Valentini Puffer in a Reef????? Sweetreefer??

aidos

aidos

Member
just wondering wat problems i could expect if i put a Valentini Puffer in my reef tank. its a 75 gallon 4 foot long tank.
fish
1x firefish
1x banggii cardinal
1x purple lined wrasse
2x ocellaris clowns
Inverts
1x mantis shrimp (which the puffer will hopefully eat)
4x hammer coral
dozens of mushrooms and zoos
1x fungie plate
1x Ancora
1x daisy corals
1x leather
1x brain coral
1x lobophilia
1x clam
i know sweet reefer has one in his/her system, so it seams it is possible.
cheers :happyfish
 
bellaireoaks

bellaireoaks

Member
Valentini Puffer or any Puffers are not reef safe. Will eat snail, shrimp, and etc. They are also known for nipping on fish fins.
 
sweetreef

sweetreef

Active Member
lol not in my case had one for a very long time these type of fish i think are miss understood as of now my brother in law now has one in his reef tank and is doing fine as well he dont bug corals are inverts but in all fish its a hit and miss my hippo tang eats snails if they are small enuff to get in his mouth so Aidos its a gamble your going to have try so far now that i have seen the two me and my brother in law have are doing great as far as leaving corals and inverts alone in my books your safe in the coral part its just the inverts but if i was you i would give it a try it wouldnt hurt anything trying if it didnt work you may loose a snail if your going to get one try and find a smaller one..
 
sweetreef

sweetreef

Active Member
yeah by the looks of what you have in you tank i have firefish and clowns and a very little watchman goby and as well my cleaner shrimp clean my puffer its pretty funny to watch..
 
sweetreef

sweetreef

Active Member
If you might not no but when you go to a lfs that has one you will see most of the time the valintini puffer will set his self off from other fish they are more of a loner type fish and very laid back every one i have seen them for me knowing this for having one for four years now..They are not a mean fish in my books
 
aidos

aidos

Member
i have also noticed that they are not the mean fish that most ppl think they are as i always get to watch them at work, and as u said they seam like a loner fish.
well we got a really small one in today, about 3cm max so i think i will give it a go and pick him up 2morrow, cheers 4 all the help.
BTW sweetreefer im a big fan of ur tank.
cheers :happyfish
 
aidos

aidos

Member
brough the little guy 2day and hes doin fantasic took straight to brine shrimp with in 2 mins after his 2 hour acclimation, very happy with him.
i'll keep everyone posted on his nipping habbits if they arise.(lets hope not)
:happyfish
 
druluv

druluv

Member
The Canthigaster valentini grows up to 4 inches. The small size will come to you generally 1 to 2 inches; the medium generally 2 to 3 inches; the large generally 3 to 4 inches. The Saddle Valentini Puffer prefers a tank of at least 20 gallons with plenty of places to hide & swim. The Canthigaster valentini is a omnivore and likes to eat variety of chopped meats (fish, scallop, shrimp, squid, clam). The Saddle Valentini Puffer is a medium maintenance fish and may act semi-aggressively toward other fish. It is a venomous fish, the flesh is poisonous. Not reef-safe, eats inverts. Be careful when moving around: use a net. Hunts at night. Will often inflate 2X its original size. Canthigaster valentini (Bleeker 1853), Valentini's Sharpnose Puffer has a filefish mimic. You have to look close to discern Paraluterus prionurus even when accidentally shipped mixed in with valentine's puffer; as a file it has a two-spine dorsal that the puffers lack. This is a type of Batesian mimicry, with the file suffering less predation by pretending to be an unpalatable puffer. The closest thing to an "aqua-dog" are the puffers. Except they will bite the hand that feeds them, and you might croak if you give them a kissy. Do you have a spot in a fish-only system, maybe with plenty of algae growth, or want to get rid of that mantis shrimp that has eaten everything else? Porky the puffer's awaiting your call. Keep water quality high (SG 1.020 - 1.025, pH 8.1 - 8.4, Temp. 72 - 78° F). The Saddle Valentini Puffer is commonly collected from the Indian Ocean.
 
sweetreef

sweetreef

Active Member
yeah thats not all true i have had mine for four years with out any problems of toxic water on top of that i have a cow fish die in a tank and it didnt kill off everything in my tank the only invert you have to worry about is small snails even if that they are not a very big fish and have the dang snails you get are bigger than him...lol as for me getting to study this fish for four years imo i really dont care what some lfs put on there about them they dont keep them around long enuff to no nothing!!!
 
nm reef

nm reef

Active Member
Considering the limitless possibilities in this hobby I suppose keeping a lionfish and/or puffer in a reef is definitely possible.
But....its not a course of action I'd suggest. They are by nature more predatory than most other available species....they can contribute more to the bio-load of the filtration than numerous other options...sure it can be done...and it appears some folks have success with them in a reef...i just don't think the option is viable enough to suggest it.....and if a hobbyist does consider taking that type of path I'd strongely urge them to carefully research the decission and weigh the opinions and experience of numerous sources...not just the positive experiences of a few.
no offense intended....but I just can't accept those type fish are a sound option for the majority of reefkeepers.I know without a doubt that its not a stocking choice I'd even remotely consider for my reef.:thinking:
 
druluv

druluv

Member
The Funny thing is that love the way puffer fish look but they seem messy everytime I see them in the LFS. They kick san around and like to bite at every thing. Anyone who's able to keep them I salute you. But I would be scared to take that chance on them.:nervous:
 
1968oldsma

1968oldsma

Member
mine is nipping on the liverock i have and i'm affraid he may have killed one my Turbo snails, he is kind of an

[hr]
he hasnt touched the peppermint shrimp in the tank or the Cleaner shrimp in fact like every hour or so he goes to cleaner shrimp and gets "cleaned" it's a funny thing to see. But i'm just worried that he might get worse and if he goes after my clowns or my Firefish (my fav) i'm going to be very unhappy and get rid of him i might see if someone on here wants to take him off my hands if he gets worse as there is no way i could kill the little guy he's about an inch.
 
O

oreo12

Guest
mine ate the arow crab and saly light foot crab was in there with them for amonth never botherd them then one day boom lunch then another day bam super. Hope yours dont but mine did good luck
 
sweetreef

sweetreef

Active Member
1968 olds they are not fish killers i have the same fish in my tank as you fire fish and true perks the only jerk i have in the tank is my hippo tang if you keep him feed with brine every other day you are in good shape and as fare as the crabs they must have been molted..I have never seen one kill a crab yet but like i say its a hit and miss type thing but olds if he isnt bugging your shrimp you should be just fine...Also fire fish are very fast swimmers and known as jumper as well..
 
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