Advice on puffer setup please.

[Darsh]

Hi,
Im looking to set up a puffer tank and need some advice on compatibility.
First of all the fish im looking at are porcupines, green spotted puffers, blue spot puffers and spiny boxfishes.
I know some of these like to be alone and some can live together so any advice is welcome.

My tank is a 285L/75Gallon 48 long.
I have two external filters, an Eheim 2217 (1000lph) and an AquaOne 1050 (1250lph) I also have a V2 400 protein skimmer.
I'll be getting some live rock too but not much, maybe 10kg.

For extra circulation i have two 800lph powerheads and a 3000lph wavemaker that i will turn down to an acceptable level.

I realise porcupines and spiny boxfish need bigger tanks when fully grown and would get a bigger tank/tanks in the future when the time comes, but for the moment can anyone tell me some different combinations of these fish that would be compatible when young for the time being?

All advice/criticism welcome, Im trying to learn as much as possible to make this work!
Thanks.

[Marinefish]

Boxfish poison your entire tank when they eventually die, so they're best kept alone.

[chrisfont23]

I used to have two Green Spotted Puffers. I bought them when they were little guys and gradually changed their habitat from a full freshwater setting to a full marine setting over the course of a year. They are incredible pets. Unfortunately, they were not reef safe and I had to get rid of them.

I used to feed them twice a day - a diet of blood worms, shrimp and clams on the half shell. Once a week I would take a few pest or rams horn snails out of my other FW tank and drop them in. It's a must for GSPs as their beaks need to be ground/dulled in order for them to not starve. You can google the effects of not doing this; some people have videos of them drugging the fish and clipping their beaks. I only bring this up because the humane thing to do for these little guys is to feed them right. I mean, you might survive alright, but you wouldn't want someone feeding you rats every day if you were in captivity, would you?

Aside from that, they'll need a ton of hiding spots to break their line of sight. They are incredibly playful and fun to watch, but at the same time will often lay at the bottom of the substrate once in a while like they are sleeping or playing dead. Occasionally they'll sprint across the tank too, and make a "sneezing noise" as they burrow the tank walls. Pretty cool.

The one thing I recommend - as I think you have enough of - is filtration. They are very messy eaters and equally wasteful, so you will need a hell of a lot of filtration to keep that tank clean. Keep in mind - they are scaleless fish so they are more prone to disease then your normal FW/Brackish fish. You will need pristine water conditions to keep them in... or their bellies turn black and they get unhappy. Unhappy GSPs, over a period of time, will eventually die.

IMO, these are the puppy dogs of the sea...an incredible fish that I miss immensely - so much so that I will probably start with one all over again in my 29G after I convert my tank to a 90 g.

HTH!

[Darsh]

Thanks for the replies,
About the boxfish, they can live together so thats a bonus, but yeah i heard about the toxins they release when really stressed and when they die, but i also heard that it is really exaggerated. From one source ive heard that only big boxfish (10"+) can possibly wipe out a tank and even then its pretty rare. i know thats only one source but i still havent found anyone who said that it happened to them personally, only from people who say that it can/will happen. so im not going to let that put me off them just yet.

I used to have 3 GSPs about 4-5 years ago in a small freshwater tank, the guy in the pet shop told me they were freshwater.
After about 3 months they all died and it was only then that i found out they needed salt, but yeah i agree, great pets and yeah i definitely agree about the puppy dog thing. Thats actually why I decided to go for this type of tank. Either have the amazing
reef, or the "pets".

Ive got a freshwater tank full of breeding shrimp and snails that ive let spread in preparation for getting this new tank going so i can give them the correct diet. My LFS doesnt sell any frozen food with shells like clams etc. but its no harm asking.

About the filtration, i like to go overkill wherever i can afford so in that sense i think im sorted but is there a good kind of blenny or goby or some kind of bottom feeding fish that would be good for picking up the scraps?
im thinking arrow goby or engineer goby?

What about other, more common fish going with them like butterflies or a clown fish?

[chrisfont23]

My LFS doesnt sell any frozen food with shells like clams etc. but its no harm asking.

Forget the LFS. Just go to your supermarket or local fish (the kind we eat) store.

[Darsh]

Yeah was thinking that alright, I'll pay a visit to one of the fish shops and see what they have. The puffers are going to be under 2 inches when i get them, what hard shelled do you recommend feeding them at that size? And how often?
Thanks.

[chrisfont23]

Yeah was thinking that alright, I'll pay a visit to one of the fish shops and see what they have. The puffers are going to be under 2 inches when i get them, what hard shelled do you recommend feeding them at that size? And how often?
Thanks.

Here's a good read for you: Greenspottedpuffer.net//Articles

[Darsh]

Cool, thanks for the help!
Anyone have any experience with mixing any of these puffers and/or mixing them with puffers or gobies/blennies?
Chris what fish did you have in with your puffers in your reef tank?

[willia75]

I used to have a green spotted puffer. I bought him as a freshwater fish when he was about 1.5". As he grew, I slowly acclimated the tank (he was the only fish) into brackish, and inevitably into salt. I had him for about 5 years before he outgrew my tank (and tank budget, so I traded him for a cowfish). But they do start out in brackish water in the wild before moving to full salt, so that should be taken into account when purchasing. They are great fish, just make sure the conditions are right for the size of the fish. Some lfs I've seen do sell them in saltwater, so I'd find one that's already acclimated to salt if that's what you want. Also, make sure you look for a gsp with a bright white belly, they should not be dark unless they were just asleep. Tail curling is a sign of stress to look for too. But they're pretty sturdy fish.

Any puffer loves a good snail. A friend has a porcupine that loves live shrimp, and watching him hunt them is entertaining (though a little alarming). You can never have enough. It's great you already set up a breeding tank for food!

His porcupine has grown very quickly, he's gone from 3" to over 7" in the last 9 months. He's also eaten everything else in the tank, including 2 damsels, a dusky angel (dwarf), and a yellow watchman goby. Strangely enough, he hasn't bothered his scooter blenny, which would seem to be the easiest target.

I also have a thornback cowfish, not exactly a boxfish but in the same family. He's a nice fish because he stays smaller than most boxfish (up to around 7"), is very peaceful, and is so unusual looking I named him Sputnik. Very interested in watching people in the room. He's good friends with my tang, they go everywhere together. His only drawback is feeding- he's very slow moving compared to the other fish, and has a tiny mouth, so it's hard for him to compete. I've wound up hand feeding him. I'll put food in one of the tank for the others, and he waits at the other end for me to hold his food for him. He does spit when he wants food, which I've heard is common to other puffers, but my gsp never did it. But gets along great with my other fish, and might be another good choice for your tank!

[Darsh]

Thanks for the help, all great advice. Personal experience is always the best in my opinion.
Ill see how I go with that, i might be back with more questions and pics.
Thanks.

[chrisfont23]

Chris what fish did you have in with your puffers in your reef tank?

Two clowns for about a week.But I quickly found out that GSPs are not reef safe.

[Darsh]

Cool, but they got on alright

[chrisfont23]

Yes - they didn't kill each other in the week they were tank mates. I personally wouldn't put anything w/ a GSP other than another GSP. They're either bullied or make meals of everything. IMO, was only a matter of time before those clowns were sushi.

[Darsh]

Alright, thanks for the advice man.