The Puffer Forum

Hi, I'm new to this site. I was just wondering about what I could put in a tank in the near future. I really like the porcupine puffer a lot and will definately get one one day. I just wanted to know if I could keep a snowflake eel with this puffer. And also whould it be safe to have a lion fish in the same tank too? I would have to wait awhile before I had the space and the money to get a tank big enough for these fish if they are even compatible. If they are would a tank between 120 and 150 gallons be big enough? Any help would be great, thanks.

I believe the puffer may nip at the long fins of the lion.

If the Snowflake eel and the puffer have adequate sizes it can work. If the eel's too small it might be nipped. If the puffer's too small it might be attacked, potentially swallowed. In the worst case both may die when it is stuck in the eel's mouth. Ideally the puffer is 1/3-1/2 the length of the moray.

If you want to be on the safe side I'd rather recommend a zebra moray eel instead of the snowflake. Adult, large snowflakes > 2 ft. can be very piscivorous and might attack other fish (up to about 20, 25 cm or 3/4 feet). Zebras do not attack fish (only in very very very rare exceptions).

As PP noted, it may be possible that the puffer nips the lion's fins. But this is not necessarily the case and simply depends on the personality of the puffer. It might also help if the lion was a little larger than the porcupine and was introduced to the tank first.

Lions and morays can also be problematic. Lions have killed morays in defense and morays have teared apart lions. With a zebra moray I would not expect such problems.

150 gallons would really be better for your plnned combos.