HI im new and ive got a Q

[fishyman]

Hi all

This is my first post. I have a 48x18x 18 (inches tank) and i am thinking about turning it into a Puffer species or atleast having a puffer in there. Can i have a species tank. All i am keeping in there are 1 ancistrus and a tiger pleco which are already in. What Puffers can i keep. How many. What plants or decorations can i put in thert

So if i was looking at a species tank could i mix species of puffer or just stick for example to Dwarf Puffers? if so how many ?

Would my tiger pleco and ancistrus which i would like to move accorss be ok in the tank and maybee brackish(still unsure on that one)


Cheers in advance for your help guys and girls

Im in the UK by the way

 

[Thomas A. Anderson]

As far as I am aware most puffers prefer brackish water conditions although freshwater species do exist.

Some kinds grow to be quite large, and most if not all can be aggressive.

If you PM a member called Pufferpack he is the expert on puffers.

 

[Pufferpack]

Hi fishyman...Welcome to the forum. I'm always happy to talk about puffers, I think they are the most personable little fish I've ever seen.
For a tank of that size (about 45 imp. gals) you could set up a beautiful species tank. If you want to go with FW there are many different types avaible in the hobby now. The most popular right now seems to be the Dwarfs, I have a 6 pack of the little guys that are great, but I've come to find out that that are one of the more aggressive "Small" puffers within their own species, but if raised from young with other puffers they should be ok (individual personalities aside ), you may be able to mix Dwarfs, South American, Red-Eyes,Spotted Congo, or even Avacado puffers. Or if you want a single species you could try a Fahaka ...the most popular description of this is "a fish on crack" ...and they would soon out grow a 45 gal

If you wanted to try a BW tank there are quite a few species of puffers available there as well, although the Figure 8's and Green spotted seem to be the most popular now and mix well

Try Pufferfish.co.uk for some good puffer info

 

[wetwetwet]

I do like puffers but don't think they'd go down well in my community tank

Just one more thing fishyman - your tiger and ancistrus wont tollerate any salt, so you'll have to move them if you're going to go brackish or stick to one of the freshwater varieties

 

[fishyman]

Cheer guys. So if i was looking at dwarf puffers how many should i put in my tank?

 

[Jamnog]

i was told by puffer pack up there that i would be able to get allot of dwarf puffers in a 48"12"15" tank so i expect you could get a few more than me.

 

[fishyman]

Excellent. Ive decided thats what im definately going to do when ive done some more research. How manys a lot though??

 

[Jamnog]

well probably more than ten but i think it might be best if you pm puffer pack that guy likes puffers more than i like beer. i will have a look for a post he did that was immence this has to be one of the biggest posts i have ever seen i think puffer wrote a book about puffers so this is where you should look if you are thinking of getting some

 

[Pufferpack]

i think puffer wrote a book about puffers

Well I read alot about them....but ya I like to ramble on about my little sweeties

Hi fishyman...If you are going with all Dwarf Puffers you could probably have upwards of 15-20 Dwarfs in there comfortably. I find the males are the more territorial and if you try to limit yourself to a ratio of 1 male for every 4 females having 20 in there should work well. With the Dwarfs it is not so much a question of load on the filtration as it is more of a territory issue. You could also look at Peacock gudgeons and Otocinclus as possible tankmates for the dwarfs

 

[impur]

fahaka or redeye puffers are very kewl. Fahaka get very big and you can have only one though. Will eat any fish you put in there.

 

[Pufferpack]

I would love to get a Fahaka, there is actually one at the llfs here in town, but unfortunately until I can find room for a 55 gal corner bowfront I just don't have room to keep him. I have talked to some folks thay have their Fahaka in with other fish and things have been fine for a couple of years now, but most of the time adding a Fahaka to a community tank is like signing your fishes death warrent (not to mention most of your decorations and plants )

 

[impur]

a fahaka in a 55 gal corner would be sweet. Thats something i've wanted to do for awhile, a puffer species tank like a hex or corner. Just think it would be a kewl thing to look at. I imagine if you grew the fahaka from a juvi with other fish it would be fine with them as an adult. I have found this to be true with a lot of aggressive fish.

 

[Pufferpack]

If I had the room I would get an MBU ...I read one post about a fish store that sold an MBU that got returned when he grew too big, so they set him up in a 500 gal tank and put a couple of arm chairs in front of the tank and called it the MBU channel.

 

[Jamnog]

it might be the wrong place to ask but would i be able to have a pair of puffers in my new "big but not that big" tank thats in my sig. its about 50 gal prolly not too worried about the size you see i dont think it would be posible with cichlids in there. the irridescants would have to be somewhere else by the time i got them. do they mix with cichlids you mention they like to hitch a ride on other fishes fins but they dont try this unless the other fish like to swim fast...they dont seem very compatible. perhaps im answering my own questions here but i think they would be a spiecies tank type of thing... do you know of anyone keeping cichlids and puffers in the same tank? i dont think i should try somehow.

 

[LesGerber]

Well lets see for oh around 24 hours now we have had 2 puffers in with 6 g. bahia red cichlids and 6 tiger barbs and all is well! The bahias aren't real sure what to think about them and go up like a dog sniffing them! Just make sure you have a more docile species of cichlid, I wouldn't recommend say.......convicts, or oscars.

Les