The Puffer Forum

i have one of these puffers, he is in with a small lawnmower blennie and i was thinking of adding another tankmate in the lines of another puffer OR a trigger. how do these guys go with friends? anyone know?

You know those get 4 feet long, right?

Nick mentioned the massive size of these guys- I would worry about properly housing him first before adding another fish like a trigger or a puffer that would require even more space because of increased aggression and bio-load.

yeah i know they get 4 ft long, i wouldnt have gotten it if i had known that but it was sold to me as a dogface.

atm he is about 5 inches long and i will be moving him out of his current tank in the future into a larger one further down the road, once that happens i will try and set it up with an aquarium or someone with a huge tank to take him.

as for bioload well that is easily taken care of (if need be) and i am still debating on weather or not i will even get him a tankmate which is why i asked my original question of "which tankmates can go with this puffer"

Well, we said what we said because tankmates shouldn't be added if he isn't in a suitable situation himself. If you cannot keep this puffer longterm I would advise you return him because puffers that grow this big grow extremely quickly, 1-2" a month, and that means he will be stunted very quickly without a large-enough tank. It is very hard to find a place, whether it be an aquarium or an individual, to take a fish once it has reached such a monstrous size. First of all there is the constant flood of requests to aquariums by individuals who had the same plan as you only to find out there isn't any space at an aquarium to house every 'overgrown' fish. And typically people who can house fish this large will not want an unhealthy specimen from a tiny tank.

Also there is the logistical problem of transporting an animal so large, especially a puffer which cannot be taken out of the water at any time. One would have to have huge containers and come up with a way to get it in and out of that container without allowing it to puff on air. And that's all assuming the fish hasn't died prematurely because of the health problems caused by being stunted by poor water quality and cramped space.

I'm sorry to sound so harsh, but I took in a large iridescent shark (catfish) from a nursing home nearby that was in a terribly small tank without any water changes in at least a year. Trying to get someone to take him was a nightmare, and he wasn't over a foot. I hope you rethink your plan because thinking you will be able to get a larger tank in the future if you can't now is very unlikely. Something will come up and you won't have the money like you imagined or you still won't have that room/house with the space needed to put the tank in. It would be best to return him and get a puffer that is better suited to the tank you have now, it will save you from a lot of heartache.

What is the size of your current tank? Depending on your tank size there are many puffers that stay under 12" that have wonderful personalities. If you have a large enough tank you may even be able to house two puffers together, such as two sharpnosed puffers or two Green Spotteds.

I'd take it back to the shop that mislabled it, unless you're planning on a 1,000g tank & several large tanks for sump & fuge.

yeah you are gonna need one huge tank for that puffer, I would either get it in the 1000G tank now as I wouldn't want to catch a large one in years to come, or take it back to the store

i never said i couldnt get a larger tank now. and seeing as i didnt find out it was a stellatus for about a month after i got it so it was a bit too late by then.

it is a shame that these guys grow to such a great size (although would be awesome to see one this size in the wild) as they are a really cool fish.

and would anyone really buy one of these if they knew just how big this puffer gets? i know i wouldnt

Nobody would buy them, thats why they don't tell you it gets 4 feet long... in your case, they dont' even seem to have bothered identifying it correctly.

I know! There are so many puffers I would love to have if only they didn't grow so monstrous. I'm sure there are very few people out there looking for four-foot long fish, so that is why fish stores don't normally tell their customers correct information.

It's all about the $$$. So... whatcha gonna do about him?

yeah it sucks cause my wife saved him from death (literally) he stopped breathing from a tank crash while i was at work so she quickly dumped him into the sump on my main tank and he survived so there is an attachment there, i am currently inquiring if i can find him a home (on various other forums) so I'll see what can come out of it

good luck!

apolyom wrote:yeah it sucks cause my wife saved him from death (literally) he stopped breathing from a tank crash while i was at work so she quickly dumped him into the sump on my main tank and he survived so there is an attachment there, i am currently inquiring if i can find him a home (on various other forums) so I'll see what can come out of it

Wow, your wife being such a quick thinker has to put your mind at ease about your tanks when you are away from home. My husband probably wouldn't notice something like that! I'm glad you are trying to find him a new home, it may be hard to do now but imagine how much harder it would be years down the road when you would have gone through even more with this fish and spent even more money on him. Best of luck finding a new home for him, I found a good one for the ID Shark that I rescued by going to a local pond supply store that had many customers with indoor ponds looking for large catfish so I was lucky.

When you search for your next puffer, take a picture at the store and post it here so we can ID it for you and keep this from happening again!

yeah i was forever grateful to her for doing that but success!!

i found him a home. i found a guy who is prepared to take him.

when i got him he actually did look like a dogface, his colour was the same cream colour as a dogface but since then i have researched puffers so i WILL be getting a dogface to (for use of a better word) replace him.

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