Puffer In A Community Tank?

[top_cat]

I'm setting up my first community tank, and I was wondering if any variety of Puffer would be OK in a freshwater tropical community tank? At the moment I have a guppy and two platies in a 2foot tank


My tank

 

[Bloo]

Puffer Central - answer to (almost!) all your questions

 

[top_cat]

Thanks for the quick reply.

After a quick scout over the the 'aggression rating' I guess the answer to my question is No they can't be kept in a community tank. Most of the freshwater ones listed seem to have moderate-to-high aggression ratings. The South American Puffer (Colomesus asellus) seems to have a good attitude but I don't really fancy being an dentist just yet.

Thanks for the help.

 

[flamingonhot]

I really don't suggest any puffer to be in a community, unless you hand pick every fish that you for sure know will go with it.

THere are a few freshwater puffers but the two types I kept were more aggressive then the brackish types (fw-red-eyed puffer and dwarf puffers).

 

[demonmagus]

none are suitable

 

[Dorkhedeos]

of course you can stick one in a community tank, but you shouldnt. although the puffer would be extremely happy, the other fish wont

 

[McMurray]

It i a good solution if you want to get rid of and snails

 

[demonmagus]

It i a good solution if you want to get rid of and snails

and all your fish...

 

[Opcn]

I'm going to disagree with the crowd and say SAP's are acceptable community fish, so long as they are not housed with corries, bettas gouramis, male guppies, or anything else with long flowing fins. Puffers hate corries, and generally love long fins for a snack, SAP's being the least tempted by them of all fw puffers.

Now some wil say "Most are fine but you get rouges who will be mean" But you get rouges with flying foxes and rtbs aswell and they are considered community fish.

 

[Flumpus]

I'll agree with Opcn. I know of a couple people who have successfully kept SAPs in a community tank just fine. Oh, and they're right to hate cories

 

[guppler]

I'll agree with Opcn. I know of a couple people who have successfully kept SAPs in a community tank just fine. Oh, and they're right to hate cories

My corries are mad at you. (and very cute)
but I might want to research those saps and consider getting 1 for snail control, if I can figure out where to put it.

 

[guppy_man]

i bought 3 dwarf puffers for my 20gal tank about 2 weeks ago, they are doing great, no aggression between the 3 puffers or towards other fish, i feed them with snails and daphnia, they are doing great.

The one thing i did do though is when i bought them i left the bag floating in the tank for over half an hour, adding tank water every 10 mins or so, all the fish were curious as to what they were, so i think the puffers got used to the fish coming up to them.

the other thing the puffers are good at cleaning up are CORY eggs, i already have over 20, 2 month old fry, and not ready to start raising any more at this time.

maybe i was just lucky that i picked out the right puffers, for my tank.
if they do start to get aggressive i will move them into a 10gal.

 

[Erised]

i bought 3 dwarf puffers for my 20gal tank about 2 weeks ago, they are doing great, no aggression between the 3 puffers or towards other fish, i feed them with snails and daphnia, they are doing great.
...
maybe i was just lucky that i picked out the right puffers, for my tank.
if they do start to get aggressive i will move them into a 10gal.

There ya go. You've only had them for 2 weeks. Seeing as you hardly *ever* find adult dwarfs in stores, yours will be young still. They are peaceful when young, with other fish as well as theirselfs. Once they fully mature, which you might not notice for another year or 2, maybe even 3. But by the time they do, your fish will be gone.

Puffers, any type of puffer, are species only fish. True some might do well in communities for a while, but being predatory fish chances are Very high that your fish will get eaten at some point.

 

[babybell911]

I have a dwarf puffer in my community tank he's quite good as long as he has something to hunt. he usually gets snails so is happy. He does fin nip occassioanlly but my fish learned pretty quickly to get out of his way. He does like to pick on my cory but its a big tank so they're all good. He's still a juvy though but we got another tank for him should the worse come. I say go for it just make sure you got a back up tank should it all go pear shaped

 

[nmonks]

I'm going to stick my neck out and disasgree here.

While puffers are often best in single species tanks, that isn't always the case. I've been keeping a South American puffer in a community tank for 12 months now, without any serious problems. Certain fish were nipped, platies and Corydoras for example, but they were removed. Fast-moving things like halfbeaks, tetras, and glassfish seem to be fine.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=143552
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=144843

It is also apparent to me that South Americans are much better kept in groups and not singly. Since getting two tankmates for my original specimen, they have proved to be much more outgoing and brave. In short, more fun.

Pufferfish are predators, but very few are piscivores. Most (almost all) feed primarily on shelled invertebrates; snails, shrimps, etc. The confusion comes from the way they feed. If you watch them in the wild, you will see that they swim up and down every object they encounter, studying it closely, and searching for their prey, which is usually well hidden. They want do the same thing in captivity. Puffers kept in empty tanks with just one bit of bogwood get bored. They need lots of objects to explore, whether plants, wood, or caves. Nibbling on a fish is to them the same thing as nibbling on a bit of rock, to see if it's really a bit of rock or actually an oyster or something. I don't actually believe they want to eat their unfortunate tankmate.

This approach has worked for me using both the South American and the red-tail, red-eye puffer, a pair of which I have living in a 10 gallon tank with some gobies and Danio choprae.

Cheers,

Neale

Puffers, any type of puffer, are species only fish. True some might do well in communities for a while, but being predatory fish chances are Very high that your fish will get eaten at some point.