Anyone keep a Valentini toby or its saddled filefish mimic?

[Elysia]

I have what I consider to be an "aggressive" tank... its sort of a joke, considering it sits right next to my goby tank. Currently it has in it a Falco hawkfish, a yellowtail blue damsel, and a Springer's dottyback. There is another tank that the dottyback could be moved to if necessary.

I am very taken by the Valentini toby, the way they move and act, but I am concerned about the toby's potential to be aggressive and its feeding habits. I am interested to know what fish people have housed with this toby, and how the interactions worked out. Did anyone ever have a problem with the beak/teeth of the toby growing too long?

I have never seen the saddled mimic filefish (Paraluteres prionurus) in person. Does anyone out there have one? Are the filefish's actions similar to the toby's? From what I have read, they are less aggressive than the toby (?) Does anyone know what the filefish needs to eat?

Would either fish be safe with leather corals?

I know that each fish is an individual, but I would like to get a better idea about the fish species in general so I can decide if this is a viable route for my tank. Thanks.

[Eklikewhoa]

I had a valentini in my reef tank... only thing it ever bothered was small snails.

Housed in a full blown sps/zoa/softie reef...
Onyx clown pair
Green banded goby pair
Blood fire shrimp pair
Cleaner shrimp
McCosker wrasse
Yashia goby with Randalls pistol shrimp

[fish stalker]

Hi
i have a toby with a black and white morph f/perc, a starry blenny and a springers dottyback plus 2 snails ( turbo, astrea) and 3 small blue leg hermits all in one tank. I also have leather corals and mushrooms in that tank without any issue. I feed my toby small clams in 1/2 shell (frozen) and bits and pieces chopped up from the mix i make for my big dogfacepuffer. I love this little puffer and he was introduced last with only slight aggression from my dottyback. The clown and the puffer are now buddies and often end up sleeping in the same area. Hope that helps.

[Pufferpunk]

These tobies are generally not aggressive & do seem to be reef safe. Mine does love to eat those tiny brittle starfish though & he must be eating a lot of them, because he is always fat!

Chey do need to eat more than flakes, or their teeht will l need to be trimed by their owner. Crustaceons/crunchy foods are a must.

[Umbriel]

I had a valentini puffer. Mine was very peaceful (despite that it's labeled online as 'semi-aggressive') and got bullied by my cherub angel. The angel would bump into him while swimming and he would wobble a bit, but he was fine. I don't know if it would be a good choice for your aggressive tank, but every fish is different.

In my experience, they're probably more coral-safe than invert-safe. I agree with everything that has already said. As for its eating habits, I fed it mysis and brine shrimp and he slurped them up like a child slurps spaghetti. Needless to say, he always was nice and fat.

[LisaD]

I have been interested in the filefish mimic for some time, but never had one. Anyone?

[Elysia]

According to the Scott Michael pocket expert book, the two apparently get confused with one another. My main wonder about the filefish is whether the filefish is less likely to prey upon the inverts in the tank.

I haven't even seen the mimic listed as available from anyone.

[LisaD]

I've seen it occasionally on liveaquaria, not too much money. I don't know if it's less likely to prey on inverts. Some files are pretty predatory.

If you scroll down in the article in this link, you will find some small amount of information.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/filefish.htm

[LisaD]

If you want the file, here it is, under $20:

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+30+1724&pcatid=1724

[Elysia]

I've searched 90 pages of this forum (the last year) and haven't seen my next question addressed: has anyone had any issues w/ a toby and a full sized brittle star? For some reason, I never even thought about it, but I have had a brittle in my tank for over a year now, and it is flourishing. I would hate to have it nipped at -- it is used to living under a live rock and extending its arms to pick up food. Would I be asking for trouble for my brittle star if I added a toby to the tank? Thanks.

[Pufferpunk]

My valentini only eats the tiny brittle stars & mysis shrimp living in my tank. He's the fattest puffer I've ever seen! Never bothers the fire shrimp, larger starfish or urchins. Perfect gentleman around the corals too.

[LisaD]

I've searched 90 pages of this forum (the last year) and haven't seen my next question addressed: has anyone had any issues w/ a toby and a full sized brittle star?

I suspect it's pretty much a non-issue with larger brittle stars, which is why you haven't seen anything... :) I've never even had a full sized puffer go after large brittle stars.

[MatthewLaw]

i had one in a tank with a royal gramma, false perc. everyone got along very well. i added a spotted toby and all hell broke loose. lost most of the tank. so i would suggest only keeping one puffer species per tank UNLESS you have a very large tank (simlar to the one species of clown per tank rule)

[Freed]

Is this the one we're talking about here?:
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+39+260&pcatid=260

[MatthewLaw]

this is the one that caused all the issues in the tank:

http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/ug.php/v/PufferPedia/Marine/C_Papua/nau009dvd035_1_.jpg.html

This is the one that I think we're talking about.

http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/ug.php/v/PufferPedia/Marine/C_Valentini/

[Elysia]

Wonderful (about the brittle star.)
One other question, if I may. I have crustacean legs available for food, but I was wondering if a toby would go for "stuffed shells." I can get lots and lots of empty shells from the LFS, and I could stuff them w/ all kinds of different food: clams, mussels, squid, mysis, etc. Do you guys think this might be worth trying, as the shell might wear down the toby's teeth?
I have read a lot of different opinions about the minimum tank size for a toby, and what size they can grow to. The Scott Michael book says 20 gallons. Other people have said they think a 55 gallon is too small. --?--

[Pufferpunk]

Have you looked at the profile I linked you to? Great feeding articles at that site also, in their Library. Your feeding idea will work too but why not just feed it mussels, clams, etc, in their shell?

[Elysia]

Pufferpunk -- yes, I did look at the link you provided, but it says that they have no experience w/ the Valentini, so I didn't follow up. The toby is so small, even buying frozen food for it... I would be buying such small quantities.

Okay, sorry, I thought of another question. The toby that the LFS is qt-ing for me is about 1 1/2" in length. It doesn't have the blue/teal lines that would suggest that the toby is a male. So, can I comfortably assume that this toby is a female, or is it too early to tell?

[MatthewLaw]

On a side note, pufferpunk is a 'huge' puffer encyclopedia person!!

if you need more help on this puffer, I would suggest going to thepufferforum.com great info there!

For the valentini or really any fish, i would suggest asking the LFS to feed the fish in front of you. then you would know that the fish is eating AND what the fish is eating.

i am a little confused. what is wrong with frozen food?

[Elysia]

Nothing is wrong w/ frozen food. But the LFS doesn't sell shelled clams, and the puffer is only 1 1/2" -- so that means asking the grocery store for a half dozen tiny clams each week.
I looked at thepufferforum species profile on the Valentini, and like I said, they had no captive keeping information on the species. I will have to explore the site further.

[MatthewLaw]

i have used frozen mysis very succesfully..defrost and feed!