he didnt eat the first hermit crab, so can i buy a clean up crew?

[gfk]

i recently got an eclipse 12 that was setup with a little live rock and a sharped nosed puffer (Canthigaster janthinoptera)
here is a link to a picture http://www.wetwebmedia.com/Tetraodon...inopteraFJ.jpg
anyways, my friend told me i couldnt have anything else in the tank b/c he'll eat it. i was talkin to someone else who said to keep him well fed and he should leave them alone. so to test it out i bought a small hermit crab, and its been left alone for 2 days. is it safe to say that he wont eat them, so i can go ahead and buy some more members of a clean up crew? the tank was really dirty when i got it and i dont want it to end up like that all the time.

 

[gfk]

anyone?

 

[gfk]

naw he's cool, hes tiny and isnt gonna get much bigger, just a small species. i got some more snails so far he's leaving them alone and just beggin me for food when i walk by

 

[excalibur]

funny some of the things you read and then when you do it, It doesn't even come close, I have a porky puffer I read it will eat everything, I did the same and bought some snails, He nipped at one, but since left it alone, Next I put a arrow crab in, It's said it will kill my fish, They get along great, I bought 12 more snails and they are all fine, I did put some feeders in the tank since the puffer wasn't eating and he went nuts, The ate 3 in about 1 min, I figured that was enough, I'm looking for a clean crew too, Not sure about the shrimps, Hopefully they will be ok,

 

[cincyreefer]

Any of the dwarf puffers typically leave inverts and corals alone unless they can fit it in their tiny mouths. The porcupine will dessimate all... Just give it time. Here is what mine did to my leather after 6 months of being a model citizen.

 

[oceandream]

My son had a Valentini(?) Puffer, and he would always knock snails off the glass...

 

[murray bmf]

I have that exact smae puffer in my 75 gal reef and he does not bother my cleanup crew. I have several crabs and snails and such and he leaves them all alone. Not sure about the eclipse being big enough though-he will grow to be around 3.5", and mine swims the entire length of my tank constantly and is very active. I have seen where the minimum recommened size for this fish is a 50 gal tank, mainly because of the fishes activity level but take that for whats its worth, the same page also said it would eat inverts, which is not the case, at least not with mine. Either way I think your clean up crew is safe. The only problem I had with mine was he nipped at my brain coral so I had to get rid of that, but I have xenia, colt, leathers and various other mushrooms like ricordia and such with no problems. Hope this helps.