The Puffer Forum

So my awesome Toby jumped,
I can't believe it
After going to the LFS to get a Tomato clown for my 20 gallon reef,
I saw three grape sized GSPs.
I did read the specie on the pufferpedia,
but would like to ask some questions.
Do they really get 5 inches long ?
Can they be kept full marine ?
Or is brackish better ?
Can they be kept in pairs,
the LFS said they are already starting to get a little aggressive(the trio of them keep away from each other).
Would a 20 gallon long with mangrove biotope be a good idea or is 20 gallons too small?

I would never keep the puffer with corals or anything,
since any reef is really expensive, I want to have peaceful fish and puffers aren't photosynthetic unlike corals

Ok to answer some of your question yes they do get to be 6" when full grown. They do better in full marine as they get older but high brackish is also ok. As far as 20 gallons that is a bit to small for one let alone any tank mates. I believe you can have two together but they must be in a very large tank with lot of decor.

trekenk wrote:Ok to answer some of your question yes they do get to be 6" when full grown. They do better in full marine as they get older but high brackish is also ok. As far as 20 gallons that is a bit to small for one let alone any tank mates. I believe you can have two together but they must be in a very large tank with lot of decor.

30 gallons is least...35-40 is better

There's also an article on them in our Library you should read. There's a pic of them at 6" there.

Hmm.
I'll keep an eye out for a cheap 40 gallon that I can resilicone,
since I can toss a tank together pretty cheaply since I don't need a skimmer or much lighting.
Can I do plants with them ?
I've thought about doing a tube of T5HO over the tank for some low light plants.
I'm 16 so I'm trying to keep it somewhat cheap,
while keeping the fish happy.
I'd keep the puffer full salt(from the ocean, by a SPS reef it's clean),
although my LFS is keeping it in FW

Start him out in FW & slowly move him over to BW/SW. You've got plenty of time. There really aren't any live plants that will survive that kind of transition.

Sorry.
I was running off and hastily finished the post.
I was thinking about doing a mangrove biotope with macro algae that's all sunlit.
Provided that the puffer doesn't eat it,
my toby loved macro.

That could work. The only problem is leaving the top open for the mangroves. Puffers are adept jumpers!

You could get a screen and cut holes as needed for the mangroves.

I found that way the hard way.
Found my little toby lifeless on the floor,
flushed him and had to go to work
I like the mangrove idea,
I think I could screen the back with egg crate(let the mangroves grow through) and the front with a removable screen.
Think that's a good idea,
maybe I'm better off with another toby(You can't buy them, pretty hard to catch) since he never bothered fish and I'd like some sort of mangrove fish.