puffer compatability?

[ctreefer]

Does anyone have any problems with their puffers nipping at other fish in their tank? I’m still trying to figure out my fish selection and I see a lot of sites mentioning this is possible. Specifically for a stars and strips and valentine. Also, would a stars and stripes be too large for a 120 gallon 5’ tank? I’m trying to decide between the dogface, stars and stripes and porcupine. The other inhabitants will be 1 large angel (majestic), 1 small flame angel, six line, purple tang, yellow tang or heniochis and a flame hawk and snowflake eel.

thanks

[XtrmCHoPZ]

Nope. I have problems with my angels nipping at my puffers. Ive never had any puffer nip at other fish and Ive had almost every species thats kept in the hobby. Definitely go with the S&S puffer out of those three, they have lots of personality and look great. And yes I beleive a 5 foot tank would be too small for the entire life of the puffer. But maybe for a while until you upgrade it would be ok. Just as long as the puffer isnt over 12" or so. A 5-6" puffer would be alright in that 120 for a year, maybe a little longer.

[saltyESQ]

you have about the same fish list I have for my 210g. My list fills my 210g, so I think your have way too many fish for a 120g

[tangyreefer05]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8099065#post8099065 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by saltyESQ
you have about the same fish list I have for my 210g. My list fills my 210g, so I think your have way too many fish for a 120g agreed

[ctreefer]

If I were to nix the large puffer and the heniochis/yellow tang do you thing that would be an acceptable fish load for a 120?

[LRS078]

By the way, of the large puffers (arothron genus and spiney's such as porkys) the dogface (A. Nigropunctatus) is the smallest. They never exceed 10" and usually top out around 7-8" in home systems. This is a better fit than most of the rest of the genus that flirts with 18" (and some even more massive). Valentini's are much smaller but are the worst fin nippers I"ve ever had....

Tangs are low bioload/big swimroom fish and just seem to "do better" in tanks 6' and up. The heni will probably do better in the smaller tank than the tang....

A dogface, the majestic, the flame, the 6 line, the flame hawk, and a heni would all be doable if you really had your flow/filtration/LR/etc right. I might worry about a larger SFE trying to eat the 6 line down the road but that's minor.

Hope this helps....

PS check out fishbase for full grown sizes on the fish you are interested in....

[hcahan]

The dog face is a wonderful choice. I also am a big fan of the porc. They do get a bit bigger and have a larger bioload secondary to massive messy eating , but they do not swim around much so tank lenght is less of an issue. I have never had either my dog face or my porc nip anyone. My hippo tang however nips everyone and drives us all crazy. The Porc use to live in a tank with a dwarf angel, a SFE and a yellow tang....with no problems. I worry a bit about the 6 line becoming snack for either a puffer or the SFE. The rest of the list looks good. However IMO: yellow tangs are very pretty but sort of a pain in the butt. Just a thought.

[LRS078]

well said hcahan..... If there is a nervous/unhappy tang, everyone ends up unhappy/nervous. They "externalize" I believe is the nice way of saying it.... Had a powder blue tang that was just the devil around any other tang or non predator fish. (total bully) That fish just made everyone else stressed by dashing/zipping about when in a good mood and doing the "shakira" hip/peduncle slap moves on anything when it was in a bad mood. When nobody got any peace that were its tankmates (and after my purple tang gashed the @#$%& out of her) we got her all healed up in QT and then traded on a miniatus.

Most puffers don't naturally eat live fish (test biting something like a silverside laying on the bottom being a totally different issue) but its never out of the question. The smaller you introduce the puffer, ie when its closer in size to the 6 line, the better the longterm odds are. If they grow up together things work much better.

[XtrmCHoPZ]

I definitely agree with LRS078- most puffers DO NOT eat live fish. I think its bad practice for anyone to try and "feed" live damsels to puffers, like a LFS around here does. Puffers teeth are ment for crushing inverts, coral, etc. not fish. Like LRS078 said, especially if they grow up together, the porc probably will not bother the sixline. However eels are a different story....Ive had SFE take out fish before, even when they were well fed, so be careful.

[freewilly2]

can i keep a dog face and a porc together?

[XtrmCHoPZ]

Yes, but remember that each individual fish is different. Most of the time porkys and dogfaces get along fine.

[hcahan]

As, I said above...I have both a porc and dog face...they cuddle up under the same rock at night. It's very cute. IF you get them small and raise them together (much like LRS078 mentioned wtht eh 6 line) you should be okay.