Puffer Species

[Pufferpack]

Here is a partial listing of FW & BW puffers that may be available in an lfs near you

SCIENTIFIC NAMES..............................COMMON NAME

Fresh Water Puffers

Auriglobus modestus..........................Golden Puffer

Auriglobus nefastus............................Greenbottle Puffer

Carinotetraodon travancorius............................Dwarf Puffer

Colomesus asellus................................South American Puffer

Tetraodon cutcutia.................................Common Puffer

Tetraodon duboisi..................................Stanley pool Puffer

Tetraodon leiurus...................................Target Puffer

Tetraodon lineatus..................................Fahaka Puffer

Tetraodon lorteti.....................................Red-eye Puffer

Tetraodon mbu.......................................Giant Puffer

Tetraodon miurus....................................Congo Puffer

Tetraodon palembangensis.......................Humpbacked Puffer

Tetraodon shoutedeni..............................Spotted Congo Puffer

Xenopterus naritus...................................Bronze Puffer

Brackish Water

Chelonodon patoca..................................Milk Spotted Puffer

Colomesus psittacus................................Banded Puffer

Takifugu ocellatus....................................Fugu Puffer

Tetraodon biocellatus...............................Figure 8 Puffer

Tetraodon erythrotaenia...........................Red-Lined Puffer

Tetraodon fluviatilis..................................Ceylon Puffer

Tetraodon nigroviridis..............................Green Spotted Puffer

 

[Lithril]

Which puffer do you recommend for a fresh water tank? The lfs has colossiums, dwarfs and figure of eights (won't be these as they're brackish). If need be I don't mind ordering off of somewhere like Trimar.

Just added the sand into the tank now, waiting on the new filter but will be using seeded filter media so shouldn't take long to get the tank cycling. Gotta get plants and snails after that. Was suggested trumpet snails as they burrow and help keep the sand clean, also will hopefully get some ottos to put in.

Any ideas or info would be much appreciated as I've only ever kept either general community fish or years ago tiger oscars.

 

[Redoscar12]

Hi I am new to this board and know a lot about tropical fish and cichlids. I have 1 puffer I bought and is in a 3 gallon tank. Its a dwarf puffer. I have 2 questions

1. Should I ad a catfish to clean up the food he doesn't eat

2. Am I giving him enough room or do I need a bigger tank.

I love my puffer and have a great number of tanks(Not puffers) but this is my first

 

[Pufferpack]

Hi Lithril

I guess it would depend on what size tank and whether you want to try other tankmates. Dwarf puffers will work well in smaller tanks but C. asellus are more mild tempered and will usually tolerate a wider variety of tankmates (with minimal fin niping). I presently keep 8 Dwarfs and 3 C. Asellus in a 35 gal tank with 5 Ottos, 3 female swordtails and 8 guppies (I left the swords and guppies there after they cycled the tank) The swords and guppies get nipped occasionally but seem to have learned when to get out of the puffers way when they are feeling nippy.
The Dwarfs are definately the more aggressive of the two and have taken the occasional run at my C. asellus, but for the most part they get along well. The only drawback I have found with the asellus is the growth rate of their teeth. Unless fed a constant diet of "crunchy" foods like snails, mollusks, prawns etc. they will require a tooth trim every now and again (maybe every 6 or 8 months)
Be careful when using the Trumpet snails, although excellent for keeping the sand sifted their shells are prety hard and Dwarfs have been known to chip a tooth trying to get at the snail inside.
When aquascaping the tank be sure to set up breakers for the puffers, plants or decorations to break up their line of sight, this will help cut down on the aggression levels and give the less dominant puffers an easier chance to flee, and provide lots of spots for them to hide/sleep.

Hi Redoscar12

Welcome to the wonderfully addictive world of puffer keeping

For a 3 gal tank about the only catfish you could add would be Otocinclus, but as luck would have it they make great tankmates for Dwarf puffers and do a good job of bottom cleaning.
One Dwarf in a 3 gal tank should be fine, you could add probably 3 Ottos (that would be about the max for your tank to handle) but you will need to keep a close eye on the water's parameters (ammonia/nitrates/nitrites) as puffers are very sensative and don't handle poor quality water very well. Being that it is a small tank there is a chance of the water going bad a lot quicker than in a larger tank.
If you could replace it with even a 10 gal tank it would probably be advisable, if not just keep a close eye on it and maybe change out a cup or two of water a day to help out.

 

[Pufferpack]

edit: giltch

 

[Lithril]

I'm not too worried about other tank mates although I definately want some bottom feeders to try and keep the tank clean, may get a few ottos and a couple of apple snails (hoping that they're big enough not to get munched upon). Tanks is 3'x1'x1', already set up 2 caves, hoping to build another couple and then get some bog wood with java fern and moss. Then heavily plant the rest of the tank.

The main reason I want puffers is for the character, fell in love with them when I saw them the other day in the lfs, very alert and looked great, so I don't know if this helps with choosing the type???

Gotta ask how the hell do you trim a puffers beak???

How many puffers do you reckon I can fit in this tank without there being all out war???

Cheers for the help pufferpack, you're not going anywhere too far in the next couple of weeks are you, will probably be asking lots

 

[Pufferpack]

3 x 1 x 1 would be about 30 gal? You could get a pack of 10 or 12 in there with lots of room for each to claim territory. Or you could try the mix and match like I did with 10 Dwarfs and 3 or 4 C. asellus. I like the mix because they have very different behaviors (the asellus are much busier most times) but are bout little sweethearts

Gotta ask how the hell do you trim a puffers beak???

...with lots of anxiety on the puffer keepers part, I have to trim all 3 of me C. asellus this week and will try to make up a little photo diary to post. Here is a link to the whole proceedure as done by an experienced puffer keeper Trimming Puffers Teeth

Feel free to ask away, I love talking about puffers

 

[Lithril]

That many I thought they were too terratorial to have more than a few in a tank??? Gotta build quite a few more 'lil hidey holes for them then

Do puffers mind bright light?? I've got a habit of going slightly overkill on things like this, just bought a 100w heater for my 10gal tank and a 300w heater for the 30 gal So might be worth knowing about this before I go and buy the lighting for the tank... wouldn't want to have to buy them all sunglasses and suntan lotion B) 8)

hmmmm, just read article on trimming beaks, sounds easy enough but like you say nerve wracking as hell.

 

[Pufferpack]

They can be very territorial, but they don't need a big territory. One of my females staked out a corner behind a plant and will defend it against anyone who tries to go behind the plant, they can swim in front or beside it with no trouble, but as soon as they turn to move behind the plant she goes after them.
My little guys don't seem bothered by bright light, but if you want to give them some varried light intensities try setting up a slate shelf about 5 inches off the bottom of the tank where they can go to sulk in the shade (yes mine have been known to sulk when I did something they took offence to). You will find that the Dwarfs will set their own sleep schedule, regardless of when you shut out the light. Mine go to sleep at about 10:00 pm nightly, they just disappear, If you look close enough you can see them in the bushes sleeping (so pale that I thought they had died the first time I saw this), or just laying in the sand not moving. The lights used to come on at 10:00 am and the last dwarf would stumble out of the bushes, now the lights come on at 11:00 am and everyone is out and about.

 

[FrankSlapperinni]

Are there any types of fresh water puffers that would be aggresive enough to be kept with any african cichlids?

 

[ginamoore]

my puffer(saltwater) is the sweetest thing in the world. i had always heard about there beak but never realy knew what it looked like untill last night when my tang made him mad and i sware he rolled back his lips and showed his beak i was shocked . it was the weardist thing i have ever seen. it looked like a birds beak only white.

 

[Lithril]

Just wondering whether ancistrus would go in the same tank as puffers or whether they are too small??? Will probably just stick to otos and maybe some big apple snails as the clean up crew.

 

[Pufferpack]

Are there any types of fresh water puffers that would be aggresive enough to be kept with any african cichlids?

...depends on whether you like your cichlids or not . Sorry, you may have trouble no matter what puffer you try, depending on whether the cichlids learn to leave the puffer alone, for smaller africans like Kribs or shell dwellers you could get Colomesus asellus they would make a nice combo and are relatively peaceful (for puffers). For any of the more rambunctious cichlids you could try Tetraodon leiurus - Target Puffers (6 inch max), Tetraodon lorteti - Red-eye Puffers (4 1/2 inch). If you have a 90 gal or larger tank you could attempt Tetraodon lineatus - Fahaka Puffers, they are more than aggressive enough to rock with the bigger South American cichlids, but have a tendency to decimate the tank when you're not looking (or when you are looking, they don't care )
As with any attempts to mix puffers with other species, it is best if you have a backup plan in case the fish need to be relocated in a hurry.

Just wondering whether ancistrus would go in the same tank as puffers or whether they are too small

The smaller species of ancistrus would likely make excellent tankmates for Dwarfs and would be helpfull cleaning up after the messy puffers.

tang made him mad and i sware he rolled back his lips and showed his beak i was shocked . it was the weardist thing i have ever seen. it looked like a birds beak only white

I'll bet the Tang was shocked to see the puffer bare his teeth in warning rather than a beak it is actually 4 bony plates (2 top/2 bottom) that form one of natures most efficient crushing mechinisms...perfect to snap through all those annoying shells around their snack foods

 

[FrankSlapperinni]

I saw this puffer called the South American Puffer and I though it was a beutiful fish and the discription said it was peaceful. since my 75 gallon Cichlid tank might be to much for them, I was wondering if one or two could be kept in a 10 gallon aquarium.

 

[Pufferpack]

Sorry about that Frank, I forgot to put the common name of C. asellus in that last post....they are the South American puffers. They will get up to about 3 inches in length and are probably the most peaceful of all the puffers. You could keep one in a 10 gal nicely (maybe with a couple of little shell dwellers), or a pair in a 20 gal with Kribs or shellies....The centre pic in my signature is one of my S/A's out hunting Guppy fry
A 10 gal tank would also make a nice home for 3 or 4 Dwarf Puffers and a pack of 3 or 4 Ottos