How many puffers to a 55 gallon?

S

spankey

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Dec 21, 2001
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Boyertown, PA
I am in the process of cycling a 55 gallon tank that I want to set up for brackish....

My son loves puffers so I decided to do this tank for him. Seeing how I already have another 55 malawi tank that is Mine:D


Any rate. He pretty much wants a peacefull tank and not much aggresion.... Such as mixing fish...

So how many would anyone recomend? I read that the normal green puffers can get up to 6 inches...


I want to make sure this tank is fully cycled before I spend any money on these fish... I bought 14 feeder fish the other day and accidently added the new 60 watt heater and totally forgot to add the thermometer... SO I woke up the next morning to an 83 degree tank and the fish were all pealing and lumped over. Except for one.. So far he is doing well. That was my fault totally... I got pre ocupied with company being over that I forgot to set the darn heater and place the thermometer in.... That won't happen again...

But any rate. Once the tank is cycled and the salt brought up to speed I will then purhcase the puffers... Just am nervous not to loose any of them. Although I am reading that they are not to expensive..

I also read here that there are fresh water puffers too? Do they look the same as the green spotted puffers?

Thanks for your help and time...

Spankey
 
Hi

Well, where to start.

Firstly, when you say 'normal green puffers' do you mean Green Spotted Puffers ?

that article by Pufferpunk should answer your q's on them.

if so then they will need BW from when you buy them, depending on what they are kept in at the LFS.

this means, i would think, cycling your tank BW or else risking another cycle when adding salt, so using feeders probably isn't the way to go.

also GSPs are not known for being the most sociable fish, particularly when older, so for a truly peaceful tank, the answer to your question is 1!

there are many FW puffers. there aren't that many that would fit in a 55 and all have their own unique attributes.

you could look into south american puffers (aka Colomesus asellus) as FW suitable for a 55. You could maybe keep 3 in a 55.

but bear in mind that the temperment of individual puffers varies. you might get 3 social SA puffers or you might not, they can be fin nippers even when 'peaceful'.

also bear in mind that puffers need good water quality and specialist diets, including crunchy food such as snails, shrimp etc.

all in all, they are quite demanding.

not trying to put you off, just letting you know what you might be in for.

HTH
 
Pretty much agree w/SBA's comments, but I would heavily plant a 55 for C. asellus, and very likely try to keep 5 of them in there. Don't try that without plenty of tank cover.

Puffers very roughly fit into one of two profiles - active hunters, primarily mollusk and crustacean eaters, who are active to hyperactive, or lurker predators (the same inverts plus small fish) who lay in wait for prey to pass - either in plant thickets or buried in the sand - and then pounce. The former group can be active to hyper, the latter tend to less activity up to being basically a live rock with fins and gills an teeth.

Species tanks are ideal for puffers. Any tankmate, conspecific or not, is always at risk, more so as the fish mature.
 
Thanks guys, I am thinking twice about this now.. I may just do black tipped sharks instead... Have had them before and they are really cool to watch....

Just don't want to end up with a tank full of 12" catfish in a year! Wish they stayed small.....

Any rate.. Just not sure what I want to do.. Maybee just a normal freshwater tank...Who knows.....

Thanks gain...

Spankey;)
 
tiny puffers

Imagine having a dozen or so puffers no bigger than your thumbnail in a 55 gallon tank. And a dozen or so tiny bumblebee gobies about the same size.

Yes, I'm talking about the dwarf puffer.

I set up a spare 55 gallon tank for my kids. There is a little extra salt in there to keep the gobies happy, though I wouldn't call it brackish water (about a tablespoon of aquarium salt per gallon). We saw the dwarf puffers at the pet shop and just had to have them. I'm so taken with them that I'm setting up a couple of ten gallon tanks to try to breed them. The bumblebee gobies seemed like the perfect complementary species as they are also pugnacious but tiny, eat many of the same foods, and reach roughly the same maximum length. So far so good as they are getting along and eating well.

Keep in mind a lot of puffers aren't brackish water fish, but will tolerate or even benefit from a little added salt in their water. Check into the species you're buying before you get started.

The more common green spotted puffer and figure 8 puffer can get really pugnacious when they are older, and it can be hard to find suitable tankmates for them. Over the years I've found most puffer species do better in tanks of their own without much in the way of tank mates. For a 55 gallon species tank, I think some of the larger puffer species may be more appropriate. Maybe one big fahaka in there?
 
I think I'd rather see BBGs kept in FW, then any salt being given to a dwarf puffer.
 
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