The Puffer Forum

Hey there all -

Being the daughter of a fish lover (75g saltwater coral reef tank, 100g+ freshwater, various displays all over the house with silver dollars and such!) it was probably about time I moved on from goldfish and mollies! :>

In short - I have an old 29g tank to my disposal that I'd prefer to keep freshwater. Honestly, I'm nervous about messing up the salinity for brackish and I want to keep smaller fish so I think full marine is out of the question. I was hoping you could suggest good, hardy puffers for a 'beginner' in the hobby to care for?

I don't really want to have dwarf puffers, though, since I don't think I want such a small fish. I was leaning toward the South American Puffer/Peruvian/Amazon, etc.

Comments please?

SAPs are a great lil fish. Be sure to read the article on them in our Library & the other one (in the Hosp section of our Library), on Pufferfish Dentistry, as this species is the most one prone to overgrown teeth.

Awww, I want SAPs one day! Welcome! Be sure to post pictures when you get them.

Thank you - I've read all about them, as well as their dentistry.

How many SAPs would fit in a 29 gallon tank? I hope to have three of them, in a planted tank with various other obstacles? I've read that it's important to "break the line of sight" of puffers since they're territorial.

Well, that would be in the species profile. Did you read that? If not, look under the Learn tab at the top of the page, then click on "PufferPedia."

Keep in mind that they should be kept in groups of at least three.

Yupp - it's says they're min. tank size is 15g, which I did read, but no equation on how many more gallons are needed per fish after that. So am I to assume that's 15 gallons per fish and I need 45 gallons? That seems like a bit much for three 3" fish that LIKE to be in groups... But if that's what you guys meant then perhaps I should look into a different type of puffer.

I believe that some people use the rule of thumb that you should have 10g per additional fish, but that's up to you. That would still be a bare minimum of 35g, and a 29 really only holds 25g, so I don't think it would work.

As for 3" needing that much water, well, puffers need a lot of water. Not only are these guys extremely active, but they are also very high-waste fish that require 50% weekly water changes, even if they are stocked correctly.

Point taken - so I guess I'll rule those guys out! Despite how appealing they are, I just don't have the space for a tank much bigger than 29g. Ah, I weep. </3.

The water changes I understand, and I guess I can also understand the need for a lot of space. Going from a river that's no doubt at LEAST a mile long into a tank not much longer than two feet ... Well, sucks.

You said that 29g is actually 25g? Is this accounting for the level of substrate and other things that would make the tank not completely water? I've actually never heard anyone say that before and I'm curious.

Sorry for all the pestering, I just want to make sure I have all my facts straight before I get a puffer or if I should even get one at all with such a small tank. I guess I'm not used to have just one in a tank.

Again, thanks for helping and pushing me in the right direction, I really do appreciate this.

Well, a 29g is like a 25g tall or something. Idk why they don't label it correctly, but regardless of substrate and such, they can only hold 25g of water.

An SAP owner my be able to shed further light on the stocking, but that wouldn't be me - I've never had them. I really want them, though!

You're not pestering. We're glad you're here asking questions!

Wow, that's a little silly... There's no reason not to label it properly.

Upon further invesitgation I was thinking one C. irrubesco, or "Red Tailed Redeye Puffer." Since apparently the C. salivator (which looks BEAUTIFUL!!) is rare but close to this one. Since clearly I only have the capacity for one puffer and they do not seem to be friendly creatures overall.

Is it good practice to keep just one, or do puffers in general like companions of their own species? I read that this species can go from highly aggressive to very timid..

Hi, welcome to puffers aquarium, here is a website for lots of different fresh water puffers..
http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/puffers.htm
The fresh water puffers are in the origin section and says '(FW)'.
These are 3 of the red eye puffers..
Carinotetraodon irrubesco - Red-tailed Redeye puffer Asia (FW)
Carinotetraodon lorteti Lortet's - crested puffer Asia (FW)
Carinotetraodon salivator - Striped redeye/Zebra puffer Asia (FW)
They all grow to around 2" (5 cm) also active fish, they say best not to mix but i think the first two top ones are fine with each other, however i'm not too sure so you will have to research that, or if someone else corrects me right on here.

I am getting the Carinotetraodon irrubesco Red-tailed Redeye puffer today later on, and she is selling to me 3 males and 3 females, and she said that they do completely fine together and no fights. Which i believe she is a expert as she is keeping 17 different species of puffers and with over 60 puffers in tanks, and to me that sounds like a real puffer fan lol.
Don't over stock with these though as some times they can fin nip, they say to have 1 red eye puffer every 5-10 gallons.
You could also keep a figure 8 puffer in there which they only grow upto 6cm generally in aquariums, they are also very attractive fish. Here is a website to help - http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/other ... puffer.htm
You may have heard people saying that brackish is compulsory however they have lived in fresh water and have been very successful in these conditions. They say 10 gallons minimum space so in a way you could keep 3 of these in a 29 gallon tank, When they are small it is best at 3 however fully grown best of 2 of them.
Hope this helps :p

Also another thing try to make sure that you do get the Carinotetraodon irrubesco and not Carinotetraodon lorteti which in my opinion is best as community (Carinotetraodon irrubesco) even with a species tank. However not like the Carinotetraodon lorteti as they are far more aggressive fish and even to their own kind they kill each other (mainly males) and kill other tank mates that are in its sight.
So beware lol as they can look a like, which even expert shop keepers can get confused.

I think that for a 29g tank two of any of those might be a bit cramped but I guess we'll see what others say as well...?

Has anyone bought from online live fish stores? In case I can't find any from any pet shops?