Quote:
Originally Posted by Flusher
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.
HTH
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My experience was with a reef tank, I think puffersare beautiful fish, though valentinis/saddles/mimics are the only ones i tried in a reef. I others in a FO tank but that was a few years ago, and not the type of tank i wanted. The little guys on the other hand, I kept hearing that people succesfully kept them in reef tanks. So after a little research I decided it was worth trying (most of what i read split down the middle as to wether or not they are reef safe) for instance liveaquaria (good place to check basics out if you do not wish to look up more detailed information) lists the valentini as not reef safe, I have had 3 valentinis, I have 1 now that is semi-ok (he kills little shrimp, and nips at things occasionally but I am waiting to decide on him) 2 that i tried were terror in the reef setting, my mimic saddle puffer and my saddle puffer were also horrible, all were returned after a few months to the LFS for a credit, considerably less credit then was used to purchase them i might add.
Here is the write up from liveaquaria.com (please note the information they provide is not always completely correct, but better safe than sorry)
A 30 gallon or larger, fish-only aquarium is suitable. It will fight with conspecifics such as the filefish, large finned fish, and other tobies. It may be aggressive at times, nipping the fins of tank mates, leaving a circular hole as its mark. It will also eat invertebrates found in a reef tank. Its teeth are actually a fused beak-like structure.