Puffer in a community tank?

hnf2k

hnf2k

Active Member
it is almost time again for me to add new fish.
i have 2 yellowheaded jawfish now.
would a puffer eat them? would he be able to catch them?
would the puffer attack my snails and hermit crabs?
can a puffer be community and agressive like a lion can be?
 
shadow678

shadow678

Member
Puffers will not usually mess with the hermits, but they will eat snails if they can get them, so I would not suggest keeping them with snails. They will usually not mess with other fish, unless they have long fins such as lions, or if they are conspecifics(other puffers). HTH
 
hnf2k

hnf2k

Active Member
helped a lot. thank you. what do you use to clean your glass and rocks then if you can't have snails? wouldn't using a scrub brush kill all the pods that are on the glass? any other cleanup crew thing i can add that will clean the glass and not get bothered by a puffer?
 
sistrmary

sistrmary

Member
If the porker caught them, he'd eat them. In a second without half a thought.
yes, you can buy a mag-float :D I have a bahama star in with mine, which doesn't really clean the glass per se, but it sure rubs it a bit :D Actually, they rarely bother snails. Too much work I think. Hermits are okay again, too much work. Sally lightfoot crabs are too fast for them and arrow crabs fight back. However, with small fish in the aquarium, you might run into problems with these crabs.
 
hnf2k

hnf2k

Active Member
so you are saying that the small fish are the only risk? how big does a porcupine puffer get? and what is the smallest fish that could go with him? i dont think he can catch these jawfish, they are incredibly fast. they dont really go out swimming, they just hide peaking their heads out. when it's feeding time they dart out take food and dart back in. are puffers reef safe?
 
hnf2k

hnf2k

Active Member
sistrmary, you have snails and hermits in with a porcupine puffer? and now what are you suggesting i get the crabs for?
 
sistrmary

sistrmary

Member
Nah, I have hermits, but not snails (I also have a fingerprint toby in with the puffer. Tobies are snail eating machines. It could be that snails aren't okay with the puffer, but the porker never had a chance because the toby was on them like white on rice. Although I really did have them in there for quite a while, I'd decided that I needed something to clean up on that tank, it's kind of skanky looking. There were snails in there for about a month and I never saw the puffer go after them.)
I was suggesting those two types of crabs because if you put a porker puffer in your tank, you will have clean up problems. That's just the way it is. I have a protein skimmer an Emperor 400 and 280, a DSB and LR...and while I never have problems with the water conditions (I kept a coral beauty in with the puffer for months until it started picking on the porker for some reason) the rock always looks disgusting.
 
hnf2k

hnf2k

Active Member
i like the porcupine puffer a lot, but i dont want to start causing trouble with things i already have set up. i also am intersted in adding a dwarf fuzzy lion, would the porcupine puffer be a problem? what about a valentini puffer, would that pick on snails, hermits, and fins? i really want a puffer and a lionfish. porcupine if possible. i have no problem with losing the snails, they are a pain, always having to flip them back over when the hermits knock them over. what would clean my glass without killing the pods on it?
 
mmslue79

mmslue79

Member
My LFS has a porky that is about 9" long and about 4" wide, I think it is about 2-3 years old. Might have some growing left, it all depends on the size of tank you put him in. They are super cool, will definately get one once I get my 120 running. I would not suggest any puffer with any lion. Fin nippers!
 
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