Compatibility???

[AW2EOD]

I have a juvenile (2") Scopas Tang in my 150gal. tank. He is the only resident since my Banded Cat Shark died.

Would it be possible to house a Panda or Dog Faced Puffer (juvenile) with my Tang? I'm concerned about the puffer being aggressive towards the Tang, etc.

What do you guys think?

[AW2EOD]

15 views and no replys??

Come on guys...give me something, at least! :rolleyes:

[benjen]

I really don't know, but my initial guess would be that the puffer is OK as long as it's smaller than or almost the same size as the tang, however I think puffers might grow quite a bit faster than tangs. Full grown, they are almost the same size though... If I were going to have the two together, I'd wait until the scopas is at least an inch longer and then pick up a very small puffer.

[AW2EOD]

Thanks, Ben.

The only problem that I forsee is that the smallest juvenile puffer that 99% of stores have are usually 4" - 5". I'd have to wait a long time if I waited till the Tang was that size. I may just give it a trial run, in a month or so, and see how things work out. I'm quite familiar with puffers, and after seeing my Tang move, I know puffers dont swim as fast as Tangs. Maybe Wang (the Tang) can handle it until they're comfortable with each other.

Thanks, again.

[Max]

Hey not to be a fuddy duddy . I really don't think that I would risk it. The puffers tend to be pretty aggresive and somtimes even go after stuff that's bigger than they are. Every one of them that I've ever had or met was 150% attitude and all of if pretty bad when it came to anything that they could sink their beaks into. I might be wrong but well if you decide to do it I keep a really close eye on them and not put too much faith in the tang making it unless it's a whole lot bigger and introduced first.
hth
Chris

[benjen]

4" puffer and 2" tang? I really don't think the tang would make it, more often than not. If the lengths were reversed, you'd probably be OK though.

[Max]

lol , for a while you'd be ok Ben. Most puffers will catch up to the tang pretty quick. Then one day :idea2: hey! Mom and Dad got me this nice tang to eat :rolleyes: . Or that's been the situation in most cases that I've heard of anyway.

[benjen]

Yeah... I think the two can be OK together as adults from what I've read, but it's that you never want that tang to be more than a max of 1" shorter than the puffer that they are different at full size. I even already mentioned puffers being faster growers upthread and then didn't stop to consider what that would mean in 6 months to a year.

So... maybe an 8" tang and a 4" puffer would be OK. :laugh:

[AW2EOD]

2 opinions is good enough for me...no Tang and Puffer together. ****...I like the Tang, but have always really wanted a Dog Faced. Hmmm...dilemas, dilemas. :rolleyes:

I dont know what I'll do. We'll see.

Thanks, guys.

[AW2EOD]

I went and checked out another local (well 45 min. away) fish store, today...on my way back from dropping off my sold 55gal. tank.

Just to look at what they had, I asked one of the guys if they had Dog Faced Puffers. He was like..."Oh yeah! We just got in the most beautiful ones I've ever seen!!"...

He shows me the tanks they're in, and what do I find...4 Stars and Stripes Puffers, labeled Dog Faced Puffers. So, I said..."I'm not trying to say you guys are wrong, or that I know more than you do, but these arent Dog Faced Puffers (they looked NOTHING like Dog Faced - even juvies)". And he gets mad and starts ranting about how he knows his fish, blah, blah, blah. I've been dealing with Puffers for a long time and I was 100% positive that those werent Dog Faced. lol Not only that, but the listed price for the so called 4" juvenile Dog Faced was $119. I almost crapped. :eek:

Needless to say, I wont be buying any fish from that store. They also had a 1.5' long Porc. Puffer in a 125gal. tank (way to small for the poor guy) that was listed for $1000. Are these people serious?

Just thought I'd share. :D