The Puffer Forum

I'm about a year into keeping South American Puffers! I have three in a 60 litre tank - its just a trial tank! always wanted tropical fish, but wasn't sure if it was just a 'thing' turns out I love keeping them! So I want to upgrade asap. I'm thinking a 120/200 litre with decent external filter... the questions I have are:

Is a 120 to 200 litre tank a fair size for say my three then a couple more puffers plus a few other tank mates?

Do I need to 'over filter' the tank? get a powerful canister filter? Should I bothered what 'litres per hour' it filters?

Should I buy only the big branded tanks/filters etc, or are un-named/eBay stuff okay?

Do puffers need a lot of plants? As I wanted to go down the mangrove/ river look, so will put a few reeds in there, but some forums sat puffers need heavily planted tanks!

Sorry about the essay, but want to get the set up spot on?

Thanks in advance!!!

Bigger is better & longer is even better! They like lots of swimming room, so I'd keep the center of the tank mostly open & decorate the sides, back & bottom. They also like lots of flow. I prefer Aquaclear HOB & e\Eheim canisters.

you probably want about 50 litres volume per puffer. 'Overfiltering' is a weird term really, if people are thinking about overfiltering to cope with overstocking then they should really buy a bigger tank. I would go for either a single canister or 2 cannisters that provide about 10x volume of the tank per hour, that way you should still have sufficient flow when your filter media clogs up a bit or your pump ages and can't push as much water as it could.

I wouldn't say that puffers need plants specifically but plants (as well as other types of décor) will add interest. Plants - so long as they grow well - will also help to maintain water quality