The Puffer Forum

Hello!

I'm thinking about getting a tank with -hopefully- some puffers. I haven't had an aquarium since I was a kid, so I don't know much even though I've read for a while, because being a newbie and English not being my first language, I do have a hard time figuring out all the abbreviations...

At my local store, they really don't know a thing: I was told that the spotted puffers were peace full, and that I could keep them with many other fishes, and also that I could keep it with stingrays that would not grow more that 6 inch in diameter... I went out of there as I happy as I could, because I do love rays and puffers and shrimps. But I seem to have been mislead all the way... So I'm seeking more "professionals" opinions...

For reference, I have place for a 30 gallons tank (not buoyed yet), with real plants preferably. Freshwater or brackish, depending on the fish selected...

I really would like puffers, maybe a dwarf and/or an 8 figure, since they seem to stay rather small and be less aggressive than other puffers (on average).

The problem is, I really would like to a shrimps that are NOT lunch to them... and maybe some other fishes (I do like glass catfish...) Or anything that looks a bit unusual for that matter... I'm open to viable suggestions.

I already have ruled out the stingray, since the smallest of them would be about 12inch, and that it would not be happy in a small tank. But could a Mountain shrimp and some small puffers co-exist peacefully?

Many thanks!
Lodoiska

hi, and welcome to TPF!

yep, your right, stingrays do not make good aquarium pets, and are best left in the wild.

in general, puffers are not good comunity fish, although there are the rare exceptions, depedning on the individuals personality.

if you chose a F8, you could keep bumble bee gobies, and maybe a knight gobie, both very intresting fish, provided the tank is large enough. your 30g should be fine. or you could always go with 2 F8s for your 30g. ( im assuming its US. gallons?) are you aware that F8s are brackish fish? many fish stores will tell you that F8s are freshwater fish....

i would never keep a spotted puffer as a comunity fish, espeacially since they need to be gradually raised into marine conditions. in general spotted puffers (T.Nigroviridis) is more complex to keep then a DP or F8 becasue of the uprgading to salt water.

i really have no experience with DPs, but in general they are not comunity safe either. you may have luck keeping ghost shrimp with them, although i wouldnt keep any large shrimp with such a tiny puffer, he ight become lunch!:shock:

for your question about shrimp, in the wild, this is one of there natural prey. in a heavily planted tank, with numerous shrimp, you may have luck keeping shrimp alive, temporarily. they will eventually become lunch!

please read the many excelent articles in our library.

DPs are quite variable - I have tried 3 different shrimp with my DPs and they have not bothered any of them (Amano, red-nosed red-tail, and Snowball). The Snowball shrimp breed and offspring survive with DPs in the tank. Orher folks report their DPs killing and eating any shrimp. Unpredictable.

Planted tanks in this country are restricted to freshwater only. Plant growth is not reliable at the levels the BW puffers prefer. Some plant survival is possible, but I have not yet seen any evidence of what hobbyists consider a planted tank survive long-term in brackish water. There are quite a number of freshwater puffers which IME prefer planted tanks.

If you like live plants, dwarf puffers would be perfect. You could keep several in a nicely decorated 30g. They are fresh water and stay small. They are very agressive to tank mates though. They will pick on anything in their territory, even if it is 2 or 3 times their size.

If you dont mind fake plants, F8s would be a good choice. They stay in light brackish water and are generally more peaceful than some of the other puffers.

Check out the puffer list for some more puffer info: http://www.pufferlist.com/

And do check out the library.

The Fisherman wrote:yep, your right, stingrays do not make good aquarium pets, and are best left in the wild.

That is not true. Rays are very great pets, just like puffs. You just need to have the right size aquaria to house them, aswell as filtration and heating.

But on puffs, I would go with a few DP's, They are easy to keep, stay small and are very compatible with most fish. They do nip fins so becareful when choosing tankmates.