10g w/ puffer?

[reef101]

well im taking down my 40 gallon, because im running out of space in my room. I was wondering if i could set up a 10G with some LV with a blue dotted puffer. im not going to add anymore fish or anymore animals just the puffer. Please tell me of this is ok because i do not want to kill it. Or what other type of fish will be suitable. thanks

[treszoks]

Short answer, no it's not okay. Stick with smaller fish.

[Aiptasia]

SW puffers are so much larger than most 10 gallon tanks can handle. I'd rather see you go brackish and keep some of the freshwater puffers rather than attempt a spotted or spiny puffer in your 10g. tank.

[minireefkid]

If your talking about the dwarf or toby puffer than i say that will be fine as long as its the only fish with lots of live rock... one thing that would be helpful is very frequent water changes because they are carnivorous and very messy eaters

good luck

scott

[J-Bird]

Just keep in mind too, that you'll probably wind up with algae troubles. Puffers are very messy eaters, and i don't think you'll have any luck keeping a clean up crew alive, as crabs and snails will probably be too tasty to the puffer once he gets a hold of one.

 

I would recommend against it. If you do wind up doing it, make sure that you can return it to the LFS from where you get it.

[mineralrock]

I converted a green spotted puffer (a brackish species) to saltwater overtime (i went up .002 per week). I created a FOWLR and he did amazing. He was just extremely happy. You could do this with a red eye puffer as well (they stay very small). If you'd rather not do a conversion then you could try a valentini (saddled) toby. He shouldn't feel too cramped but he's going to want to be fed 3 times a day.... and any food he misses could cause a problem.

[Tempest]

The only type of puffers that will "fit" are the shrap-nosed puffers like Valentini's and blue dots. They will outgrow the tank and are very messy so water quality would be a real issue. If you're dead set on a puffer for a 10g tank go fresh or brackish and get a figure eight, red-eye, or green spotted. I have a freshwater 10g with a figure eight, dwarf african puffer and a red eye and they have all done well for the past 3 years.

[Drea]

i would never recommend putting a puffer in a 10 gallon tank, unless they were dwarf puffers. IMO I fill like I'm cramping their style. I have a figure eight puffer in a freshwater 40 gal and hes doing well. About puffers being messy i would have to disagree. I feed mine frozen blood worms and he eats them all. he also eats any that fall in the gravel. sometimes I'll give him live brine shrimp and snails.

[zzpw3x]

Rinsed bloodworms may not be too messy, but when you feed snails, live shrimp and other similar food they will make a big mess. Dwarfs would be fine in a 10G as long as the tank has broken lines of site, but keep in mind that dwarf puffers are FW only.

 

FYI, F8's are light brackish - anything else is not healthy for the long term survival of the fish. They can live for 15-20 yrs in proper conditions. Also, F8s and all other puffers must have hard crunchy foods to prevent the teeth from overgrowing.