Hi i have 3, 3 " figure 8 puffer a spoted puffer and a bumblebee puffer and i was wondering what i could put in there as a tank mate for them..I have a 75 gallon thats heavily planted and lots of hiding spots. There are currently about 12 surpea tetras with them and a few feeder guppies that i threw in at christmas for their present..Any help on ideal tank mates would be awsome thanks!
puffer tank mates
- Thread starter fatboy123
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I bought a puffer once because it was on sale for 2 bucks and it looke dso cute and fun and I can't even remember how many fish that puffer killed and/or just plain terrorized. They are cool, but only when you're looking at them.
Puffers whoop ass at ridding snails - yeah, they'll eat every snail and shrimp in sight so if you have an infestation of snails, that won't last long.
I would say the "perfect" tankmate for puffers are "food" or maybe just other puffers.
Serpaes will probably be fine for a while because they are so fast and the puffers will never catch them but I wouldn't call them a great match. Make sure your salinity is correct. "Freshwater" puffers which usually means brackish puffers are a pain in the ass... which also means I'll probably go out and buy some more real soon!
Puffers whoop ass at ridding snails - yeah, they'll eat every snail and shrimp in sight so if you have an infestation of snails, that won't last long.
I would say the "perfect" tankmate for puffers are "food" or maybe just other puffers.
Serpaes will probably be fine for a while because they are so fast and the puffers will never catch them but I wouldn't call them a great match. Make sure your salinity is correct. "Freshwater" puffers which usually means brackish puffers are a pain in the ass... which also means I'll probably go out and buy some more real soon!
You have 3 different species of puffers that have 3 totally different tank requirements. You will have to split them up.
1) Your "bumblebee" (South American puffer (C asellus) is a strictly FW fish. They also have severe dentistry problems & will need to have their teeth hand-trimmed by you every 4-6 months.
See: PUFFERFISH DENTISTRY
2) Your F8s (T biocellatus) are low-end BW fish & require a specific gravity of 1.005.
3) The GSP (T nigroviridis) is a high-end BW fish that will eventually outgrow the other 2 by 3x their mass & become much more aggressive, possible harassing & killing the other puffers. It will prefer marine conditions as an adult.
See: GSP
Please do research before combining fish you know little about. You have a lot of planning ahead...
1) Your "bumblebee" (South American puffer (C asellus) is a strictly FW fish. They also have severe dentistry problems & will need to have their teeth hand-trimmed by you every 4-6 months.
See: PUFFERFISH DENTISTRY
2) Your F8s (T biocellatus) are low-end BW fish & require a specific gravity of 1.005.
3) The GSP (T nigroviridis) is a high-end BW fish that will eventually outgrow the other 2 by 3x their mass & become much more aggressive, possible harassing & killing the other puffers. It will prefer marine conditions as an adult.
See: GSP
Please do research before combining fish you know little about. You have a lot of planning ahead...
hello all and thanks for the replys... I have the puffers already have had them for roughly 2 years and have never had a problem with any of them yet.. i was just kinna getting bored of seeing just them and thought that it would be neat if i could get a tank mate of some sort that could go with them..I didnt know about any of the brackish stuff as when i got them the guy at the fish store told me that they would all get along and they were freshwater.. They are currently about 2 1/2 " plus and the largest being about as big as an extra large chicken egg. Im going to read more into them now definatly and was now wondeirng if there are any good places to read about them?
go with a fast fish or one that stays out of the way but puffers may pick at all fish hard to say what would work but your GS and F8 puffers they need salt so you could try other brackish fish
I just linked you to the best info on the net, available to you. Your GSPs should be pracically adults by now, at 6". They are stunted, a result of keeping in FW.
