Porcupine Puffer Tankmates..?

[SatansLittleHelper]

hi there. Im in the process of cycling a 550lite (6ft x 2ft x 1.5ft) marine tank for a Porcupine Puffer. It has been set up professionally by an very experienced Aquarist. So any suggestions of what may make good tank mates for the Puffer..?? So far I have had suggested: Tangs, Rabbitfish, angels, Butterfly fish, Gobies, Blennies, Wrasse..but am unsure what to go for. the Gobies are a definate and a Regal Tang, I want big and colourful that can move quick. I have no coral...only over 100kgs of ocean rock. Thanks in advance for any input..!!!!

 

[BlackWidow]

hi there. Im in the process of cycling a 550lite (6ft x 2ft x 1.5ft) marine tank for a Porcupine Puffer. It has been set up professionally by an very experienced Aquarist. So any suggestions of what may make good tank mates for the Puffer..?? So far I have had suggested: Tangs, Rabbitfish, angels, Butterfly fish, Gobies, Blennies, Wrasse..but am unsure what to go for. the Gobies are a definate and a Regal Tang, I want big and colourful that can move quick. I have no coral...only over 100kgs of ocean rock. Thanks in advance for any input..!!!!

In the Wild Porcupine Puffers are a Shoaling Fish so you could have 2 or 3 Porcupine puffers in there! Also Dogface Puffers are very friendly and would go well with Porky puffers. Wrasses are good tankmates but very boring fish!
Another Good Fish to have in your tank is an eel there are so many types

I Have 2 Saltwater puffers in my tank, see pics below for ideas (the Grey Puffer is a Dogface Puffer):

 

[SatansLittleHelper]

The Grey Puffer you have there is a Stars and Stripes Puffer..???
Everything I have read on Porcupines says they are EXTREMELY aggresive with their own species and should never be kept together. God my head is spinning with all the info lol.

The dark coloured fish there is a Trigger fish..?? I have seen a few nice ones of those.

 

[BlackWidow]

The Grey Puffer you have there is a Stars and Stripes Puffer..???
Everything I have read on Porcupines says they are EXTREMELY aggresive with their own species and should never be kept together. God my head is spinning with all the info lol.

The dark coloured fish there is a Trigger fish..?? I have seen a few nice ones of those.

yes dark fish is a Niger Trigger and the grey one is an sns puffer

 

[SatansLittleHelper]

The Trigger is a beauty, does he get on fine with the Puffers..?? What size tank do you have..??

 

[seffieuk]

As you rightly said you can only keep one porky in your tank.

As you are not having any coral you could go for a trigger, they are lovely fish and great charactors and maybe one of the larger wrasses

Seffie x

 

[BlackWidow]

The Trigger is a beauty, does he get on fine with the Puffers..?? What size tank do you have..??

Niger trigger / Arabian Triggers are the least aggressive of all trigger fish, and go fine with Puffers. My Trigger gets on fine with my pufferfish, one thing you should always remember when getting a trigger or other puffer to go with your porky is that all fish must be of similar size. Because otherwise smaller fish will be picked / attacked. If you do go for a trigger remember never to get Clown / Picasso triggers there to aggressive and never have more than one trigger in a tank!

My tank is a Fluval Roma 240 L Tank, with 1 Ceylon Puffer, 1 SnS Puffer, 1 Niger Trigger, 1 Snowflake eel and a White Spotted Hermit Crab. Tank has been running since May 09.

 

[SatansLittleHelper]

Thanks for the replies...so Black Widow, your puffers are pretty small at the moment then..??
I have been talking to the fish guy today and he has decided that there should be a couple of large Clownfish, a Lionfish, a couple of large Tangs, some Gobies and Im going for a Porky puffer and a Stars n Stripes puffer as the tank will be upgraded eventually any how. And it holds 600 litres, oops

 

[BlackWidow]

Thanks for the replies...so Black Widow, your puffers are pretty small at the moment then..??
I have been talking to the fish guy today and he has decided that there should be a couple of large Clownfish, a Lionfish, a couple of large Tangs, some Gobies and Im going for a Porky puffer and a Stars n Stripes puffer as the tank will be upgraded eventually any how. And it holds 600 litres, oops

Do Not get a lionfish there not as hardy as you think and there Very Poisonous Spines on top of their body can very easily puncture the soft puffer body from which the poison injected could easily kill your puffer! also Gobies are not a good idea as im sure if im correct there quite small slimeline fish that puffers will make a meal out of !

My Stars n Stripes puffer is 6 inches long and my Ceylon Puffer / Trigger are about 4.5 inches long had them since may 09

 

[seffieuk]

I dont mean to be rude but does your lfs guy know what he is talking about

The porky needs to be the only puffer in the tank and is not imo a suitable tank mate for a volitans lionfish.

Seffie x

 

[SatansLittleHelper]

I dont mean to be rude but does your lfs guy know what he is talking about

The porky needs to be the only puffer in the tank and is not imo a suitable tank mate for a volitans lionfish.

Seffie x

Hi I know you are not being rude
The guy has been doing this for over 30 years...and also I have double checked with two other marine specialists who seem to think that it wont be a problem..??
Also I have read up on lots on the internet.
Can you please tell me why you think these combinations will not be suitable and I can raise some issues with the aquatics guy..??

 

[BlackWidow]

I dont mean to be rude but does your lfs guy know what he is talking about

The porky needs to be the only puffer in the tank and is not imo a suitable tank mate for a volitans lionfish.

Seffie x

I quite happily kept a Porky with my dogface for months before swapping him for a ceylon puffer.

And Lionfish are to Delicate too look after Puffers FTW

I dont mean to be rude but does your lfs guy know what he is talking about

The porky needs to be the only puffer in the tank and is not imo a suitable tank mate for a volitans lionfish.

Seffie x

Hi I know you are not being rude
The guy has been doing this for over 30 years...and also I have double checked with two other marine specialists who seem to think that it wont be a problem..??
Also I have read up on lots on the internet.
Can you please tell me why you think these combinations will not be suitable and I can raise some issues with the aquatics guy..??

Dont listen to seffie he dont know what hes talking about, I kept a Porky with my stars and stripes puffer for months, that combo is good to go mate

 

[seffieuk]

Dont listen to seffie he dont know what hes talking about, I kept a Porky with my stars and stripes puffer for months, that combo is good to go mate

Everyone is entittled to their opinion - imo Porkys are wonderful fish, however as all puffers they are dirty fish to keep and produce a lot of waste, so need a large tank without other fish who are also producing a lot of waste. They can also be very aggressive and hurt or eat most anything in the tank. Like a lot of fish they can have different temp. but most would agree that they should not be housed with anything that is aggressive or has flowing fins. The ideal would be to buy your porky and then wait and watch to see what sort of a fish he is, agressive or less aggressive and then buy fish to complement him. Although if he is one of the more aggressive porkys you may not be able to keep any other fish at all!

If you are lucky and he is less aggressive, think about buying fish that occupy the bottom half of the tank or indeed a trigger - triggers also have a great personally, the Niger would be perfect.

Remember a porky can live 15 years

And by the way Blackwidow HE is a SHE!

Seffie x

 

[SatansLittleHelper]

Seffie...I actually started out buying this tank simply for Puffers anyway so it will be no great worry if they wont get on with other fish. The aquatics guy said the same as you, start out with the puffers and go from there. I have been doing lots of reading and there are many people who keep Porc`s with other puffer species but as you said I guess it depends alot on the temperament of the individual puffers, but unless I try Im not going to know. I will be at home to keep a close eye on them in the initial stages to make sure there are no altercations between them. The guy has said that if there any issues then he will take the SnS puffer back for since its the Porc that I so desperately want more than anything A guy I spoke to at another Aquatics store actually personally keeps a Porc with a Dogface, which is supposed to be a good combination and could be a better way to go than the SnS..?? (His tank is actually smaller than mine..!! they are due to be upgraded apparently)

 

[seffieuk]

well sounds good that you are at home full time to keep an eye on them

Must admit i would love to keep a porky and considered it long and hard for a while when first thinking about my five footer. So am very jealous and hope it goes really well for you, you certainly seem to have done your homework

All the best

Seffie x