I have saltwater and brackish and at some point in the spring or summer I plan on redoing one of my tanks or perhaps buying another tank to do a brackish puffer tank. I have a saltwater as well as a few freshwater and I really want some puffers so brackish sounds like a good route. I've found that theres freshwater puffers as well but have heard they're very delicate. I was wondering if anyone could give me some things to think about while I start to plan my puffer tank and do research. I want to stay with as small a tank as possible so what would you recomend?
Puffers (brackish noob)
- Thread starter Psittac
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Well, the smallest puffers are dwarf puffers, and they're freshwater. You can do some of them in a 10g tank.
I think the smallest brackish puffer needs about a 30g tank. I guess it all depends on what you call a small tank
While there are a lot of cool puffers, unfortunately, it's not always easy to find the ones you want locally. The most common ones I've seen have been green spotted puffers, figure eight puffers and dwarf puffers.
This site has a list of the most common puffers, along with tank size and salinity requirements: Welcome to the Puffer List I've found it to be pretty accurate, there's a lot of misinformation about various puffers out there.
I think the smallest brackish puffer needs about a 30g tank. I guess it all depends on what you call a small tank
While there are a lot of cool puffers, unfortunately, it's not always easy to find the ones you want locally. The most common ones I've seen have been green spotted puffers, figure eight puffers and dwarf puffers.
This site has a list of the most common puffers, along with tank size and salinity requirements: Welcome to the Puffer List I've found it to be pretty accurate, there's a lot of misinformation about various puffers out there.
All puffers are very delicate. They're a scaleless fish, so they're very sensitive to water conditions. No matter what you get, make sure your tank is cycled and has been running for at least 2-3weeks.
The smallest brackish puffer would be a Figure Eight puffer, one can live in a 15gallon tank.
Just make sure you're prepared for a puffer's very demanding (and expensive) diet of scallops, clams, crayfish, crabs, and tons of snails. You might want to set up your own snail breeding tank if you're looking into getting a puffer. They're a vital part of a puffer's diet, and necessary to wear down their constantly growing teeth.
If you're looking for a puffer to keep in a smaller tank, definately go with Dwarf Puffers, they're fresh water and can live in groups. (I actually picked up two of these guys yesterday, I was pretty excited about it, I also own a green spotted puffer.)
The smallest brackish puffer would be a Figure Eight puffer, one can live in a 15gallon tank.
Just make sure you're prepared for a puffer's very demanding (and expensive) diet of scallops, clams, crayfish, crabs, and tons of snails. You might want to set up your own snail breeding tank if you're looking into getting a puffer. They're a vital part of a puffer's diet, and necessary to wear down their constantly growing teeth.
If you're looking for a puffer to keep in a smaller tank, definately go with Dwarf Puffers, they're fresh water and can live in groups. (I actually picked up two of these guys yesterday, I was pretty excited about it, I also own a green spotted puffer.)
Thanks for the quick responses and the link, I'll take a look at it in a few here. What would suit a puffer better, a tall tank or a long tank? I work at a pet store and my manager has access to alot of different stock so I'll get an idea of what I want and see what he can actually get. By small I mean that I have a 10g sitting empty atm as well as a 20 long that I've got a young mated pair of angels who are unsuccesfully laying eggs in, though by the time I'm thinking of getting puffers they should be to big for the tank and they'll have a new home so that tank is the other possibility. A third option is to buy another tank but I just went through a down sizing phase for the winter and I'd really prefer to keep my tank count down.
When you say they're delicate fish I'm not exactly sure what that means so far as taking precautions to keep them alive. I do nothing but fishless cycling so they would be going into a tank fully cycled with it's bio load maxed out. Other then worrying about initial tank conditions, what else could I do to help them along? Perhaps weekly water changes as well as changing carbon frequently? I've heard that protien skimmers work on freshwater tanks but it's not overly effective, would this be at all usefull?
What would be good stocking levels? For a few of the smallest freshwater as well as a few brackish? I know you mentioned 30g for brackish, would that be for one or a few?
The feeding requirements doesn't bother me so much as I've really been wanting to get a wider variety for my saltwater tank so why not start now.
Thanks for the input, time to check out that link.
When you say they're delicate fish I'm not exactly sure what that means so far as taking precautions to keep them alive. I do nothing but fishless cycling so they would be going into a tank fully cycled with it's bio load maxed out. Other then worrying about initial tank conditions, what else could I do to help them along? Perhaps weekly water changes as well as changing carbon frequently? I've heard that protien skimmers work on freshwater tanks but it's not overly effective, would this be at all usefull?
What would be good stocking levels? For a few of the smallest freshwater as well as a few brackish? I know you mentioned 30g for brackish, would that be for one or a few?
The feeding requirements doesn't bother me so much as I've really been wanting to get a wider variety for my saltwater tank so why not start now.
Thanks for the input, time to check out that link.
You'll have to do 50% weekly water changes to keep up with the bioload these guys produce, I know if seems like a lot, but they definately need it. For filtration, I'd highly recommend an AquaClear filter at least 2x your tank size (for a 30gallon tank use the AquaClear 70 filter) And don't use carbon, it isn't very good for puffers. Instead what I go with is a layer of sponge, a layer of whatever those white rocks that come with the filter are (I can't remember what they're called at the moment) and then another layer of sponge. I've never heard of using a skimmer on a freshwater tank, and I don't think it'd do much.
With tank size, long would be better than tall, but you could really go either way.
Stocking:
You definately don't want to over stock a puffer tank, I guarantee you it'll end in disaster with either your fish killing each other or the ammonia getting too high.
10gallon: 1male dwarf puffer and 3females
15gallon: 1male dwarf puffer and 4-5females OR 1Figure Eight Puffer
20gallon: about 7 dwarf puffers OR 1 Common Puffer OR 1 Red Tailed Redeye Puffer OR 1 Bronze Puffer OR 1Figure Eight
30gallon: about 10 Dwarf puffers OR 1 Common Puffer OR 1 Abei Puffer OR 1Red Tailed Redeye Puffer OR 1 Bronze puffer OR 2 Figure Eight Puffers, OR 1 Green Spotted Puffer OR 1 Ceylon Puffer
55-60gallon: 4 Figure Eight Puffers OR 2 Common Puffers OR 2 Abei Puffers OR 2 Red Tailed Redeye Puffer OR 2 Bronze Puffers OR 2 Green Spotted Puffers OR 2 Ceylon Puffers
Remember though that puffer species cannot be mixed together in a tank, Green Spotted Puffers grow much larger than F8's and will eventually need a very high-end brackish tank, or a full marine tank, while F8's do best at a low-end brackish s.g. And a Ceylon Puffer will outgrow a Green Spotted Puffer.
Both Ceylon Puffers and Green Spotted Puffers do best in full marine conditions when full grown, if you're looking for something that'll stay in Brackish water, I'd go with the F8 puffer.
Most of the puffers I named off are Freshwater, there are very few common Brackish puffers.
The PufferPedia is a good resource when looking for puffers
http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/ug.php/v/PufferPedia/
If you want to add multiples of puffers to a tank you need to double the tank size. So a puffer that needs 30gallons would need 60 when a second puffer is added and 90 when a third is added.
With tank size, long would be better than tall, but you could really go either way.
Stocking:
You definately don't want to over stock a puffer tank, I guarantee you it'll end in disaster with either your fish killing each other or the ammonia getting too high.
10gallon: 1male dwarf puffer and 3females
15gallon: 1male dwarf puffer and 4-5females OR 1Figure Eight Puffer
20gallon: about 7 dwarf puffers OR 1 Common Puffer OR 1 Red Tailed Redeye Puffer OR 1 Bronze Puffer OR 1Figure Eight
30gallon: about 10 Dwarf puffers OR 1 Common Puffer OR 1 Abei Puffer OR 1Red Tailed Redeye Puffer OR 1 Bronze puffer OR 2 Figure Eight Puffers, OR 1 Green Spotted Puffer OR 1 Ceylon Puffer
55-60gallon: 4 Figure Eight Puffers OR 2 Common Puffers OR 2 Abei Puffers OR 2 Red Tailed Redeye Puffer OR 2 Bronze Puffers OR 2 Green Spotted Puffers OR 2 Ceylon Puffers
Remember though that puffer species cannot be mixed together in a tank, Green Spotted Puffers grow much larger than F8's and will eventually need a very high-end brackish tank, or a full marine tank, while F8's do best at a low-end brackish s.g. And a Ceylon Puffer will outgrow a Green Spotted Puffer.
Both Ceylon Puffers and Green Spotted Puffers do best in full marine conditions when full grown, if you're looking for something that'll stay in Brackish water, I'd go with the F8 puffer.
Most of the puffers I named off are Freshwater, there are very few common Brackish puffers.
The PufferPedia is a good resource when looking for puffers
http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/ug.php/v/PufferPedia/
If you want to add multiples of puffers to a tank you need to double the tank size. So a puffer that needs 30gallons would need 60 when a second puffer is added and 90 when a third is added.
Protein skimmers work so well in saltwater because the salt increases the surface tension of the water, and protein skimmers rely on surface tension to pull waste out of your water. With high levels of dissolved solids in your water, you could achieve similar results in freshwater...but to work well you'd need a very high, constant volume of waste - you usually see them used in fish farms, places where you operate constantly with high organic loads. It's probably not going to be helpful in a home aquarium, especially since you don't want your water getting that nasty in the first place!