The Puffer Forum

I now have a small (young?) Figure 8 Puffer living in a 12L (3G) tank kept in brackish conditions. He's been living there for about 5 months and seems to be doing very well.

My question is, do you think my Figure 8 - who has so far been alone in his tank - would get along with a Golden Algae Eater (short body version)? Algae builds up in my puffer's tank quite quickly and i though that introducing a fish that eats algae might help.

Do you think they would get along? If not, can you recommend an algae eating animal that might help keep the algae in check? I'm mostly worried about the fact that my Figure 8's had the tank all to himself so far, so if i introduce someone else into what he probably considers "his territory", they might fight...

Thanks in advance!

There aren't really any algae eaters that can live in brackish other than something like nerite snails as long as they are acclimated.

You really need to think about upgrading your F8 to a larger tank, You should be aiming for a 15g minimum so he has adequate room to move about and grow properly. Then at 15g or above think about tankmates for him.

Thanks for the quick replies!

I'm going to check the local petshop today for snails that can live in brackish waters. But, won't my puffer just eat the snails? Won't that add to the algae?

I've been thinking about getting a bigger tank too, but i hesitated because he's all alone. I guess i should go ahead and do it now to give him more room to swim around and so that he can have some friends.

Thanks again!

Thanks Hilly, I didn't even notice that. Yup, definitely need a much bigger tank. Even if he's small physically, puffers have a very large bioload for their size and he needs the territory to explore and be happy. You really should get him a bigger tank ASAP or he's going to die prematurely.

Not all snails can go in brackish, only nerites which you probably won't find at your pet store. Where are you located?

I'm in a smallish town north of Tokyo, Japan. The pet shops here aren't all that great, but one of my co-workers breeds betas so I'm going to ask him for advice on aquarium supplies and good pet shops.

I definitely don't want my puffer to die prematurely, so I'm going to look at bigger tanks when i look for snails. How many fish do you think i can keep safely in a 15G tank? I'd like to give my puffer some company

One. Puffers don't do well with company.

Ok!
The pet shop staff where i bought my puffer really had no clue about them. They tried to make me believe that 2 puffers would definitely fight amongst themselves, but that 3 or more wouldn't. Sounded like dodgy logic to me so i chose to ignore it. (probably nothing more that an attempt to sell me more)

I'm very grateful, thanks for your advice!

They almost always fight in 2s, 3s, or more. The only usual exceptions are dwarves, irrubescos and South American puffers, and even those are not always compatible with conspecifics.

Glad to have helped!

I have unidentified large crabs (probably fiddlers) with my T. nigroviridis. The largest crab has a body diameter similar to the puffer's length. They do not hurt each other. The crabs eat all kind of algae but are not very effective.

Cleaning and keeping the nitrates low is the best way to get rid of the algae.

You should definitely make upgrading the tank a priority. Just to emphasize the importance of upgrading, I have had one of my Figure Eights over a year, and she has grown at least and inch. She has lived in a 15 gallon tank, and then in a 35 gallon- never anything smaller (except of course for a few weeks in the pet store tank). However, one of the members on here had a Figure Eight just about as long as me in a 10 gallon tank, and that puffer didn't grow at all! Can you imagine the stunting that will happen in a 3 gallon tank? You should upgrade ASAP so you can keep your puff from having health problems.

And as for tank mates: Despite his small size, and how "empty" a tank may look that houses a puffer, they are predators. Territorial in the wild because of competition and scarce food sources, they don't have a schooling mentality like many other fish. Tankmates are tolerated, not a necessity for the fish's survival. I get away with having 2 F8s and some other brackish tankmates in my 35 gallon, but my tank is larger than yours and is also over-filtered because of the bioload created by the fish and the food I feed them.

As far as algae goes, you're going to have to be the one who takes care of it. There aren't any algae eaters that you can put in that tank, and the Olive Nerite snails that can adapt to low end brackish will be a very expensive snack for your small puff. No matter how docile the puff may seem, it will eat snails if given some.

Hi,

My two puffers get along really well, and getting the second puffer even really calmed down my largest puffer who was by himself for 6 months at least.

I guess I am the exception...

The other risk with Olive Nerite snails is they have very thick, hard shells.. similar to MTS snails. If the puffer tries to bite them they can break off their teeth, leading to injury or infection.