Puffers

[Juice]

Hey my lfs has these small 1 inch green puffers in a small 1 gal by itself, i am pretty sure it is freshwater.

Will the green puffer go good in a regular tank with other fish? Or does it actually puff up and like hurt the other fish near it. My cousin who is a beginner wants to get a green puffer and I am gona give him my old 5 gal, and I was thinking of getting a puffer myself but would they be good with other fish? (black fin shark and a scizzortail tetra those are the fish that are going in to my new tank after cycling, getting rid of the 2 tinfoils though)

 

[celaeno]

only puffers that belong in a tank that small is a dwarf puffer. green puffers grow too large for a 5g. also, most if not all puffers are nippers so their tankmates must be carefully selected.

 

[Scotty001]

Puffers are also not a fresh water species, as they get more mature they need to be introduced into brackish water, if not they will not survive long.

 

[connorsbala]

Puffers are also not a fresh water species, as they get more mature they need to be introduced into brackish water, if not they will not survive long.

not the case for all puffers...yes for Green Spotteds, Fig 8s, Ceylon etc but not for South American/Assels's, Mbu's etc...or even Dwarves

 

[iSnail]

Please have a read through the pinned topics in the Oddballs section Lots of information on various kinds of puffers.

 

[chicklette]

Dwarf puffers are freshwater and one would be fine in a 5 gallon but not a green spotted puffer. I have a green spotted puffer names Chubs. He has been with me for 5 years now and in full salt water.

Puffers are nippy little buggers and are aggressive. They should only be kept with other puffers.

For green spotted puffers you need salt and what you do is slowly add the salt and more and more each time you clean the tank until they are in full saltwater. You will also need a hydrometer to test the salinity of the water.

When it’s time to clean my puffers tank I mix the salt in a bucket with hot hot tap water and mix it really good. And I leave that over night. Then fill the tank back out with the salt water.

Puffers are true carnivores and they also need snails because they have teeth and they need this to wear them down.

I would not keep puffers with the other fish your brother wants. They cannot handle full saltwater. Plus the puffer is aggressive and will pick on and bite the tails to shreds. They have teeth. There best to be kept with their own species.