The Puffer Forum

Okay, so just recently i found a shop that sells puffers such as the Congo, faharka and MBU's in HK, and needless to say i wanted to get the congo right away... but obviously realizing i could be asking for trouble doing this with no research i thought i would come here first and pose the following question: since i currently own a Palembang Puffer who is bout 4 - 5 inches in length, would it be at all possible to keep a congo puffer with him in the same tank or would they both be at each other throats so to speak??? Coz the last thing i would want to do is bring home a new congo, which to be honest isn't cheap, just to have him or my Palembang die... so what do you all think, can 2 different species of lurkers live together???

Any info would be much appreciated...

Forgot to mention, my tank is about 120 litres... give or take

Honestly, I think the tank would be too small. That's only what, 40 gallons or so?

I know one member did keep a couple lurker species together in a large, very complex tank, and even wrote an article about it here:

library/puffers-in-focus/three-suvatti-and-a-palembang/

My Congo is quite a killer. Even at 1 inch, she tore into a pleco until all that was left was a skull.

Thanks for the quick reply, i guess that was my biggest worry being that my current tank maybe too small to house them both for now, even though i know as a fact that within 6 - 8 months when i move i will have a much larger tank (roughly 400 - 500litres) since its already in the new flat...

But while i'm here, i just want to also ask, when i move could i possibly keep these two guys in the same tank if its 400+ liters, or would i still have problems... also, would they have to be both the same size, or could one be bigger / small than the other??? or would that be just suicide mixing puffers of two different sizes together...

once again, thanks for all the info...

I would not trust the murius--not if you like the palembang.

Pufferpunk wrote:My Congo is quite a killer. Even at 1 inch, she tore into a pleco until all that was left was a skull.

Damn, i mean i read their profiles, and heard they could potentially kill anything that moves, but i never would have thought at 1 inch they could / would do that much damage... oh and btw, the ones that i saw at the lfs were around 2 - 2.5 inches max in length...

Pufferpunk wrote:I would not trust the murius--not if you like the palembang.

thats the problem, i've always liked Congo's more than the palembang, its just that i never in a million years thought i would find a congo for sale in HK, which is why i kinda settled for a palembang before... now don't get me wrong, i love my palembang, since i quite literally brought him back from death at the LFS... but i still really really want a congo... now my problem is do i keep my palembang in my current tank, or do i give him to a friend to house for a few months so i can get that congo or the worst choice of all, risk putting a 2 - 2.5 inch Murius in with a 3.5 - 4 inch palembang... although i highly doubt i will resort to going with the last choice since i definitely do not want to risk having a new expensive Murius getting killed on me... since i doubt i could handle that...

Yeah I wouldn't risk putting those two fish in a 31 gal. That would probably be asking for trouble. If your LFS has managed to get one in, is there a possibility that you could ask them to order another one in for you once you have moved?

I wouldn't put them together.
I have a congo and three palems, in there own tank. But the palems are very docile, even when I feed them. The congo goes nuts and will defineately kill the palem if she get a change.

Thanks for all the input, i guess i'll just have to settle with having just my palembang for now till i move and have access to my larger tank to house another puffer *sigh*...

Congos don't require a lot of room, IMO. I keep mine in a 15g tank belove a 29g. I do 75% weekly WC on it.

^ thanks for that info, maybe i could consider sorting out a new tank for him temporarily till i move then...

An option for the future, if you can find a stylish way to do it, is putting a divider in the big 400-500l tank. People have done that in the past, but you have to be sure it is secure so no one "sneaks" over onto the wrong side.

^ Yeah, i was considering that for a little bit, but then i decided that i still preferred the idea of getting another tank just for the congo, and maybe getting another palembang later to live with homer in the larger tank... but thanks for the idea