My fiance has 2 brackish water leopard puffers. They are small now and we are keeping them in a 5 gallon hexogonal tank. But they are starting to grow up. What would be the ideal setup for them (gallons/lighting/filtration/substrate/hiding places). I cant find much information on them except their salt tolerance which we already know and that they can get up to 4 inches a piece. Also was wondering if they can be housed with any other fishes - we know they are semi agressive but can we put anything else with them? Also any fedding recommendations? We can only get them to eat frozen brine shrimp and attempts to hatch other brine shrimp have been unsucessful. Please help!
Need recomend on ideal puffer setup/ tankmates?
- Thread starter Irisheyes1772
- Start date
Definitely get a larger tank for your puffers. Leopard puffers are likely Green Spotted Puffers (GSPs) which need 30 gallons each! Check for your puffer ID at www.pufferlist.com.
They need to eat snails (common pond snail or common ramshorn snails), frozen and freeze dried krill, crickets, when larger crab legs, muscles, basically anything but frozen brine shrimp which really are not very nutritious and which also won't help keep their teeth/beak shorter (you'll have to do dentistry on them if you don't feed crunchy foods).
Eric
They need to eat snails (common pond snail or common ramshorn snails), frozen and freeze dried krill, crickets, when larger crab legs, muscles, basically anything but frozen brine shrimp which really are not very nutritious and which also won't help keep their teeth/beak shorter (you'll have to do dentistry on them if you don't feed crunchy foods).
Eric
It seems whenever puffers are mentioned on this board, everyone immediately starts shouting about how they need huge tanks and they ignore the first post completely.
This guy alrleady said he WILL be upgrading the size, and he wants to know what to put in the new tank. Additionally, he asked about tank mates for the puffers. Would anyone care to answer those two questions?
I was just about to post almost the exact same thread. I am going to start a puffer tank and I would like to know what sorts of furniture and fish to put in it, so please help!
This guy alrleady said he WILL be upgrading the size, and he wants to know what to put in the new tank. Additionally, he asked about tank mates for the puffers. Would anyone care to answer those two questions?
I was just about to post almost the exact same thread. I am going to start a puffer tank and I would like to know what sorts of furniture and fish to put in it, so please help!
You don't understand. A 5g isn't large enough for even 1 of these puffers. No upgrading in the future--yesterday! If we see a post that is mentioning potental harm to a fish's well being, you bet we're gonna try to help remedy the situation. The links given above are extremely helpful & will get you started. If after reading thru those, you still have Qs, we'll be happy to answer them. What kind of puffer are youi interested in?
They can be rather agresive so maybe other GSP's but that means even a larger tank. I have heard of them being kept with Mono's, but then again, Monos get large and require alot of tank space also.
Get a 55 gallon and be happy with the 2. My LFS explains their size best as medium sized avocadoes when full grown. Same length and about the same shape.
Get a 55 gallon and be happy with the 2. My LFS explains their size best as medium sized avocadoes when full grown. Same length and about the same shape.
I havent read too much about puffers so far, but I think I am most interested in Spotted and Figure Eight puffers. I really think F8's look really nice, but I have never seen any in person. About a month ago I saw some really nice puffers at my LFS that were about 2.5 inches from beek to tail that were labled "Spotted Puffers." They looked remarkably similar to the first picture on your GSP link, so I would bet that they were actually green spotted puffers.Pufferpunk said:
From the little I have read and experienced with puffers, I like the fact that they are unique fish, and they seem to have more of a personality than your average tetra or danio. I would really like to own a puffer tank of some kind, but I am having trouble deciding exactly what sort to get, and what sort of an environment I should create for him/her. This seems like a great messageboard to start learning on, and your posts in particular are a wealth of knowledge on the topic.
As far as care goes, I am a responsible adult, and I spend a lot of time at home. I would really like an aquairium that is A hobby, and not just a piece of furniture that looks nice.
Edit: The fish I saw were definately GSPs, they were in brackish water.
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I have one young Green Spotted Puffer with a pair of Red Chromides and a Jade Goby. The female Chromide hangs around the Puffer all the time maybe she thinks he is cute, he seems to like having her around too. I keep them well feed and this seems to be working out good. There are not any nipped fins in my tank, matter of fact I threw in a feeder guppie into the tank about a month ago and he hasnt been eaten I think he has been in there so long they look at him as a resident now. also I bought 6 bumblebee gobies in the hopes if putting them in the tank and I spent about a month and a half bringing their salt levels up and I transferred over just one of them to see what Would happen and he got eaten overnight. I think bumble bee gobies would be safe with just a single puffer and alot of places to hide empty shells or small pottery, they do seem to be a pain to feed though. I think that Puffers have so much personality that they go their own way somtimes and no two are the same. Today i watched a 1 inch F8 dominating a 3 inch F8 so I guess its hard to tell. Also the green spotted puffer will need full Marine conditions so either chose tankmates that will also mature into those conditions or be ready to get another tank when the time comes. Good Luck