Hawaiin Puffer safe?

[yimmy]

I'm 14 and am getting a 4ft,18indeep and 25 high, the fishes i want are these, yellow eyed tang, white spot hawaiin puffer, they get to be like 3in, longnose butterfly, Flame angel, royal gramma and 2shrimps. The puffer is small so my LFS said it would be fine as long as they aren't the really small ones, let me know if this works.
Thanks for the help
Jimmy

 

[mbrands]

Jimmy,
Were in Arizona are you from? If you're from the Phoenix area what LFS are you going to?
I wouldn't recommend shrimp with a Hawaiian spotted puffer. The one I had would have nipped at them and likely killed them. Hermit crabs would be better suited since they have more protection.
I'm not sure what a yellow-eyed tang is, but I don't know of other tangs that stay that small. I wouldn't recommend a tang in a tank with less than 6 feet of swimming space.
Good luck,
Mike

 

[yimmy]

I'm down in scottsdale, the yellow eyed tang is a small one which likes rock work and was said to not reach more than 4-5'', I go to the Aquatouch store where I ordered a tank today(my first one) and got a canister and UV sterilizer, will the puffer nip at my fishes, some shrimps were fine but the store said"if you came in and said your shrimp were missing I wouldn't be suprised

 

[mbrands]

That is a great LFS with very knowledgable people. Shop around though as their prices on hard goods are pretty steep. Another good LFS is About the Reef off the 101 and 202 intersection.
I'm not sure you'll need the UV sterilizer. I'd save the money and buy a good skimmer.
If you just ordered the tank today you realize it will be at least a month before you have a fish swimming in it, right? I'd wouldn't add more than one fish every two weeks or so, especially in a new tank.
My Hawaiian spotted never bothered any of my fish, but he nipped at my star bad enough I had to start up a new tank for him to be safe in. I actually ended up taking my puffer to AquaTouch for store credit when I converted from FOWLR to a reef tank.

 

[yimmy]

I went to About the Reef and got a quote but the people at Aquatouch were more helpful so thats where I ordered the tank and was at my target price of 2500$ for set up not including livestock. I have seen like ten of those puffers in that store. Another question is how much should plumbing cost for a tank. My dad thought that we should plum or set it up ourselves instead of paying for someone to install it.

 

[birdy]

Your stocking list looks good to me,
The yellow eyed tang is often refered to as a Kole tang and is about the only one most people recommend long term in a 4ft tank.
As far as plumbing, does it have one overflow or two? more than likely wouldn't run you more than $75, to plumb the tank.

 

[yimmy]

Thanks that helped a lot. I wasn't sure how big it would get an if it would be compatible, thanks.

 

[oceanists]

yimmy , one more thing you may want to consider is the ;puffers arent reef safe , so if you plan on doing reef later on , that will pose a problem , even if you dont plan on doing reef , your probably going to want to down the line ,,......... i didnt plan on doing reef then i saw an amazing tank and i was like im doing that , and ive been addicted ever since ..... also the uv sterilazer probably wont be needed , i would can that and get a better skimmer or maybe even save the money for some awesome lights

 

[jsb]

I'd like to add that I went with the same puffer, and found out that he liked to nip at anything smaller that him. He even nipped at the back of my Cardinal, and they were the same size. I think with that puffer it's a coin toss. I've heard people have zero problems, and other like me that have had the opposite luck. BTW mine loved to sleep up against the glass in the corner, so don't freak out when you see him doing that. Good Luck.

 

[yimmy]

Thanks for all the input... I know that I won't have fish in it for a while because my tank won'e be in till christmas

, The only fishes I'm getting that are maybe smaller than the puffer is the lmb,the royal gramma, and clown fishes which I heard are territorial so the tables might turn. Thanks again for the help and input
Jimmy