Just to be absolutely clear, all my input should be taken with the understanding that the puffer isn't going to have any roommates. Puffers eat mollusks, crustaceans, and snails. Their beak was designed for that. They are also territorial and aggressive, and don't tolerate other fish, often not even their own kind.
Mr. Scratch, was your experience keeping puffers in a reef tank or in a community setting? If so, yeah, I understand more where you're coming from.
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Originally Posted by marcingo
So when you said this you were refering to FW puffers? I was under the impression you were refering to the valentini puffer- saltwater. What would you consider a good sized tank for a full grown valentini?
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The basic rules apply for FW and SW puffers. Puffers need lots of water volume because they're messy and not horribly tolerant of poor water conditions. They also need a tank big enough not to stunt their growth.
A 6" puffer needs at least 30 gallons, hands down. A 4" puffer is quite a bit smaller than a 6" puffer (in the same way that a 1" overflow can handle way more flow than a 3/4" pipe). You could put a couple 3"-4" F8 puffers in a 20 gallon tank, but one 6" GSP would be cramped.
The dimensions of the tank are also an issue. A 20 gallon long is better than a 20 gallon tall. There's more surface space and more swimming room.
So, I figure your 20 long would be about as good as a 30 gallon with more standard dimensions. The Valentini's only grow about 4". I think this is a safely do-able fish-to-tank combination, provided you keep tabs on the water quality and keep up on the maintenance to make sure it's good to go.
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Has anyone ever heard of a puffer being raised to leave corals alone?
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I think mainly it's the clean-up crew they go after, although they do nip corals, probably out of curiosity. I knew another guy who had a Valentini in a reef tank without issue. My understanding is that this is an exception to the norm. Puffers, IMO, should be kept in species-only tanks, and often as singletons. They're worth the extra space.
HTH
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