Porcupine Puffer with Inverts?

[aliciak]

Are there any "cleaning crew" that the porcupine puffer won't eat? From what I have researched so far, the puffer enjoys meals of hermit crabs and pepermint shrimp. I really want to get a small porcupine eventually, but I need some cleaner crew for my DSB and LR.

 

[brinkdrum]

Maybe you could give snails a go. I'm not too familiar with puffers so you may want to see what others say, but i know snails mix well with alot of aggressive fish that eat live food.....ie my lion and hawkfish.

 

[acez28]

mine havent messed with any of my hermits or snails. But.....my hermits will take out a snail quickly when they fall. I have lost 2 so far. But my puffer is cool with my inverts.....he only eats krill and brine.

 

[acez28]

i expect my puffer to eat some hermits. Hermits are $1 a piece. I wouldnt care if he ate all the hermits i had as long as he doesnt do it within a week. Every coupla months i go and get 20 or so hermits anyway. But the hermits do eat my snails.....they are a dollar a piece too so again it dont bother me.

 

[eclipseagent]

My puffer does not eat anything in the tank, and doesnt bother the star fish at all. I do not have any snails or hermits in there right now. I need to get some more, the all died before, dunno if they got eaten or just passed away.

 

[firefishspike]

through my experience with FW and SW tanks, all fish will react different towards tank mates
I have a small scorpian in one of my tanks, he's a carnivore, sits around and wait for other fish and iverts to come by so that he can pounce on them
I have a damsel, some crabs and a nudibranch in there with him, he only pounces on flakes, but he let's everyone else know who's boss
and my fw, my oscars eat goldfish feeders from time to time, except this one gold fish, they won't eat him, became a tank mate and out grew the oscars
I want a puffer, but my lady won't let me have on right now

 

[musipilot]

Well, the only "cleaner" I would trust my porcupine puffer with are wrasses.
I've seen mine eat snails, hermits, crabs, and even a tankmate chromis that hovered too close to a piece of krill.
Don't get mad at the fish -- its their natural behaviour, they're predators. Most puffers, especially as they grow, will make quick work of almost any invert.

 

[pufferfan]

My Puffer never messed with any other critter i had in the tank. I had a cleaner shrimp and he let it clean him every once in a while. Never tried to eat anything unless i was handing it to him.

 

[obsessedwithfish]

I have 2 puffers pork puffer and stars and strips they are such a nice addition to the tank and adjust very well with fish. I would not recommend inverts of any kind my puffers eat anything they can fit in their mouth. Just don't want you to feel bad when you put something in and a minute later the puffer is over there eating his late night snack.

 

[ophiura]

Also remember that a lot of people have pretty small porcupine puffers compared to how large they get. What they do as juveniles may be different...perhaps the size of the snails/hermits is a problem for them. But their natural diet in the wild consists of various hard shelled inverts (which explains the very powerful jaws and teeth). At some point, people may have a problem with them eating things. There are no guarantees. It will always be a risk that the puffer will follow its instinct.