Lonely Puffer

[aeris]

I have a 4inch Puffer in my 30 gallon tank..... and he looks lonely. Can I add any other fish, I know Puffers can grow a lot and he may also eat other small fish... any suggestions?

 

[Alice]

Well.... to be honest, my first inclination is to tell you to either A) upgrade the tank to a larger one right away or B) return the puffer, maybe trade it for fish more suitable for a 30 gallon tank.

You already know that you need to do that, but the problem is, any other fish that are good tankmates for puffers are also going to get too large for a 30 gallon. One that might do would be a dwarf lionfish.

If you upgrade to a larger tank (75 and up) some wrasses and triggers also make good tankmates.

Alice

 

[bradreef]

What type of puffer. Dogface or sharpnose?

 

[Alice]

It's a porky, if I remember right.

 

[aeris]

yep......porcupine......
but he seems so small for the tank

 

[bradreef]

within a year your little puffer can grow to triple its size

 

[aeris]

thanx for your suggestions

 

[jase0723]

Hi,

The puffers are very friendly and intellegent creatures. The porcupine puffer I had for a year was able to recognize faces, and when a stranger looked into the tank it would run away and hide behind a rock.
I belive it is not in the best interest on these intellegent creatures to be confined to a small 30 gallon tanks.
I would prefer to see it adopted into a larger tank if possible, but for now enjoy these fun creatures.

 

[Ed Hahn]

They are cool looking. But beware of one thing. If you Porcupine puffer is threated or feels threated he expands. When a porcupine puffer expands they also put a toxin into the water. This toxin killed my tank full of fish. I lost a show size Grey angel, extra large niger trigger, etc.

I hope this helps
Ed

 

[aeris]

thanx for the info!
does he release the toxins everytime he puffs? he's done it only twice since I bought him...

 

[Montanarocknreefer]

The Valentini Puffer I had puffed up one time but no harm to fish but may have been pretty lucky.