Recently I began setting up my tanks and started their fishless cycling and wanted to stock each tank with a single species of puffer or at max 2 different species. So far I have two 10 gal. and a 20 gal. long open and cycling away. I was really looking forward to putting maybe two congo puffers (t.mirius) in a rocky 10. gal or a single congo and a arrow head puffer (t. suvattii) together in that tank while they are small. Will they be ok housed together while they are juveniles (about 1.5 inch long each)?
And I is it ok ot keep a quad, 2 males and 2 females of red eye puffers (C.irrubesco) together in another 10 gallon planted tank? And if so are there any possible tank mates (for algea up keep) that can be kept with these guys? I have had a trio of them before in a 15 gal. but I had to give them away about a year ago but never tried to put anything in with them because the male kept his territory to him self (a flower pot) where as the 2 females stayed on the other parts of the tank or rested between plants.
And for my 20 gal long I was going to put a tank divider between the centre of it and have 4 south american puffers on one side (planted, with black sand) and dwarfs (about on the other side (planted, with black sand) or is it possible to keep the species together?
If there are anymore detailed or intresting puffer sites please post them. Also please critique any of my ideas and or tell me what I 'should' infact do.
You're going to want to keep the congo in a tank all itself. This species shows marked aggression towards it's own and other species. The suvatti can be kept with others of its own kind or with a similar species like T. palembagensis. Make sure you provide more hiding places than you have fish.
The C. irrubesco's are more easily kept together than C. lorteti because of less aggression toward their own species. However, the irrubesco's are intolerant of most other fish you might try to keep with them. Slow fishes such as catfish would receive severe bites compared to fish that are fast enough to keep the puffers from catching them.
T. palembagensis colony(14), T. fluviatilis colony(eight), T. lineatus (Nile & Lake Turkana dwarf)(4), T. mbu (4), T. erythrotaenia, T. turgidus, C. asellus colony (eight), C. travancoricus (20), A. immaculatus, A. manilensis
And soon: T. baileyi
The thought of four SAPs in a 10g compartment makes me very uncomfortable. They are extremely hyperactive fish and need a great deal of swimming space, much more than any other species I have kept. Four SAPs would be ideally kept in a 40g long.
Fahakas need 120+ gallons when full grown. Both the Miurius and Suvatti grow to be fairly large and are not ideally indivdually suited to a 20 gallon tank, let alone in pairs.
Big puffers make big poops! They are messy fish and need big tanks not just for swimming space but also to keep wastes/toxins in low concentrations--aided by regular large water changes, of course.
Oh, ha. I missed the part where you said you'd already checked out the pufferlist. But you can never read it too many times! Check it out again and take note of the recommended tank sizes--they're recommended for a very good reason!
It's not a question of "if" an overstocked tank will crash or overload, it's a question of "when, how many times, and how often".
Be conservative and your fish will reward you with good health, natural behaviour, and long lives!
My Puffers: Puffers I have kept: T lineatus T miurus A modestus T biocellatus C valentini C coranata C papuan C lorteti DPs suvattii burrfish T niphobles
Personally, I see no problem in keeping a single suvattii or miurus in a 20g tank. Palembang on the other hand, needs at least 30-40g/fish. Agreed with the specs for the SAPs & the same goes for irrebusco/lorteti (10g/fish).
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...
And when you said DPs in the other compartment, did you mean eight?
I once held eight juvenile DPs marked for sale in a 20 gallon... The aggression was extreme. I'm glad I only had to hold them like that for a few days.
Keep in mind the recommended tank sizes on the pufferlist.net apply to keeping one specimen alone.
And it is always better to over-house the fish than to under-house it. that applies equally to the keeper (upkeep) and to the fish (stable and good water conditions).
I took to heart what all of you guys mentioned and went to a lfs this morning to check out some tank sizes and inquire some possible orderings of puffers in a few months, but back to the tanks...I was in there for over 2 and a half hours oogling at each tank and thinking about a tank lay out and the puffer to gallon ratio. I guess the store owner (who knows me cause im in there like 4 days a week) gave me a 40 gallon that he had that he was happy to give up [it was his personal tank and he was going to sell it but I guess he had a kind heart ] In addition I got a 30 gal. long hoping it would be enough for 6 dwarfs and (now) 2 SAP's and I got another 20 gal. long. for the red-eyes. Plus he was really curious on the species of puffers I was looking to keep and told me he was more then happy to order them. So far I have cleaned out the tanks and all that needs to be done is to set them up with everything and put all those bio wheel filters I had back onto tanks and get those bacteria colonies growing! Oh and BTW I had kept a whole bunch of dwarfs (about 10) in a 20 gallon before with no problems, it must have been my luck to get a docile group, they didn't even kill off (much) of my shrimp population. Maybe 1 every month of two out of 10.
I've never tried to keep SAPs and Dwarfs together, but have kept them separately. I think you could expect a bit of aggression now and then, but the biggest problem would be making sure everyone gets something to eat. As mentioned, SAPs are very hyperactive and will snatch at any food they can see, while Dwarfs tend to eye up each morsel carefully before taking a peck. I think you'd end up having to pour excess food into the tank just to make sure the SAPs are so well fed they don't bother the dwarves, and overfeeding like that can lead you into problems.
If I were you, I would start with the SAPs alone in the 30 gal and see how you (and they) like it before adding anything else. Let us know how it goes!
Ok, thanks for that notice. Would it be ok to keep a pair of SAP's in a 10 gal., cause I have a 10 already cycled and waiting, while they are juveniles? cause then I could just put more dwarfs in the 20 long...
I have kept a C. Irrubesco with a motley crew of Dwarf Puffers for over a year now and have never had an incident.
The C. Irrubesco is a female (I removed a male from the same tank as they were clearly not getting along), but the female has never shown the slightest aggression to the smaller dwarfs.
I have a single SAP and a trio of dwarf puffers in a 29 gallon tank, while the agression is minimal, I do have to make sure the SAP doesn't get all the food.
Keep in mind puffers grow fast, and are more sensitive to things like crowding and bad conditions than most other fish. So its really a bad idea to try to do things like fit two SAP's into a 10 gallon.
How are you getting that bacteria started and kept alive in the tanks you mentioned? Are you doing a fishless cycle with ammonia or ? The bacteria won't stay alive unless it has something to eat, and with no fish in the tank, it will just die off.
I start cycling with a fishless cycling process and then after about 4 weeks I introduce my 'culture group' of fish which travel tank to tank to keep the bacteria cultures balanced with incomming waste products (from the fish) and such. My 'culture group' is a trio of black mollies. The change of tank doesn't seem to cause any problem to them. out of all the other fish I have these guys are the strongest and probably most healthiest (they get a fresh new tank each time I set up tanks, they get a change every 3 weeks or so [they get an often change cause I culture sponge filters for friends and other people who need help or don't know much on how to cycle, so it atleast gets them started...]
But so far this is whats happening on the puffer side. I started the fishless cycling on the 30, 2x 20 long, 40 and the 10 has been sitting waiting for inhabitants other then the mollies in there.
So far my plans are:
-20long= 8 to 10 dwarf puffers 1 siemese flying fox (got 10 of them that a friend gave me that are looking for homes), ill try some ghost shrimp again if this group is docile like the group i had before
-other 20 long= 2-3 Red-Eye's
-30=2-4 SAP's
-40=either 1 congo or 2 arrow heads
FYI: All the fish in the tanks will be moved into larger tanks once they begin to grow. Each tank is equiped with atleast 2 marine land filters. And each puffer is going to be bought when they are small (juvenile)
Experience taught me that it is not wise to have a cave in a red-eyes tank. I'm not totally sure if it was just due to the male I once had or if it is between all male red-eyes, but I had a rock cave at one point where the male would always be and he would not let any thing come an inch close to it, if he saw anything approaching it he would face in its direction and prepare to bolt at it. Then I figured well if I change it to a flower pot instead it maybe less territorial. So I removed the cave and put a pot in the tank, I placed it on the opposite side of the tank where rockwork and some driftwood once was and once again he claimed it. But before having the cave or the pot the male just did his normal playfulish looking chase with no biting or a threat at all. But it was when it came down to a cave area. Has anyone had an experience with that? Was it just my puffer or do other male red-eyes do the same, or any other species?
on the other side (planted, with black sand) or is it possible to keep the species together? 
Check it out again and take note of the recommended tank sizes--they're recommended for a very good reason! 
] In addition I got a 30 gal. long hoping it would be enough for 6 dwarfs and (now) 2 SAP's and I got another 20 gal. long. for the red-eyes. Plus he was really curious on the species of puffers I was looking to keep and told me he was more then happy to order them. So far I have cleaned out the tanks and all that needs to be done is to set them up with everything and put all those bio wheel filters I had back onto tanks and get those bacteria colonies growing! Oh and BTW I had kept a whole bunch of dwarfs (about 10) in a 20 gallon before with no problems, it must have been my luck to get a docile group, they didn't even kill off (much) of my shrimp population. Maybe 1 every month of two out of 10.