Suitable For Sa Puffers?...

[bogwood]

Would the following tropical freshwater set up be suitable for South American Puffers? 84 Litre/18 UK gallon, dimensions: 60w x 35d x38h. Quite heavily 'live' planted top to bottom with bog wood and larger stones creating many hiding places. The substrate base layer is 1.5 inches of Laterite/4mm natural gravel mix - with another 1.5 inch layer of the gravel only over the top. How many SA Puffers could this tank comfortably hold allowing for future growth? What about the male to female ratio? I've heard its a bad idea to have other fish with Puffers but ideally I'd like a couple of bottom feeders to help with cleaning (or shrimp/snails but I've been told they'll get eaten!).

 

[Rocker]

That tank would be great for one SA puffer. Make sure it is well cycled and established.

 

[penguinpimp1990]

not sure about the puffers, but try some pygmy cories or some type of small loach for the bottom feeders

 

[Erised]

I agree that the tank would only be big enough for 1 SA puffer. And a clean up crew is simply out of the question. South Americans are quite easy going with other fish, but they seem to make special effort to go after bottom dwellers like corydoras (personal experience). If you feed in proper amounts though, you'll have no trouble keeping the bottom clean with a puffer in the tank. They will make sure all the food is eaten.

If you want more than 1 puffer you're probably better off going for the dwarf puffer. In your tank you should technically be able to keep 3 dwarf puffers. However, they often do not get along and you'll end up having only the dominant puffer left in your tank. It can however work out as well, and you could end up having 3 puffers that still get along well after years =)