The Puffer Forum

Since I was young I have always loved puffers but unfortunately when I was younger I was told they were too hard to care for.
Well I currently have some GSPs doing well and am completely thrilled.
My current place has a built in wall fishtank, nothing extravagent, just a 20 gallon, but it looks nice.
Since day one I wanted this to be a puffer tank but obviously it was way small for my GSPs.

What would be some puffers that could turn the 20 gallon into a permanent home?
I know dwarfs would do fine but what about figure eights? Could I put a few of them in there?

If so does anyone in the chicago area know where I can get some figure eights or dwarf puffers? I have not seen any

I'm guessing old town aqaurium carries some, last time I went there I know i seen at least a mbu puffer. If anything most locally owned fish stores will most likely order what ever u like. As for me when I get another tank set up I would like to get a Congo puffer or hairy puffer if my lfs can get one , or even a target puffer. If anything I got this Lil avacodo puffer that's pretty cool... I mean he's not the smartest of the puffers lol but he's very active

You could cram two F8s in there, but I'd go with one.

Dwarf puffers - I'd do five, one male, four females, plus about five otos and maybe some shrimp.

That's neat- a built-in aquarium!

I would only do one F8 in that size tank. They don't need playmates, though, so you could have a perfectly happy tank and puff if you went with that option.

I've never put dwarf puffers together without issues, but then again, the ratio was wrong and I introduced the 2nd way after the first. I might do one fewer than lilgreen suggested- one male and 3 females- just because of the bioload. They say 5 for the first and 3 for each additional, but I always stock with the fewest amount of livestock suggested. That is, I have a 5-gallon for one DP and my other DP will be in a 5 1/2 gallon alone (with some cherry shrimp and ottos eventually). I had two F8s in a 30-gallon, but now only have 1 as one died yesterday. It seems the one I still have is the dominant one and any others I add never get as much food and just get weaker. *shrug*

So there's my $0.02

Well I made my decision. I got a teeeny porcupine puffer. SO CUTEE! Will outgrow that tank rather quickly I am sure.

How teeny are we talking? Did you get live rock? Did you cure it?

Solace wrote:Well I made my decision. I got a teeeny porcupine puffer. SO CUTEE! Will outgrow that tank rather quickly I am sure.

You're kidding right? You realize these are full marine fish and will need roughly 120 gallons minimum real quick-like...porcs have a tendency to be difficult to care for also due to disease.

smaller than a golf ball.
why would I be kidding? I know fully that it needs a large tank as it matures and can provide that for it.
I have seen them in 30 gallon biocube tanks and slightly larger tanks at restaurants and offices.
I know that with adequate reading I will be able to take care of it.

Those people who put them in BioCubes and little tanks shouldn't have them there. Thing is, he'll grow FAST, and it would have been way easier to just get the bigger tank to start with.

Yes I got live rock for it. Someone I do work for works at a local aquatics wholesale place that provides fish for pet stores and we spent some time getting everything I need for it.
I have a 100 gallon waiting that I was going to use when my GSPs reached full size, but with their HUGE variance in growth rates it will probably be the porcupines, then I would just buy another for the GSPs when the time came.

LilGreenPuffer wrote:Those people who put them in BioCubes and little tanks shouldn't have them there. Thing is, he'll grow FAST, and it would have been way easier to just get the bigger tank to start with.

Are there any fish that look almost exactly like porcupine puffers? There has been one in a maybe sixty gallon bowfront for quite some time at a local restaurant.
I also saw one in a biocube that has been there for a while too, maybe there are two fish that look very similar?

There are burrfish out there. They look pretty similar.

But the fact that there may or may not be porcs in small tanks doesn't mean that they SHOULD be there.

very true, which is why I want to do this right. Are burrfish readily available? I dont want to take this guy back, I think I can do it.
I will look on craigslist over the next few weeks and look for some larger tanks. Is there really a point to buying a new tank? I feel like if I buy a used tank, then reseal it to be safe, that it is nearly as good as new.

I honestly don't know what burrfish require.

If you want a SW puffer, then, yeah, you'll need a bigger tank. There's a lot of point to that. And you don't need to reseal a used one unless it leaks.

you said there was a point to buying a new tank over a used one.
what is it?
Not trying to be rude, i know sometimes texts can come across that way. I just want to learn.