can i put anything else in the tank?

gfk

gfk

Member
i have an eclipse 12, with like 2.5 pounds of live rock, and a small sharped nose puffer in it (about 1.5-2 inches long).
here is an image of him ( http://www.wetwebmedia.com/Tetraodo...hinopteraFJ.jpg)
anyways, i have a small cleanup crew and him. i want to put something else in there, not necissarily a fish but im not sure what else i could put in there. hes agressive and so i know i cant put too many other types of fish in there but what would work?
eventually im gonna get more live rock and go reef, but $ is an issue right now
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Just an opinion, but a 12 gallon tank is too small for that puffer. They can get up to 5 inches long.
Really cool fish though.
 
gfk

gfk

Member

Originally posted by Bang Guy
Just an opinion, but a 12 gallon tank is too small for that puffer. They can get up to 5 inches long.
Really cool fish though.
i got the tank from a friend, and apparenlty its been in that tank for the last 2 years, and it isnt going to get any bigger. the species he is stays tiny. eventually im gonna go reef, but in the mean time money is tight
 
saltymist

saltymist

Member
I agree with Bang Guy, that sharp nose will grow up to 5", heres just one quote that I found out of about 10 or more, but Im too lazy to cut and paste all those quotes:
" Their small size (maximum about five inches) suggests they may use a much wider variety of hiding places on the reef-- "
All the sharp nose puffers I've seen in my LFS are close to 3 to 4" already when being purchased, so it should get bigger, else it is already stunted (if thats even possible) and wont live out a full lifespan. Personally I think it will eventually grow to close to 5", and even as such, puffers are very very dirty fish, there is a lot of waste when they eat, and a 12 gallon tank is too small to keep the water quality really pristine with a messy puffer fish. I've been there and done that, 12 gallon tank, ceylon puffer converted to full salt water earlier in life than out in the wild, and it was near impossible to keep the water really pristine without doing water changes every day.
Goodluck, and goodluck to your Puff.
 
rbaby

rbaby

Member
I know many people would probably shoot me but my tank seems to be doing just fine...has been for weeks now. I think I've pushed the bio load to the limit but the cycle has been going well that it has maintained homeostasis.
I have a 12 gallon Eclipse tank and I have 6 hermits, 1 sand sifting starfish, 1 orange striped goby and 2 baby percs. The goby stays in his hole unless he's eating, or he peeks out every now and then so it's almost like he is never there so space really isn't an issue. I was worried about the bioload so I've been testing my water every other day and bring my water to get professionally tested once a week when I go to the LFS and it's been doing A-OK with only a 10-15% water change every other week. I leave my window open to let sunlight in to produce enough algae for my cleaners (my starfish in particular--he's doing really good at cleaning things up). I also have a patch of uhm...algae grass? That my hermits pick on whenever they can't find anything, so far so good.
I like puffers, they're so ugly that they've crossed the border to cute~! Do you have a picture?
 
saltymist

saltymist

Member
The one thing I was told a long time ago, was that measuring success in saltwater tanks should not be done in weeks, or even months, but rather in years (5+).
I had 3 puffers in an eclipse 12, one 2 1/2" ceylon and two 3/4" green spotted puffs, and they did great initially, but the belly of the ceylon was always black (indicating something was stressing it out), and they lasted in my 12 gallon eclipse for about 2 months till I felt it was time to move to a more peacefull tank, and give the puffs the home that they deserved (I gave them to a fellow reefer in my area where he could offer them a home in a substantially larger tank, something like 300 gallons).
Find out what the natural lifespan of the creatures you keep is, and if you keep them that long or longer, then you have success.
Personally speaking, I've not nearly reached that lofty goal.
 
rbaby

rbaby

Member
That's some great advice, thank you! I will certainly try to achieve that. My percs are still just babies so they have a LONG way to go--after reading your post I looked up that their life span could range from 6-8 years...WOW that's exciting. I think it's because I've introduced other stuff into my tank that die shortly after where I feel that keeping what I currently have now for weeks is very satisfying but it certainly doesn't mean I won't strive to maintain it, it has saved my life on many occassions as funny as it may sound...I owe it a lot and love my baby percs. They have such character.
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
rbaby - Percula Clownfish will do just fine indefinately in a 12 gallon tank. If well cared for they should live 20 - 25 years.
 
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