The Puffer Forum

Ive read countless articles which say SAP puffers can be kept in community tanks..have any of yall kept them SUCCESSFULLY in a tank with other species besides the puffer? Plz list the fish you have kept them with.

i have heard once about a couple SAP's being in a tank with some sort of fish and they kind of surrounded it. but then again its mainly depending on the puffer itself, if he feels accepting of the tankmates you put in there, if nothing triggers the aggression. my GSP never went after any fish i ever put in his tank, FW or now marine. i added a six line wrasse one day and he wanted him dead! if there wasnt obstacles in his way and if the six line wasnt as small as they are, he would have been eated by my puffer. but after a day or two he was fine with him for some reason and i have seen them many times swimming around eating with eachother at feeding time

depends on the size and what kind of fish I suppose.

My 3 SAPs live with 5 plecos and 5 siamese algae eaters. The algae eaters bullied them so I had to reduce the number. They are fine now in a 210 long.

SAPs aren't "community fish" in the same way as, say, platies. You can't throw them into a mixed collection of fish species and expect them to behave themselves.

SAPs are nippy, no question. Anything slow enough to be bitten WILL be bitten. In my experience that includes things like platies, gobies, Corydoras, Limia and neon tetras. I haven't tried them, but I'd assume fancy guppies, angelfish, gouramis and so on would be on the list too.

On the other hand, they're about on par with boisterous Botia in terms of compatibility. Provided the aquarium is big enough for fast-moving fish to keep out of their way, things like glassfish, medium to large tetras and barbs, loaches and halfbeaks seem to do okay. Provided there are hiding places, nocturnal catfish such as Ancistrus and Synodontis will avoid trouble too.

I would not recommend inexperienced fishkeepers maintain SAPs alongside anything other than their own kind. But if you've been keeping fish for a few years and know enough about community tanks to choose livestock sensibly, then yes, mixing SAPs with other fish may be an option.

Cheers, Neale

heartagramette wrote:Ive read countless articles which say SAP puffers can be kept in community tanks..have any of yall kept them SUCCESSFULLY in a tank with other species besides the puffer? Plz list the fish you have kept them with.