75 gallon puffer fish tank?

Leighlou

Leighlou

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Aug 13, 2009
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Lol ya I've been thinking on it. I'm still working on getting my 75 gallon tank, I fell in love with the puffer fish, I really like them and was thinking about maybe making my 75 gal a puffer tank. It would mean that they would all get a lot of territory and can have more the one. I had my heart set on three of the most popular puffers: the dwarf puffer (may be too small for such a large tank), the green spot puffer and then my favorite is the figure 8 puffer.

So here is my questions:

Figure 8 and Green spot puffers are brackish water, yes?

Can I establish a large snail population in the tank before the puffers or is it better just to give them one snail at a time?

Would gravel or sand be better for them?

Does anyone have a 75 gal puffer tank? (lol)
 
In a 75, the dwarf and figure 8 would be pretty dwarfed. I would go with GSP and get 2. They have individual temperments so aggression could still be an issue, but in that size tank, with plenty of decor breaking up the line of sight, you should be fine. They'll live a long time and get fairly large. As far as the snails go, if you put a whole bunch in there, they'll breed and thrive and get eaten as the puffers get to them. My friend has a good system for hers. In addition to the hundreds of MTS that live in the high-brakish tank breeding, sifting the sand and becoming food, she keeps a 5G betta tank that's FULL of ramshorns that she feeds from on a weekly basis.

If you go with GSP, they will eventually get 6" and become full marine. Aragonite is actually an excellent choice for them for substrate. You should hop over to thepufferforum.com for a plethora of puffer specific info!
 
Yes, the figure 8 and the green spotted puffers are both brackish water fish, with the figure 8 requiring a fairly low specific gravity and the green spotted eventually require a pretty high salinity. Both are usually sold as freshwater by stores that don't know any better. I just got a figure 8 and we are going to start converting him to brackish tomorrow since he has been kept in freshwater.
As far as having the snails breed in the tank, when I was doing research before I got my dwarf puffer I had read that some tend to overeat if a lot of snails are present and it can be harmful, but mine has never seemed to do that with the snails she doesn't eat from the ones I add to her tank. I breed mine in another tank and then feed them to the puffer every couple days but I think it's really up to you.
As far as substrate goes, I use sand since the puffer fish doesn't really have scales, but a sort of skin like us and it can easily be damaged so anything rough would not be a good idea.
I love my puffers they have such interesting personalities not to mention they are absolutely adorable. If you are looking for one that is calm and could possibly have other tank mates should you decide you want some in the future, the figure 8 puffer is the calmest as far as puffers go (they are all aggressive) with the dwarf also being on the calmer side. The green spotted has a reputation of being very aggressive even with those of their own species so if you are wanting to have more than one fish in the tank I'd go for some figure 8s or dwarf puffers.
 
jm1212 said:
you might want to consider some of the larger FW puffers.

you'll only be able to have one though.
Click to expand...

they'll probably be harder to find, but I agree completely. Take advantage of the space and get a single large species. Dwarfs and fig8s are just too small for a 75g species tank. GSP would be the smallest I would go with, knowing eventually (yearssss) they'll grow into it more or less. Something larger would be exciting though :-)
 
I was thinking about the larger FW puffers but most of them require a 120 gallon tank
 
I was thinking of just keeping a bunch of green spot puffers or figure 8s. I wouldn't mind a fw puffer but the only ones I can get around here are green spot and figure 8s
 
You could only have 2 GSPs (green spotted puffers) in a 75 tank as they need at least 30g each (2 need 60g, 3 need 90g, etc.), so a 75g tank would be great for them. They do need brackish at first but will require saltwater as adults. Be prepared for that if you decide on them. They are pretty cute, and they do get bigger than F8s. GSPs get about 6" whereas F8s stay about 3".

Figure 8s are great too (my personal favorite also). They require 1.005-1.008 salinity (much, much less than GSPs). I don't see how Figure 8s would be "too small" for a 75g tank. You could technically do up 7 in a 75g tank, but that would be absolutely completely stocking it, so I would not do more than 6 and with very good filtration.

If you want a tank with a little variety, I would get 3-5 figure 8s, up to 20 bumblebee gobies, and some chromides. I've never kept chromides, but they were recommended to me by people who had kept them with F8s successfully for years. I have kept bumblebee gobies with a figure 8 and some mollies for about 1-1/2 years. Be careful with mollies as they will overrun your tank with babies if you get females (can be exposed to males at LFS and store sperm for months).

However, GSPs can only be kept with other GSPs, and even then only if you give them appropriate space.

I'm glad to see you've already found The Puffer Forum. That's my main resource for puffer info. You've probably already found the profiles for both these fish.

As for snails, do not keep puffers with snails! You must keep snails in a separate breeding tank. Puffers don't really have an "off switch" when it comes to feeding, so they can literally eat until they explode if you give them too much food. On the less traumatic side, they can eat too much and get constipated (can mess with swim bladder, etc.). Either way, it's not a good thing to do. Some puffers will ignore them for a while, but don't worry, snails are the puffer's natural diet and they will eventually go after them.
 
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