The Puffer Forum

Hello,

its been a while since ive owned any kind of fish, and recently decided to get a puffer. i have a 36 gallon bowfront tank that i have begun to cycle, and was wondering what kind of puffer that i could get, and what kind of scenery it would prefer. i would prefer a singular fish that i could feed off of some variety of snail or other food that i could breed. i have a 200w heater and a filter rated for 40 gallons. this will be my first puffer ever and first fish in a while so any help will be appreciated, thanks.

Hi there hoblob!
My first suggestion would be 1 figure 8 puffer ug.php/v/PufferPedia/Brackish/T_Biocellatus/ with a few gobies, either bumble bee or knight gobies (they may or may not be eaten). Puffers are very intelligent and need a complicated environment to keep from getting bored. Figure 8's need a low brackish specific gravity of 1.003 -1.005 so you would need to get some marine salt and a hydrometer, but there are several plant species that do welk in that low end of brackish, like water sprite and I believe java ferns. Or you could go with plastic or silk plants. Aragonite substrate would be needed to maintain the water hardness they require.

If you didn't want to do low brackish, a few 5-6 dwarf puffers would also be a nice swarm of cuteness. If you don't mind a possibly less active puffer, you could get one from the lurkers/ambush predator group. Here is a link to profiles on the freshwater puffers: ug.php/v/PufferPedia/Freshwater/

With any species, you will want to set up a small breeding tank up, as most species will require periodic dentistry if not fed hard shelled foods.
What method are you using to cycle the tank?

Almost forgot about the filter, you may need to upgrade the filter. What brand is it and do you know the gallons per hour? It's suggested to have 10x the gallons of the tank for flow rate.

+1 to sevenyear. Definitely consider a filter upgrade an essential. You may be able to house a Congo in there

My advice is run before the sickness takes hold LMAO just playin.


Sounds like you got a decent plan, +1 to all above. And do a lot of reading in the pufferpedia to figure out which puffer will be what you want. Depending on if you want something that is super active, or something that is only semi active but cool looking.

Also you could do a green spotted puffer in a 36g. Start it fresh water and then slowly move up through brackish to full saltwater

well the filter is rated at 200 GPH, so i guess a new one will be in order. I am not too keen on the idea of a swarm of miniature puffers, and would like to stick with FW, leading me to the turgidus and the congo, i will be going to some LFS' to look at what they have in stock. at what size could the puffers start eating snails, and what variety of snail could they eat?

I am cycling the tank with FW, and by the recommendation of petsmart, i put prime in as well as top fin bacteria supplement.

Puffers will eat snails from babies on, as for what type ramshorn and ponds(pest snails at most LFS's) are the best.

I dont know about topfin but there is a product that a few here use but I cant remember the name of it right now

I used to work for PetSmart back in the day, I can say without a doubt that I wouldn't trust any Top Fin product, just my opinion.
Here is a good article to read: library/water-filtration/fishless-cycling/

so do you think that my cycling will work? and what kind of substrate would a turgidus prefer?

Honestly, I don't believe the Top Fin product will work. If it were my tank, I'd go by the article I linked.
I think those puffers like sand? I don't know if those bury them selves.

ok, well my only source of bacteria would probably have to be something from an LFS, as no one i know has any fish

That would be a great way to get some bacteria.

I think most puffers prefer sand when they lay on the bottom to sleep

I agree with xrayjeeper, sand is a great substrate for puffs. It would be absolutely essential with a congo, too, because they need to bury.

What kinds of puffers are available to you?

If you can find pure ammonia you can use that. Is there an Ace Hardware store around you? If you're not sure if the ammonia is pure with no additives just shake the bottle. If it makes bubbles don't use it. Pure ammonia will not make bubbles.