The Puffer Forum

im planning on getting a 100 gallon tank for a fahaka puffer but im concerned about some information ive heard about them. it says they need a 120 gallon tank or bigger. we dont have a place to put a 120 gallon tank for sure. they are also really really expensive. so. have any of you ever tried raising a fahaka puffer in a 100 gallon tank, is it acceptable or do i really honestly have to have that extra 20 gallons to keep a happy fish. and if so does anyone know a breed of puffer that could be kept in 50-100 gallons of water, isnt small like a GSP, and is more on the agressive side. i really only like the looks of your standard tetraodon body type puffer i dont like the ones with sharper noses,cant be salt water, can be brackish or fresh. i really need some good suggestions from people who know puffers. i once had three gsp and just loved the little guys but i unfortunately killed them during a tank transfer. i was really upset for a long time. but instead of getting little fish like a gsp, i think ill try my hand at a larger more agressive breed.

It may only be 20g, but that is 1/6 of the total volume. 120g min for a fahaka, bigger is better.

Is 48inches x 24inches x 24inches (4ftx2ftx2ft) to big for you?

What are the measurements of the 100g?

try to aim for 24 inches in width to avoid stunting. I got a tiny 1 inch Fahaka in November and now it is about 12 inches..started off with 75 gallon and then moved it to a wide 125 gallon tank.


Other smaller but still large enough puffer types probably according to your taste:

Colomesus psittacus (NOT the smaller Colomesus Asselus)
www.thepufferforum.com/index.php?id ... eView%5D=1

Takifugu Ocellatus (brackish)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5LpbN95HSU

Tetraodon Sabahensis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKXCwCR7_WY

Good luck ever coming across a psittacus. The ocellatus is one of the most difficult puffers to keep--experts have rarely been able to. Requires a chiller.

Sabahensis is your best bet but difficult to find & identify.

thanks so much for all the adivce everyone. im not sure what the measurements are on the big tank as i have not purchased it yet. my 55 gallon is a high end model with a nice oak stand and is worth as much as a generic 75 or even 100 gallon tank. so im looking to trade someone on craigslist for a bigger tank. im sure ill be able to find what im looking for. the last 100 gl i had didint seem to be quite two feet in width but close. hopefully i can find one thats more of a cube than a long one. took up an entire wall. and had to be 7 ft in length.

i have another question for you guys.... has anyone ever purchased a puffer online to be delivered to your home?
im not sure how this process would even work...how can the keep fish in a box with no air and filtration. knowing how easy it is to stress a puffer out to the point of puffing up, most of the ones i have had puffed any time we switched their tank. so im worried that the puffr i order is going to be in poor condition or dead. and also that ill get stuck paying for a really expensive fish that wont ever adapt to my tank due to the huge amount of stress its been through.

does anyone have a reccomendation for a website that has safel shipped you a healthy puffer?
i live two hours from the nearest fish specialty shop that could order me a nice puffer.

also still looking for reccomendations for an agressive puffer. i dont want the same problems with live food that i had with my gsp. best it would ever do is chew on something for a minute and not eat it. canned shirmp was the only thing they would eat. lol i want one that puts on a show at feeding time, hence my desire for a fahaka. does any other puffer have the attitude of a fahaka? or somewhere close to it?

It will need to be a long tank opposed to a cube, they need swimming room. The 2ft recommended width is for turning room only. I think you will be hard pushed to find anything fahaka like that isn't a fahaka lol. Have you considered 2 smaller tanks for a lurker and something different? You could have the best of both worlds without a monster tank.

a lurker? and i dont mean it has to be fahaka like, just more agressive than a regular old green spotted puffer. only one of my gsp would bother chasing live food at all( other than pond snails) and i think one of the coolest things about a puffer is its diet and want one that will be a little more feisty than my old ones is all. i think i may have located 240 gallon aquarium through craigslist but how in gods name would i ever move somethig like that? it woulld have to be over 500 lbs without water, then a whole whole lot mroe afterward. i think it might fall through our floor even. i think i need to give up on this one, i know from experience 100 gallons is all we can handle anyhow.

IMO
It doesn't matter how many gallons it is
It matters on footprint

Footprint is very important. So is total volume as it is the volume of water which will dilute the puffers mass amount of waste

I have ordered many fish online & ordered/shipped many corals.