10-gallon Brackish Tank?

[piranha_trader]

Just wanted to hear from the resident experts and anyone else who'd like to chime in here but I purchased a standard 10 gallon tank for my office desktop for the purpose of getting a few puffers and adding them. Ive been a freshwater puffer fan since I was a kid but my hobbyist activities have really been off and on. Great site though with a lot of info so Im grateful.

Anyways,it looks like I'll have to make it brackish if I want them to be really happy but is it not possible to keep these fish happy in just a 10 gallon even if I limit the population to maybe 2 puffers most with maybe one or two gobies?

Im kinda bummed after finding and reading this site b/c any tank w/o the puffers would be a bit of a let down. Im a saltwater hobbyist naturally I think. Oh well....


Also...the info out there seems to be conflicted but anyone have a typical puffer lifespan?

TIA

 

[nmonks]

I'm slightly confused why you think a tank for puffers has to be freshwater. There are several species of Carinotetraodon that are strictly freshwater and would do well in a 10 gallon tank, C. imitator and C. travancoricus for example. Some people keep the larger Carinotetraodon in 10 gallon tanks, and while I have found a pair of C. irrubesco tolerated such quarters, they are much less shy, and much less snappy towards one another, in a slightly bigger aquarium.

Anyway, assuming you still want a 10 gallon brackish tank, then the best options are gobies, which you could then mix with suitable invertebrates such as nerites and shrimps. Small halfbeaks (Dermogenys spp., no males!), Endler guppies, and killifish (such as Oryzias or Aplocheilichthys spp.) could be added as well. At SG 1.003-1.005 you could easily plant the tank with slow-growing species like Anubias, Java moss, and Java fern, or else you could opt for a "mini-reef" look by using tufa rock, seashells, barnacles, and so on.

I wouldn't recommend keeping any of the brackish water puffers in a 10 gallon tank. The figure-8 puffer is quite active as well as a fair size, and really needs a 20 gallon tank.

I'm not a big fan of 10 gallon tanks except for breeding tanks and specialist fish. They are really too small for most fish, and usually end up overstocked and unstable.

Puffers are fairly long lived. You can comfortably except the dwarf species to live 5+ years, and the medium sized species like GSPs to live for upwards of 10 years. Under good conditions, the bigger species such as Arothron spp. appear to live for 20-30 years. In other words, they're comparable to cichlids of similar size. This all varies of course, and water quality and water chemistry have a big influence on longevity.

Cheers, Neale

 

[dale_d_h]

i would recommend that only small fish be kept in a 10 gallon tank. you will find that a brackish puffer will quickly out grow this tank and also get very bored. a well planted freshwater tank with some neons and gobies, maybe a fighting fish, would make a nice piece. but as above, i am not a fan of these "desk top" tanks. thses showed only be used as fry tanks.

 

[piranha_trader]

I'm slightly confused why you think a tank for puffers has to be freshwater. There are several species of Carinotetraodon that are strictly freshwater and would do well in a 10 gallon tank, C. imitator and C. travancoricus for example. Some people keep the larger Carinotetraodon in 10 gallon tanks, and while I have found a pair of C. irrubesco tolerated such quarters, they are much less shy, and much less snappy towards one another, in a slightly bigger aquarium.

Anyway, assuming you still want a 10 gallon brackish tank, then the best options are gobies, which you could then mix with suitable invertebrates such as nerites and shrimps. Small halfbeaks (Dermogenys spp., no males!), Endler guppies, and killifish (such as Oryzias or Aplocheilichthys spp.) could be added as well. At SG 1.003-1.005 you could easily plant the tank with slow-growing species like Anubias, Java moss, and Java fern, or else you could opt for a "mini-reef" look by using tufa rock, seashells, barnacles, and so on.

I wouldn't recommend keeping any of the brackish water puffers in a 10 gallon tank. The figure-8 puffer is quite active as well as a fair size, and really needs a 20 gallon tank.

I'm not a big fan of 10 gallon tanks except for breeding tanks and specialist fish. They are really too small for most fish, and usually end up overstocked and unstable.

Puffers are fairly long lived. You can comfortably except the dwarf species to live 5+ years, and the medium sized species like GSPs to live for upwards of 10 years. Under good conditions, the bigger species such as Arothron spp. appear to live for 20-30 years. In other words, they're comparable to cichlids of similar size. This all varies of course, and water quality and water chemistry have a big influence on longevity.

Cheers, Neale

Thanks Neale for taking the time to post all that info. Very much appreciated. Carinotetraodon that you referred to.... is that the dwarf puffer species? Id never heard or seen these guys before.

 

[nmonks]

Yes, they are some of the species known as "dwarf puffers" among hobbyists. C. travancoricus is quite widely traded under this name, as well as pygmy puffer, pea puffer, Malabar puffer, and various other names. I have an article about various small pufferfish coming out in TFH Magazine some time this autumn, so keep an eye out for that if you want.

Cheers, Neale

Thanks Neale for taking the time to post all that info. Very much appreciated. Carinotetraodon that you referred to.... is that the dwarf puffer species? Id never heard or seen these guys before.