Puffer for 20 gallon?

[andyjs]

I'm getting rid of my 150 and most of my fish, and I'd like to do a small specimen tank in a 20 I have laying around (24" 20, not 20L if it makes a difference). I'm considering a puffer, so I'd like a list of puffers that I could keep in it for like.

I would prefer that they are purely freshwater, and also as interactive as possible. I've seen some bigger puffers that really show recognition of their owner and I'd like the same out of the inhabitant of this tank as well.

 

[Spiritofthesoul]

Dwarf puffers

 

[Pufferpunk]

You can't fit any of the bigger puffers in a 20g. It would be nice for a single figure 8 though.

 

[MonsterMinis]

Modesta or Avacado puffer. I almost got one of these instead of my Fahaka and i'm still very tempted to pick it up. they are everybit as interactive as most SW puffers I've delt with and my fahaka. But in a pint-sized package.. they are silvery in coloration.. but what they lack in color they def make-up for w/ personality.

 

[Pufferpunk]

We have 3 of those at my LFS.

 

[andyjs]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. Since it will be a tank for a single fish, I want the scape itself to also be really interesting, so I'm trying my hand at a DIY background, so it will be a little while until the tank is set up and ready for a puffer, but I'll keep those suggestions in mind.

 

[jeyy88]

pea puffers! we have 3 and they are super cool, they are always out and watch you just as much as you watch them!

 

[Etan]

pea puffers! we have 3 and they are super cool, they are always out and watch you just as much as you watch them!

This is very true. Don't underestimate the dwarf puffer because of it's size. It has huge fish personality wrapped up into a pea with fins and gills.

I have two of them in a 10 and every morning I pass by they are waiting there for me. Every single time I walk up to the tank within a few seconds both of them are sitting there staring at me.

I was kind of turned off of them by their tiny size but I highly recommend them for someone who wants a small aquarium. Since they are so small and so curious aquascaping for them is a lot of fun.

 

[Pufferpunk]

Just be careful to sex them correctly.

 

[jeyy88]

wow i actually didn't know that, thanks pufferpunk, ours are juveniles right now so sexing is difficult but down the road we might have to trade to get the right ratio! I'll have to watch them as they mature and figure out the sex of each, I think we have 3 females but i could be mistaken.

all 3 are perfectly fine with each other right now, they actually school and swim together and are always together in a group but this may change later!