The Puffer Forum

Hi all. 3 days ago I purchased 4 Schoutendini Puffers, 1 male 3 females on the advice that they are sociable. Mine don't seem to be, the male has one end of the tank and a female has the other, the other 2 females live at the surface and if they come down they are chased. The tank is 5x2x2. I know its early days but I'm hoping they will settle and get along as I don't want to have to sell 2 of them on. Has anyone else experienced this when purchasing these Puffers. I would appreciate any feed back, thanks in advance, Steve

It is always good when mixing species who generally get along, to be sure you have s complex-decorated tank with broken lines of sight.

I had the same problems with six of my schoutedenis upon first introduction to my 125g tank. With time and plenty (Lots) of rocks and plants to break up lines of sight as PP said, they are now at a mostly peaceful coexistence (only occasionally chasing). Knowing then what I know now, I probably would only do 4 in my 125g if I could go back and do it again. So 4 in a 150g (yours is 150g right?) should be fine eventually. Yours sound like they are establishing territories right now, and as long as they aren't hurting each other, it will probably work out over time. And you did the right thing by introducing them all together into the tank at once.

Main thing that I would watch for is ensuring everyone is getting enough food, all rounded bellies after feeding time. The chasees often get beaten to dinner by the chasers, so it sometimes takes target feeding to make sure everyone gets a square meal. I've tong trained all of my puffers, and it's really helped in these types of situations. Good luck!

Thank you for your advice. I'm hoping they will settle. Then tank has lots of rock caves, plants and wood in it to break eye line, I will see if I can upload a video. When I feed them I make sure they are getting equal amounts each.

Happy to help, please keep us posted!