Colomesus cannibal

[Rory the cat]

Well Puff has eaten my Harlequin. I have now moved all the other tank mates to my 20 gal tank, leaving Puff in the 16 gal alone. I set the 20 gal up for this purpose, but had hoped to hold off the move for another week.

As he has proven himself to be rather vicious (has tried to eat the jumbo neons and Serpae and taken several bites out of the Scissortail) is there anything I can keep safely in the 16gal with him - or is he going to be happy on his own?

 

[CFC]

Im afraid that in just 16g of water it is very likely that the puffer is the only fish you will be able to keep. You could try adding some banjo catfish as it is unlikely that the puffer would notice them but i must warn you theyre not the most interesting fish in the world

 

[Rory the cat]

Would another Colomesus be advisable - if I increase the number of caves & broken sight lines in the tank? Or are they likely just to fight to the death.

From what I have heard these Puffs are supposed to be quite friendly chaps, but this one is a bit of a nightmare. I love him to bits but he is a tad naughty.

 

[CFC]

Im afriad you have been slightly misslead, SA puffers are a more mildly tempered puffer than most but they are still very aggressive and terrible fin nippers. They can be combined with other semi aggressive fish in large aquaria but in just 16g they are better kept alone.

 

[Pufferpack]

I'm afraid CFC is right, while known as a friendly puffer, they are still puffers. The 3 I have are all different personalities. Bubba is adventurous and friendly, Bumblebee is timid, and Hunter is as his name suggests....a hunter. No baby guppies survive for long once he catches sight of them. He doesn't seem to bother any of the Dwarves or the adult guppies, but fry are fair game.
If you want to get tankmates for your puffer your best bet is to go with a bigger tank and get fish that will be bigger than the puffer. He may still nip a bit to start, but should settle in Ok.

 

[Rory the cat]

Thanks for all the advice guys - I really do appreciate it.

I think I will leave Puff where he is for now on his own. He seems quite happy exploring the tank and 16gal gives him plenty of growing room as well. I'm going to think up some interesting landscaping for him, to stop him getting bored, although at the moment he is quite content shredding the plants.

He is a very curious and confident fellow. I've moved his tank to sit by one of our sofas, so when I watch TV he comes and buzzes about next to me trying to grab my attention. He'll follow my hand if I move it around. When I put my hand in for water changes etc he quite happilyswims straight up. At first I got nipped, but now he swims around my fingers and rubs himself up to my palm.

I think maybe he just wants lots of attention and doesn't like to share his limelight with anyone. I don't know, but he is certainly a real character all of his own!