Puffer info please...

[damsel in distress]

I am about to get a 50 gallon tank and it is going to be a fish only tank. I would like to put a porcupine puffer, and maybe a lionfish or a wrasse. My question is would they get along, would my tank be overcrowded, and what is the best food to feed????? If at all possible would there be any way I could put all three fish in the tank? Thank you for the help!!!!

 

[dlight692000]

i would get a 75 and a lionfish and a puffer would be fine i dont know about a wrasse, what one do you want?

 

[damsel in distress]

I would possibly like to have all three fish. I am practically getting a 50 gallon for free....a friend is selling their tank setup for $30.00 so this is gonna be the tank i use for a fish only tank. I already have a 20gallon reef tank which I will be upgrading to either a 75 gallon or a 120 gallon next year. So I really don't want two 75 gallon tanks. So my question is if I can't have all three fish in the 50gallon then which two would be appropriate for my tank? Thank you for your help!

 

[dlight692000]

what kind of wrasse?

 

[damsel in distress]

I was thinking a Lunar Wrasse.

 

[pufferlover]

Lunar Wrasse gets to 13 inches in length which will be to big to get along with a Puffer. There are many Wrasses that are around 6 inches and that would do better for what you want. In my case I have added Hogfish to 2 of my Puffer tanks and it is working like a charm. Hogfish are from the Wrasse family but a bit more aggressive which makes them better suited to a Puffer who in time will get quite large if fed properly. In the Pork tank I added a Diana's Hogfish, and in my baby stars and stripes tank I have a equal sized Spanish Hog (now in QT as it is only here a week) to go there. The Hogs are reasonable in price, very hardy, and very colorful. The Spanish tho becomes quite large also so the Diana's ofr the Coral Hog get to about the 6 inches as adults. For more info on what and how I added them you can go to my profile then thru to my clubpage where there are posts and pictures.

 

[dlight692000]

they get real big about 10 inches, i dunno about the wrasse...maybe a eel.

 

[damsel in distress]

Thanks for the help guys! Pufferlover.... What do you feed your puffers?

 

[dlight692000]

i feed mine, silversides, brine shrimp, bllod worms, krill, shrimp, plankton, and formula 2 and seaweed selects, i kno big diet.

 

[damsel in distress]

Do you feed them every other day?? I feed my guys in my reef tank every other day and I rotate their food from flakes, to bloodworms, etc. Do you reccomend feeding every other day? I want to learn as much as I can before I even think of getting a puffer and a lionfish. I am not very experienced with these guys and want to be before purchasing them. I do know that they are VERY messy eaters!!!

 

[pufferlover]

Well my Porks like the following items to be on their menu;
Frozen Krill (their favorite)
Frozen Squid
People Shrimp (not to often to fatty and to expensive)
Tetra Min Tablets (to help file their teeth down they are chewable tablet food actually for FW but the Puffers don't care).
Frozen Silversides (my 2 are BIG they like the larger frozen ones)
Frozen Formula 1 & 2 Cubes diced a bit so they don't choke (To hard to do the Heimlick in a Puffer Tank).
Porks are pigs so you have to be careful not to overfeed. As long as you put food in they will keep eating till they sink to the bottom. My rule is once I see their tummy start to bulge dinners over.

 

[pufferlover]

Just finished last post and see you have another so now to answer that one. I feed once a day every day. Puffers get very hungry and if you don't feed them they start to eyeball anything else in the tank. Once in a while I will skip a day if I have to but more then that and I would be worried about them.

 

[damsel in distress]

Thanks pufferlover, and dlight...You guys have helped me A LOT!! Sounds like puffers are really big pigs when it comes to food. Are lionfish the same as puffers as in eating the same foods and eating everyday? I just have the fear of overfeeding!

 

[pufferlover]

Well on this question I must defer as I am not a Lionfish owner. I think Lionfish if he comes on will give you the proper way to take care of that species and/or others with more expertise on them. But yes they are messy and I call them lovingly "eating machines" Puffers are my Favorites because they just have a heck of a personality plus great big beautiful eyes.

 

[damsel in distress]

I really wasn't into puffers until i found a great new lfs and there is a HUGE porcupine puffer at the front of the store in a tank with a few other fish. He is the cutest fish ever, and every time you come up to the tank he kinda gives a smile and kisses the glass. I find it so cute and adorable. That is when I fell in love with puffers and it has fascinated me enough to want one. Thank you for all the great information you have given me...it has helped me a great deal. I am going to the bookstore tomorrow to see if i can find any good books on puffers. Do you have any suggestions??

 

[pufferlover]

I have never seen a book for sale on the net or locally on Puffers alone. If there was one I'd have it in a heartbeat. I even have a friend who gave me a puffed up Pork Puffer skin he got somewhere years ago which is on a shelf in my fish room (along with about 125 other fishes of all types (me a fanatic why heavens no). I think if it had not been for Porks I would never have stayed in this hobby and then became addicted to it. My oldest fish are my Pork pair (bought 1994) and they are truly my favorites thru all the years and all the other fish I had and do have. Check out that site I mentioned you sound like a Pufferclub member if I ever saw one.

 

[damsel in distress]

Trey, I'm jealous!! You are now living in Florida and I am STILL stuck here in Georgia. LOL I have lived in Marietta/Kennesaw all of my life. Smyrna isn't too far from me. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Georgia, but would kill to live next to the beach!!!!

 

[pufferlover]

Trey; The name sounds familiar but I don't re call why (unless she writes about them and I saw a article). I'll check for her address and I appreciate your telling me about her. One thing I have found is that Puffer people like Lion people are obssessed with their fish. Thank goodness at the moment everything is going well again (could it be because I stopped buying fish left and right Hmm?).

 

[josh669]

I have 2 puffers, not in the same tank. Each of them is in a different 55 gallon. In one of them, i had the puffer,lunare wrasse, and butterfly. The butterfly died, and all the fish stores recommended the dwarf lion fish. i havent gotten it yet, but about too. All 3 fish go good together, and should definetly fit in a 50g.

 

[pufferlover]

josh; do you realize how big the Puffer and Lunar wrasse will get? The Puffer can get to 12 to 15 inches and the Lunar up to 10 to 12 inches. To add a lion is going to put too much in a 12 inch deep tank where the fish have no depth to roam in. If you have babies now and plan to upgrade then go for it- if they are bigger ones then slow down and re- think this . It is just too many fish inches for what you have to work with.