The Puffer Forum

ok guys, i have 2 gsp in a brackish tank and i would like to upgrade them into a marine tank. i have a 100g tank that i would like to convert to SW and want to put the gsps in there but would like to add other puffers. what other puffers would i be able to add with gsp in a 100 marine tank? my gsp are about 3" and i would like to add other puffers that would be aruond the same size or all be around the same size as each other as adults. how many and what kind of puffers would do well together in a 100g tank? i love porcupine puffers but have no idea how big they can get along with stars and stripes.

S&S needs a minimum of 180g alone. Porc, 100g. How about a Ceylon?

if thats the case... how many gsp can i keep together in the 100g?

3 ( 30 gals each)

considering the rule of 1 puffer per 30g, does that include having other tank mates as well aside from gsp?

why would you want to create a crowded environment?

It is better to have a little extra room than not having enough. It helps with the filtration and day to day maintenance. Happy fish are healthy fish

OR 2 GSPs + some other SW fish? ?? Think in the opinion that you have 40 gals to play with.

I would consider looking for a fish that will feed on the scraps of the puffer food. Kind of like a cleanup crew. My damsels do a great job of this.

i guess ill keep my 2 gsp and think about other sw fish. not too familiar with sw fishes and which would go well with the gsp without the gsp punking them. cleanup crew does sound like a good idea as well. how big do damsels grow?

depends on the damsel. i have a few damsels with my GSP in a 75. Yellow Tail which only gets like one to one and a half inches. yellow belly, which is about 2 inches right now, i think they get somewhere between 2 and 3 inches. my blue velvet damsel is easily my favorite damsel in the tank and hes about 3 inches long and they get about 5 inches. the blue velvets are really cool looking when they are young but lose their cool colors and become dull looking. but honestly if you like a cool fish who is personable to the owner almost just like a puffer, you will like this fish. when i put my finger in the water to say hi to my puffer, the damsel comes up to me too and sometimes will pick at my finger. hes very active and definitely one of my favorite fish in my tank.

I have a yellow tail damsel and a tomato clown. I'm not a GSP owner so i'm not sure on their aggression level but three striped or four striped damsels can definitely handle themselves with aggressive fish. Their are damsels that do get larger and some that stay small. Their are many different kinds including clownfish. My yellow tail literally sits behind my puffers gills and waits for the scraps. Mr. Puffer isn't bothered by it either. It's very cool to watch. The clown just kind of catches random bits in the water.

my GSP has never shown aggression towards any of the damsels i have, which includes a clownfish as well. my blue velvet follows my GSP around all the time and hes never bothered by it. maybe one or two GSP with a nice little school of damsels. keeping a school of different ones will be difficult because of their aggression, especially to newly introduced damsels

Good you mentioned that. Especially for anybody reading this with a smaller tank. Multiple damsels usually don't get along very well unless they have room like 100+ gallons. I got 2 damsels in a 150g so you really don't want to overdo it:)

unfortunately i have tried to keep a couple different damsels with little success rate. i dont know if its coincidence or not but the yellowtail and yellowbelly seem to get along with eachother, but when i had one or two other damsels that didnt have some type of yellow on them they didnt really get along. to successfully keep a decent amount of damsels you probably need either a) all of the same/similar species or b) have a very large tank with tons of nook and crannies in and out of the rockwork, and i mean a lot because they are very active fish and will possibly terrorize one another if constantly in open view

The blue yellow-tailed damsels are not just the nicest of all damsels I've come across but also one of the prettiest!

hes actually nice, and pretty much the only damsel that didnt chase others. he just chills, the yellowbelly will chase him sometimes but neither of them have ever come up with nipped fins. but yes hes a very good looking fish, and you cant beat that they stay so small especially if thats the look that your going for. a bigger fish with a small school of little damsels