What size tank do YOU think an MBU should be in...

[iwantoneofthose]

*disclaimer: I am no mbu expert nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night*

when we bought our first mbu the lfs owner said eventually it'll grow out to be 30" and will need a 1000g tank. That was around 4 years ago, and while the first puffer didn't make it for very long after a trans pacific move, we've had others since then. Currently, the two we have now we've had for almost 3 years. First tank was a 80g, quickly upgraded to a 180g, and after another move (720 miles away) they are now in a 240g (8x2x2). It's been a year, and they've grown to be around 16" now. After observing them a lot I know that their next tank must be much, much wider. I didn't vote in the poll, cuz I don't really believe that the number of gallons is key. It's more in the footprint, and just by my non scientific observations I think that if they hit 2' long, I'd be happy with a tank 6' wide, and at least 6-8' long. Height I think 18" is good (I can barely reach bottom with a 2' tall tank), which makes it what, somewhere between 400-538 gallons. Granted, I'd like one much bigger (8' wide and 8' long?) but I haven't measured the house we are currently in the process of buying.

I'm sorry this probably isn't the answer you're looking for, but it's what I plan to build when we move in to our new house next month.

 

[PYRU]

I know this is super old but I thought I might be able to contribute. In didn't vote because it's the dims that matter.

1st I've kept numerous puffer over the yrs the biggest was a fahaka that I sold to accommodate my cichlid addiction at the time. My buddy wanted a fahaka but bought a mislabeled mbu by mistake. Luckily I had enough experience to realize it would need at least a 120. It looked so different but we couldn't figure out what it could be (old dial up days). Well we ran across a guy who had one and recommended a book. Then we realized we were in trouble. We had it in a 180 fore awhile, but that got cramped. Then he lucked out with restaurant in town that was selling their tanks so he bought a 370 for cheap. 96x30x30. He thought he was in the clear and was for yrs. Then the tail fin started to swipe the sides. We had to take out most of the decor for swimming room which resulted in weird behaviour. Looked for awhile and couldn't never find a bigger tank without custom building one. It did ok but omg the water changes were insane for him. Eventually a equip malfunction on vaca was the end. Final measurement 28" & change.

When I first started my job now I traveled a lot all over. As a fish guy I always checked out local shops & aquariums. I've ran across 3 mbu puffers in this time all within 27" to probably 34" tank measured. The final tanks they were in? The smallest was a 450 96x36x30 the biggest was a 120x48x36 roughly 900. How do I know? Because we measured and I wrote it down for a future mbu tank that hasn't manifested yet.

The 450 had a huge 28-30" puffer and a pretty good amount of decor no weird behavior. The 900 had a lot of decor & tank mates I can't remember with plenty of swimming room. All puffers over 5yrs old.

So what do I recommend from my experiences?

Bare min don't even think about it unless you get it = 96x36x30(450ish)

Step up nice middle ground tank = 120x48x30(740ish)

Tank I bought for one then life happened = 96x36x36 (roughly 540ish)

Drip system, auto top off, or some way of doing a big wc quick/frequent is a must imo.

Google: cenote tangyika; 300g mbu build
Great writeup & he used a 6´x3' 300g which looks good even with a 25" puffer. You make the judgement. Amount of food is another topic.

Pic of mbu 25" in 300 listed above