Puffer sugestions

[PappaLove]

Ok what would be an ideal set up? I have a 4 foot by 18 by 15 tank. And i do love the look of some of the puffers. What would be an ideal set up? I have read the pinned topics above but they didnt really answer my questions?

Ideally id like a few smaller puffers and 1 larger one (charachter fish type idea)

Anys sugestions on a setup would be great. the reason why I ask is that my decision making ability is terrible when it comes to fish. And id like to be able to plan this tank properly.

What do u think ?

 

[FrankSlapperinni]

Thats 55 gallons correct?
you can't realy get away with a big puffer with a bunch of small puffers. puffers are so agressive that the larger will most likely eat the smaller ones. also, don't plan on putting any other fish in the tank (except maybe a bristle nose). unless you want a solidatry puffer, I would recomend a fairly large group of dwarf (indian) puffers (about 15) and maybe a few South american puffers.
or if you wanted a species tank, you could get a tank of figure 8's.
sorry, I don't know too much about puffers, pufferpack could give you more options when she reads this.

 

[BlueDSM]

Its true, a bigger puffer will most likely eat smaller puffers of a different species.

Im assuming you want brackish water? well, the common ones are figure 8 puffers, or green spoted puffers. Both these guys seem to do OK with bumble bee gobies from what Ive read, if you want more info, this is a good site;

http/badmanstropicalfish.com/brackish/brackish.html

You can also look here if you want a veiw of various FW and BW puffs;


http/www.pufferfish.co.uk/aquaria/specie...types/index.htm

in a 55 gallon, there may be a FW puffer that you could get and keep with larger fish, but it seems like most of the bigger puffers are usually terrors...Mind you, my GSP is a coward, and hes scared if my bumble bee gobies

 

[Lithril]

I've got a 3' tanks with 4 South American (Colomesus Asellus), 4 Otoinclus and 2 Bristlenose and it works a treat, I know pufferpack has tried keeping Dwarfs with his SAs with success but when I tried it the dwarfs didn't last the day. Would definately advise keeping to one species of puffer with maybe bristlenose, bumblebee gobies or ottos depending on whether you go for BW or FW.

 

[Pufferpack]

As mentioned, the larger puffers don't usually mix well unless you have a huge tank. In a 55 long you could have a nice large community of small FW puffers, say about 15 Dwarfs and 6-8 South Americans. The South American puffers (Colomesus asellus) grow to around 3 - 4 inches and are a colorful active puffer that woud do well IMO as a "centerpiece". Just remember that no matter what type of puffers you choose there is the potential for disaster and you should be prepared to seperate them on short notice. I have had 8 Dwarfs and 3 S/A's mixed in a 35 gal tank for about a year now with no problems, but I still can't consider this mix a success yet as they can live upwards of 15 years there is still a lot of time for a war to break out.