, if your in for 15 years.. then a few weeks patience isn't going to do you any harm is it?