fw puffer species

[flyhockey1037]

can someone give me a list of freshwater puffer species? and also if u could tell any suitable tankmates, if their are any. it is probably a 2 gallon tank so i would only be putting one or two depending on size.

 

[Flippin'thing bit me eye]

Well in a 2 Gallon the only thing size wise would be a coupl of Pygmy puffers

 

[Pufferpack]

Hi flyhockey1037

Ftbme is right, in a 2 gal you could have 1 maybe 2 Dwarf Puffers - Tetraodon travancoricus...in a 10 gal you could go with about 6 Dwarfs, or 2 South Americans - Colomesus asellus...in a 20 gal, maybe 10 Dwarfs, or 4 S/A's, or 1 Red Eye Puffer - Carinotetraodon lortedi.

One of the problems with housing puffers is that you can't go by the 1 inch of fish per gal of water guideline, they are generally very territorial and intolerant of tankmates, for example if you put 2 Red-eye puffers in a 20 gal tank, even though they only grow to about 2 or 3 inches, one would surely kill the other in a territory dispute.

No matter what type of puffer you chose to get, choosing tankmates is a gamble, some may work well for a while, but get chewed up as the puffers mature. You will need to be able to relocate tankmates at the first sign of trouble or you will lose them.

Some of the other FW species I've seen in the lfs are Target Puffer - Tetraodon leiurus, Pignose Puffer - Tetraodon suvattii , Fahaka Puffer - Tetraodon lineatus, and Avocado Puffers - Tetraodon cutcutia ...all very aggressive and best kept in a Species only tank.

 

[Flippin'thing bit me eye]

Pufferpack, what besides the colomesus works in a community tank of african river system cichlids?

 

[flyhockey1037]

my lfs has dwarf puffers and they tell me that they are brackish water species. is there some freshwater dwarfs and some brackish dwarfs?

 

[Pufferpack]

Pufferpack, what besides the colomesus works in a community tank of african river system cichlids

Other than Colomesus, any of the FW puffers would probably cause trouble with Cichlids. That being said you could luck out with the personality and get one that actually pals around with your other fish. If you can find some try for the Tetraodon leiurus or Tetraodon cutcutia, they would be good size wise.
Any of the puffer species (including Colomesus) can range in personality from Psycho to Wuss, Colomesus asellus being predominantly on the Wuss end of the spectrum while Tetraodon lineatus is mostly in the Psycho range, but I have read posts from Fahaka keepers that their puffers got on well with any non-puffers in the tank. Whatever you decide to try, be sure to keep a spare tank around in case of trouble.

my lfs has dwarf puffers and they tell me that they are brackish water species. is there some freshwater dwarfs and some brackish dwarfs?

Your lfs (like so many others) is either mis-informed or have mis-identified their puffers (or are immitating Fly's Avitar). the Dwarf Indian Puffer - Tetraodon travancoricus is the only real Dwarf puffer (although there is debate over Carniotetraodon - Dwarf Immitator, but it is thought to be a variation of Tetraodon at this time) , reaching a max of 1 3/4 inches when full grown, and is definately a FW puffer, they can survive BW, but not for extended periods of time. I will lay odds that they will have no live Dwarfs in that lfs in 2 months unless they climatize them to FW, and anyone who buys one and keeps it in BW at home will be looking for new fish soon