puffer compatability?

[billgill]

i set up a 65 gal. tank in december, put 25lbs of live rock in it, cycled the tank. after that was done (mid january), i bought about 20 blue hermit crabs, 5 turbo snails and 2 brittle stars to start cleaning. i'm new to this whole thing, and on a limited budget so i was cautious about buying fish. then last week i was in a lfs and saw a small porcupine puffer. i fell in love and threw caution to the wind. the guy at the store told me the puffer would eat all my little crawly things so he recommended 2 white gobies as well. i brought everything home and all seemed well. i then left for a band practice, when i got back, my best friend was there with my girlfriend. he had bought me a yellow tang (it was my birthday). now, all the sudden i had 4 fish. the next day, the puffer had eaten one goby, this morning i actually watched him eat the other one. i went to the lfs and got my money back for the 2 snacks. i really, really want to keep the puffer but i also want to get a couple of other fish eventually. finally my question: does anyone know any good companion fish for the puffer? the yellow tang seems good, but i know it's a bad idea to get more than one of those. second question: is my tank big enough? third and final question: how often do i feed the puffer and how much?

sorry about the length of the post and thanks for your help.

[spiritwalker76]

I also have a porcupine puffer. Unfortunately he also ate my Gobie. I now also have a flame angel fish and a lyre tail anthia. When I bough them, I made sure that they were too big to fit in Puff-daddy's mouth. I think Gobies are the perfect snack for puffers because they are skinny enough to fit in the puffers mouth, sucked up just like spaghetti noodles. When I bought hermit crabs, I bought the biggest ones I could find. So far Puff-daddy hasn't messed with any of the new fish, nor the crabs. As for feeding, Puff-daddy is quite spoiled. He will only eat fresh shrimp. I hand feed him, because his eyesight is poor enough that he will miss food if I throw it in the tank and then it just floats around, or sits on the bottom. I feed him 2 to 3 times a day, 3 or 4 small pieces of shrimp at a time. The trick is, if his belly starts to extend, he is eating too much. They will eat until they almost pass out, but that's not good for them. You will learn how much is enough. And don't let them talk you into over feeding by begging. They will beg for food every time you are near! I hope you enjoy your puffer, Puff-daddy is the most annimated character in my tank!

[billgill]

spirit: what size tank do you have? i keep reading stuff like: '75 gal. minimum', some sites even say 125gal. minimum for a porcupine. do you know if they just keep growing or do they adjust to the size of aquarium they're in? it is such a unique fish, i could sit and watch it all day. stupid work always gets in the way.... :wink:

[spiritwalker76]

I certainly did not follow the size guidelines, and will probably be reprimanded heavily by anyone that reads this, but... I currently have a 30 gallon FO tank. I decided to buy the puffer with the idea that in the not too distant future I am going to get a bigger tank. I was praying that he wouldn't grow too fast, ans so far he hasn't. He seems happy and up until a few days ago when he developed ich, he was eating fine and swimming around like he owned the place. I do think that eventually he will outgrow the tank, as I have seen them over 1 foot long. So if you have a small tank and do not plan on investing in a larger one soon, your puffer might get too big :( Good luck though. I hope your puffer is happy and healthy.

[rememberme]

I want to get one of these guys for my 48" tank - but how the hell would you move a 1' puffer into another tank lol :?

[alligatorami]

I have a 2 porcupine puffers in 2 different tanks (they were aggressive with each other). They are tanked with a very large variety of fish. The smallest being 2 small "Tobies." I have never had a problem with them and other fish. One thing to consider, however, they are in 750 gallon tanks. We feed our predatory fish on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. We use long tongs to feed, as they are kind of dumb and way to slow to compete for food.

-A :twisted: