The Puffer Forum

So, I just brought home my new 75g (48"). It has 50-75lbs live sand, 75-100lbs live rock, a wet/dry trickle, sump, and venturi (I think) protein skimmer. 3 Full-spectrum lites (haven't checked the exact kind). I am currently going to let it cycle (as I will be out of town for 8 weeks - my husband 'll be home, though) to watch levels and do changes, etc.. When should I stock the tank and with what? I would like a tank based around canthigasters. How many can I have in the tank, and what else can I have with them? (invertibrates/corals/cleaners included)?

Thanks for the help!
Jess

Hi there! Firstly, welcome to the world of marine keeping!

I'm curious to know a little bit more about how much you know with regards to how you use a sump etc, but more on that later. Firstly, I can think of a few puffers that you can fit into a 75g quite happily. Valentini puffers are probably among the most strikingly coloured and easily available puffers on the market and are quite hardy too. I would stick with only one in that size tank though. Alternatively, blue spot puffers are also suitable for a tank that size, there may be others also, but those are (to my knowledge) the most colourful. I would say that in a 74gal you could probably have two puffers of differing types (ie, a blue spot and a valentini) in together, but I would recommend introducing them simultaneously to reduce aggression.

As for suitability, puffers are not considered reef safe. That is, they will likely eat your invertebrates including snails, crabs and/or shrimp. They usually take a liking to coral as well. They are almost always suitable for tanks with other fish however, so long as there are plenty of places in the LR for your various fish to hide.

Is the two puffers all I could have, or could I add more to them?

As to regarding the use of the sump, it depends what you are talking about. Setup? Different options of what to place in it? Or general maintenance?

billysgirl4e wrote:As to regarding the use of the sump, it depends what you are talking about. Setup? Different options of what to place in it? Or general maintenance?

Mostly what you plan on keeping in the sump, rather than placement. I had (rightly or wrongly) assumed that you would have it under the tank. Maintenance is fairly simple so that's fine.

billysgirl4e wrote:Is the two puffers all I could have, or could I add more to them?

I see no reason why you couldn't have other, aggression-compatible, appropriately sized, tankmates for the puffers. Take a look at the following as an idea to get you started, these are all easily kept fish (typically) that would be suitable:
- Coral (or Clown) gobies
- Neon Gobies
- Lawnmower or bicolour blennies
- Firefish (standard or Purple)
- Sixline wrasses
- Some tangs (quite aggro though)

And there's millions more, but they evade my tired brain at present. Check out this link for some ideas.

Is it true--only 1 firefish to a tank?

Pufferpunk wrote:Is it true--only 1 firefish to a tank?

Well that depends. It is extremely difficult to sex them. And even if you can, the chances of you being able to pair them off are even slimmer. With that said, I bought a pair of purple firefish and the coexisted happily. Unless you know that they are a pair though, you will lose one or both of these beautiful creatures if you attempt to keep two of them. They also tend to take a disliking to other dartfish, although to a much lesser extent and that can be dissapated in a larger tank.

MTV: I said "place in it" ...not placement of. Sorry for the confusion. I'm going to keep the wet/dry under there for now. Mike, at my LFS (which happens to be a pretty decent one...you have to be able to tell the lady everything regarding the habitat, food, tankmates, etc of her fish before you can work there...next to UF) said for the first 6 months, the wet/dry will help keep levels stable; after that he said I'll probably want to dissassemble it. So that's it for now. There is also my protein skimmer, but that's off during the curing process.

Hope that helps!
Jessica

Yeah my bad, what was I on?! Anyway, I guess I would have meant what you plan on placing in it? Are you looking at a refugium and/or DSB?

And the advice regarding teh bioballs is fair enough, but I think you'll find that they are unnecessary when you have LR in the tank, so they will pretty much just take up space...

Okay, so at the risk of sounding really retarted (most of the acrynyms I can figure out)....oh, wait, I've got it! DSB is deep sand bed, huh? ::beams::
I'm thinking, right now, that eventually, I'll probably try to get rid of the wet/dry sump I have all together and put a 20g or so under the stand as a refugium of some sorts. Not sure how that would work w/ lighting etc... or where you would place the protein skimmer and such.

BTW - What CAN you do with those wet/dry sumps that have the angled down section and the partial wall where the water travels from filter over to skimmer? Can you use those to do refugiums or dsbs? I'm totally up for suggestions to make my system the best it can be!

Anyone still have any ideas on stocking the tank (won't be doing it for a while, but would love to dream )?
Also...noticed the tank itself (not the equiptment) is from the 1980's. And that's not my only tank from that time period. How much life do ya think is left in it? I was told resealing it wouldn't do any good if there's no leaks. Any comments?

thanks again, guys!f
Jess

If it's got no leaks, it's still fine, no matter how old it is. There's a tank from the early 70's in my living room right now housing turtles.

Thanks for that vote of confidence, Nick!
That means I might just be able to wait out until I get something bigger than this singlewide, before I find a tank the size I REALLY want. LOL
Take care,
jess

well first thing i can answer is if you eventually get a refugium it is usually an add-on to a sump, and the skimmer/heater ect goes in the sump, (there are a million ways to do this but im just going by i guess youd say the status quo)

i dont see why you couldnt use those to do a refugium, basically all a refugium is, is a section of a sump that has macro algae and possible the DSP, so i think if you can seperate a section of those wet dry sump thingies (yes im starting to use my technical terms lol cus i dont know eactly what im talking about here) using like plexiglass driled with hole to allow water flow you could make a in sump refugium and not have to seperate.

tank stocking, hmm....dwarf lionfish are awesome!!! but they limit what else you can get, i always love clown fish! watchman goby, a mandarin if your using a fuge to help produce alot of pods for him to feed on, hmm... lyretail anthias? idk just a place to start

ok i just realized ive been blanking out on water movement on this tank, and i was reading a couple threads on reefcentral that had elaborate ideas with built boxes that hid the power head and had drilled bulk heads for the heads and stuff, what do you guys do for powerheads in a smaller tank? i will have movement from a small HOB filter but thats about it. until i go out and buy which ever powerhead i need

In nano tanks you really can't beat the Hydor Koralia nano, heaps of water movement for a little tank without being huge or power hungry.

And yes, I'm with Nick, no issues on using the tank so long as it is leak-free.

As for the sump, I'd be reading up on DSB's (yep, you got the acronym right ), refugiums (with emphasis on macroalgae) and placing the skimmer in the sump (unless you have an external).

oops that post was on the wrong thread lol that was suposed to be about my 10g im setting up lol sorry i didnt realize i was still on this thread, the water movment thread has nothing to do with this.