South American Puffer; Conflicting Reports

[sjcneedshelp123]

Hi all,
I've just rescaped my 120 litre tank, it has bogwood and is fairly well planted.
I was quite interested in getting some south American puffers so i did the necessary research on here;

I thought that i could have about 2 in there with a few other types - no long flowing fins and no other territorial fish.

However - when i went to my LFS, they said i could have around 4 or 5 in there (with no other fish) but if i wanted to have 2/3 i should go no smaller than platy size for the other fish. I know 5 SAPs is excessive, so;

how many would be appropriate if i didnt have any other fish in there?
are other smaller fish going to be ok with them?

thanks, SJC

 

[nmonks]

You could certainly squeeze two or three specimens in there, but they wouldn't be terribly happy. They need swimming room, so take out a tape measure and see how long your tank is. If it's less than a metre, SAPs probably aren't the best bet for this tank, and you'd be better off with perhaps a group of Carinotetraodon irrubesco, or even a territorial puffer such as Tetraodon cochinchinensis.

Mixing other fish with SAPs does rather depend on everyone being able to keep out of everyone else's way, and that means space. I mix all kinds of stuff with my SAPs and Carinotetraodon irrubesco puffers in a 180-litre system; at the moment that includes things like Ameca splendens and cherry-fin loaches. But there are lots of rocks, bogwood roots, and floating plants around, as well as very strong water movement (8 times the volume of the tank in turnover per hour). Wedging SAPs into more crowded tanks with less space and fewer hiding places wouldn't be my idea of a good plan.

Cheers, Neale

 

[sjcneedshelp123]

Hi Neale,
The tank is 80cm long x 35cm wide x 45cm high - however there is a lot of swimming room - the plants are really only 'hugging' the edges, would it be impossible to have even the one SA puffer? I'd be happy to have it as a species only tank if needs must.

I'll have a look into those other species, however unlike the SAP I've never seen them in my LFS or elsewhere.

Thanks for your help,
Sam.

 

[nmonks]

The tank is 80cm long x 35cm wide x 45cm high - however there is a lot of swimming room

Don't you believe it! Seriously, SAPs are frenetic swimmers that make danios look lazy! They constantly pace up and down the front of small aquaria, and really need masses of space and super-strong water turnover. Anything less than a metre isn't really fair, and they're not happy kept singly. I have mine in a Rio 180, and they honestly look like they'd use up twice that space, given the chance.

So while you could certainly put two or three specimens in this tank, I suspect you'll find their constant pacing a bit off-putting after a while. Since they grow slowly, you could get some small specimens and see how you go; if you like them, upgrade the tank in due course.

Cheers, Neale

 

[sjcneedshelp123]

Ok great, thanks for the advice!

Sam