Figure-8 Puffer In A Community Tank?

[TheChards]

Hi everyone,

I would absolute love to keep Figure-8 Puffers. However, from what I’ve read, it sounds as though they do best in a dedicated tank which is not really going to be possible for me as my wife wouldn’t let me get another tank in our flat. So, I’m wondering about the possibility of adding either one or two of these puffers to a 120-litre (33 US gallon) community tank.

I’ve read (here) that they’re best kept alone or possibly with a single Bumblebee Goby as a tankmate as long as there is adequate decoration to break up the line of sight and more than enough caves etc for there to be at least one hiding place each. In conditions such as this, they can (apparently) live for anything up to 18 years! However, I’ve also read (here) that some have kept these puffers in their community tanks with fish including tetras, Angelfish and even Bettas without any fin-nipping. As with most things, I guess it depends on the individual temperament of the fish...

Does anyone here have any thoughts about this, or better still, any experience of keeping Figure-8 Puffers in a community tank? It seems a bit extreme having a whole tank purely for a 3” fish and possibly a 1.8” Bumblebee Goby as a tankmate but this is what I’ll do, some day, if this is what it takes to keep one of these beautiful fish in a healthy and happy way. And how big would such a tank have to be by the way; I’m guessing it will have to be considerably bigger than 4.8 US gallons, perhaps about 60-litres (16 US gallons)?

Many thanks,
Dan

 

[nmonks]

Figure-8 puffers shouldn't be kept in anything smaller than 90 litres (a bit over 20 US gallons). They're too active and too sensitive to water quality issues to be kept in smaller aquarium. While the 18-year lifespan is likely an exaggeration, they can certainly live for 5-10 years if kept properly. Low salinity brackish water conditions are required, between SG 1.003-1.008. They are not healthy if maintained in a freshwater aquarium. This has been argued repeatedly, and the consensus among expert fishkeepers is that these fish require brackish water. You will see this reported in all modern books, my own included.

The Aquahobby web site is hopeless. The reports are not consistent in their quality or edited by anyone knowledgeable about the fish in question. It's the Wikipedia of fishkeeping. On the page you link to, the last report mentioning 10 cm puffers in a marine tank is almost certainly not about figure-8 puffers (Tetraodon biocellatus) but about one of the green spotted puffers, like Tetraodon fluviatilis, which does, sometimes, have very similar colouration. While I do use the site occasionally to read different reports on particular fish, I always take whatever is written with a huge pinch of salt.

I'll make a general statement here: If setting up a single, fairly big tank for just one fish doesn't appeal, don't keep pufferfish. While there are some species that do well in multi-species set-ups, most don't.

Cheers, Neale

 

[TheChards]

Thanks for your quick response Neale, that was just what I was after.

Looks like I shall just have to keep waiting!

Dan

 

[nmonks]

I would suggest that you look out for Carinotetraodon irrubesco. It's a very peaceful species, and while it would be foolish to mix this species with long-finned things such as guppies or angels, in my experience it is perfectly well behaved with active, schooling fish. Cardinal tetras for example would work in a tanks around the 45-90 litre mark, while something at least 60 cm in length could be home to a school of danios. They also work well alongside small suckermouth catfish, for example clown plecs or the excellent Parotocinclus jumbo, and could be kept with Corydoras too.

Male and female Carinotetraodon irrubesco are easily distinguished, and if so long as you don't keep more than one male per tank, it's essentially a non-aggressive, not particularly nippy freshwater puffer. It's a shame that it isn't more commonly traded, though the better stores do get them in fairly regularly. The only real downside is that it is quite shy, but once settled and if not kept in too small a tank (consider 90 litres the minimum, to be honest) they do become more outgoing. My specimens (in a 180-litre tank) swim about in the front begging for food, despite being much smaller than the tetras and glassfish they're kept with.

Cheers, Neale

Thanks for your quick response Neale, that was just what I was after.

 

[wesblog]

I had my puffer in my 46g community tank for a couple days while I set up a dedicated tank for him.
The tank is kept around 1.002 salinity because it has a couple archers.

He lived peacefully with:
archers
tiger barbs

He terrorized:
gourami
bichir

He was terrorized by:
acei cichlids (not in my community tank)

That's just my experience. I'm sure a dedicated tank would be optimal, but you could probably keep most fish that could tolerate low brackish conditions and are speedy (do not sit still often) with a f8 puffer.

 

[TheChards]

Thanks again Neale, that's given me a lot to think about.

I'm hoping that I'll still be able to persuade my wife (some day) to let me keep a third tank which I can keep a single Figure-8 puffer in. But if I can't I shall look into what you've suggested. In your view, is it a good idea to attempt to keep a Bumblebee Goby with one of these or she he/ she be left alone?

Thanks again,
Dan

 

[nmonks]

Figure-8s do seem to get along consistently well with bumblebee gobies (or for that matter any other small goby species, like rhinohorn gobies or Australian desert gobies, the latter being especially hardy and easy to keep/breed). Provided you allow a couple of gallons per goby, they work well in groups, and given a bunch of snail shells (escargot shells are ideal) you can have a colony of gobies that add interest to the figure-8 pufferfish aquarium.

For whatever reason, the fairer sex do seem to fall in love with pufferfish, and figure-8s are especially outgoing and attractive animals. So if keeping your senior officer happy is important, figure-8s are actually a pretty good investment.

Cheers, Neale

 

[jennybugs]

For whatever reason, the fairer sex do seem to fall in love with pufferfish, and figure-8s are especially outgoing and attractive animals. So if keeping your senior officer happy is important, figure-8s are actually a pretty good investment.

Cheers, Neale

I couldn't agree more! I adore puffers (it's the smiley faces) and my F8s are still my favourites

 

[TheChards]

What setup do you have for your F8s? Do you keep them by themselves? What size tank are they in?

 

[lokkochaa]

What setup do you have for your F8s? Do you keep them by themselves? What size tank are they in?

Ive just set up a species only tank for F8's, got wood and a number of plants, slightly brackish and they seem happy as larry!!!

Ive had numerous puffers but always come back to the F8's think its the fact they are relitively small (compared to say a palambang) and very active

 

[jennybugs]

What setup do you have for your F8s? Do you keep them by themselves? What size tank are they in?

140L tank with an internal and big external filter. Fake mangrove root with silkplants and livemoss balls. Sand media with lace rock cavework for the gobies.

2 F8s with 9 gobies. See my tanks thread for pics

 

[Little Fish]

It is a hit and miss putting other fishes with puffers. I had 2 bumblebee gobies with 3 F8s in a 29 gallon tank for a couple of weeks without problems. Then one day when I came back from work, 1 goby is dead and the other...well lost half of it's body. I have to say that bumblebee goby was a tough fish, it was still moving around with only half a body remaining. From that point on I stop trying to put any other fish species in the tank.

 

[simonas]

It is a hit and miss putting other fishes with puffers. I had 2 bumblebee gobies with 3 F8s in a 29 gallon tank for a couple of weeks without problems. Then one day when I came back from work, 1 goby is dead and the other...well lost half of it's body. I have to say that bumblebee goby was a tough fish, it was still moving around with only half a body remaining. From that point on I stop trying to put any other fish species in the tank.

my figure of 8 puffer gets on very well with my 2 knight gobies and 2 waspfish.

They are great fish to watch especially at feeding time when they go nuts for food!!!

 

[Little Fish]

my figure of 8 puffer gets on very well with my 2 knight gobies and 2 waspfish.

They are great fish to watch especially at feeding time when they go nuts for food!!!

I'm pondering may be because I make them "hunt" every 2 weeks so they are a little bit aggressive. I feed them crayfish every 2 weeks to keep their teeth trimmed. Two F8s will take turn attack from the left and right while the third will only watch until some easy picking moments come. Every F8 has its own personality and they seem to form a hierarchy like a wolf pack, kind of evident during a "hunt". Definitely very smart and lovable fishes.

 

[jennybugs]

Mine hunt for their live food every day in the form of glass shrimp and snails. They even hunt down bloodworm