New to the forum

[J-Money]

Hi all, I got a 45g tank a week and a half ago. I let it run without fish for a couple of days, then went and bought 4 small tiger barbs and a small pleco to help with the cycling. After a few days went by I went and bought 4 more smallish Albino Tiger Barbs (bigger than the other small barbs I bought). Yesterday I went and bought a freshwater morray eel (probably 8" or so).
I want to get Puffers soon but don't quite know which kind I want. I've read that the Dwarf Puffers stay relatively small so I'm thinking they would work best if I want to have a couple of those in my tank. Which Puffers do you think would work best in this type of environment?
Also, should I wait longer to make sure the tank is fully cycled? (I haven't tested the water, or even bought the tools to do it yet )


I'm a newbie so be gentle TIA

 

[WheelmanCA19]

I think most people on here are going to say puffers should be kept in a species only(or at least puffer only) tank. I believe most Puffers are brackish and not freshwater so they won't do well in your tank anyway.

Dwarf puffers are freshwater and I currently have three dwarfs in my 20 gallon community but I also cannot recommend them for a community tank. Right now I'm in the process of setting up a tank just for the puffers.

 

[J-Money]

Thanks wheelman. I'm not too worried about the tigerbarbs. I got them mostly to help with the cycling. I'm hoping to keep the tank freshwater, but i've heard stories on different sites about the eel doing well in both freshwater and brackish water...So obviously i'm hoping he stays cool in the freshwater. Assuming the eel gets 20" or so, would the dwarf puffers be big enough that he wouldn't be able to eat them when they are curled up sleeping?
Also, the 3 you have in the 20g tank, are they adults? Or are you going to have to upgrade?

Edited to add i just read your sig line so that leads me back to the question of if they are going to be big enough not to be eaten?

 

[CFC]

The eel will need to be moved up to salt water at some point, they do well in fresh until they reach about 12" and then their appetite slows down indicating that they need to be moved to salt, i have a 24" Gymnothorax tile FW moray and a 14" Echidna rhodochilus white cheeked moray in a 80g brackish tank with a SG of 1.010 and both feed very well, the larger one will eat around 25 white bait or silver sides every two days!

Moray eels are not safe with anything, whatever you keep with them will be at risk of being eaten, our largest one recently filleted and ate one side off of a 4" shark cat which was unfortunate enough to get too close to the morays mouth. i would not recomend keeping them with puffers.

 

[GP]

Dwarf Puffers are best kept in a species only tank, or with ottos.

 

[J-Money]

i appreciate the replys. When I got home the eel wuz dead...as far as i know. His gills and mouth are done, but he seems to wrap his tail around my hand when i tried to take him out of the tank. i'm giving him the benefit of the doubt thougth... I think he's done. out of curiousity, how's the best way to keep 'em?

 

[WheelmanCA19]

I highly recommend you invest in a test kit to test your water parameters. At the very least take a sample of your water to your LFS and have them test it. Also, did you decholorinate your water?

My Dwarf puffers are about an inch long and I don't see them getting any bigger than that. So, if you have anything that eats other fish that is larger than the puffers, it will at least try and eat them.

 

[Puffer_freak]

Yep...and the puffers will try to eat them too!

Vicous - and they should be kept in a mainly species only tank.