The Puffer Forum

Hi, What is a good number of SAP's for my 72 UK G tank?

2, 3 or 4?

I will be wanting to keep other fish with them too. maybe a school of tetra's?? a plec?

As they are a schooling fish in the wild and you're tank could easily hold 4, get 4.

Thanks again Hilly

I wasn't sure if it was a good idea to go for odd or even amounts.

So 4 is a good number, and that would leave me space for some other fish?

the puffers will be the first fish to enter the tank, well maybe a plec from my brother.

would i be okay putting the 4 SAPs in the tank or should i start with say 2 and let the filter mature.

the problem taht you may have the is group dynamics so I would say it is better to add the puffers last when the tank is matured as they prefer this anyway and then there should be less territory squabbles. If you put any number of puffers in first it may not be ideal as they don't do well in unstable tanks but also the first puffers in will establish a territory. Any additions after may be seen as an invasion and you could have some fights on your hands. Even though the SAP's a re supposedly more peacful I''m not too sure it would work that way. The other guys will be able to offer more concrete advice though sowait a while

As far as tank stability goes, if the tank has been fully cycled you shouldn't have a problem whether you introduce them first or last into the tank. One advantage I can see of putting them in first is not having to put them in a smaller quarantine tank as SAP's can be quite skittish and have fatally injured themselves by running into the sides of the tank. The sooner they're in a big tank the better.

Certainly, SAPs should be placed in a reasonably mature aquarium. While I'd put them towards the hardier end of the pufferfish spectrum, they're certainly not fish that do well in uncycled aquaria.

They don't form any kind of territories at all, so you can add one, and then another a month later, and so on. A lone SAP will never really settle down until it gets a companion, and the more you add, the happier they get. Since they don't guard their eggs and don't even form pairs when spawning, there's no male-male or male-female aggression that needs to be worked around.

The main thing with SAPs is to remember than (perhaps uniquely among the traded freshwater puffers) these are pelagic, open water puffers that constantly swim up and down rivers, basically moving in and out of the "flooded forest" on an annual cycle. During the high water season they spawn, apparently in large congregations. Eggs are scattered in much the same ways as spawning tetras or danios. So the whole paradigm of pufferfish behaviour as based on territorial, benthic freshwater pufferfish doesn't apply here.

Instead, consider them comparable to other open water fish like Cyprichromis, hatchets, or halfbeaks. They're easily startled, so don't mix with aggressive and territorial species. They have a strong desire to swim, so give them space, certainly, but more critically a strong current with lots of oxygen. Plants and rocks seem to be of no importance at all, and are largely ignored as far as I can tell except perhaps for a shady corner where they can sleep (which they do in groups, very cute!). Choosing tankmates isn't difficult if you stick with very fast fishes. Bleeding heart tetras seem to work exceptionally well and make a nice colour-contrast in a planted tank. Medium-sized barbs and danionins would probably work, too.

Carinotetraodon irrubesco seems (in my experience) to be an excellent second pufferfish for the SAP aquarium. They largely ignore one another and swim about at different levels. They are also of comparable size, male irrubesco being shorter but much stockier.

Cheers, Neale

my 3 SAPs were the first fish in the tank.. I added a BN pleco, and then 12 giant danios to liven the show up... The SAPs gave the BN pleco some nudges, but they are pretty peaceful for the most part.

I figured a trio would be good, they hang with each other most the time.

thanks for all the replies guys. My tank has nearly finished cyclin, so looking forward to moving in the first tenants