Gsp Tankmates

[justinp]

Just thought Id let everyone who gave me ideas on a tankmate for my single GSP (in the 40g tank) that two days ago I wanted to find out how aggressive my puffer was before I bought anything, so I decided to introduce two black mollies and monitor the tank closley. Well I expected the GSP to attack the poor mollies immediatley, and was ready to rescue them but it never happened...They have now been together a few days and not even the slightest nip. (Although it has only been two days). The mollies actually follow the Puffer around the tank and he doesnt seem to mind. The puffer didnt mind them eating with him. He even was sleeping under a log this morning beside one of them when I woke up! So anyways Im guessing he is not too aggressive! We will see...

Has anyone had GSPs like this before? Is this common?

The other thing about him, is he is very, very shy. I can barley approach the tank without him hiding, unless I have food!

Thanks Again!

 

[robbhp]

ever GSP i have had has been like this, the only time i have had problems is if the fish is smaller than the puffer or move along the bottom of the tank ie catfish type fish, other than that i think they have go a bad name. dont know how they get when they get older. hpe this helps

 

[justinp]

Yeah, I should have mentioned that I have never had problems with them being to aggressive when young but this one is getting pretty big...I was worried. The mollies are much smaller than him. Maybe a third the size. He could kill them if he wanted.

 

[robbhp]

just keep him well feed

 

[justinp]

yeah he is well fed, but these are territorial fish, who generally dont like other tankmates...A guy I know at my local shop, has a 4 year old GSP who killed one of his Monos a while back. The Mono was cornered, and the Puffer just kept biting its fins, head and body...Apparently the Mono lived a few days after the attack. The guy told me though that he had three Monos and the puffer in a 50g tank and it was just too small. So I have heard some pretty bad stories about keeping these guys with tankmates when they reach adult or close to adult size.

 

[nmonks]

What you're reporting is the fundamental problem with puffers as community fish: they're unpredictable.

None of the traded species is 100% reliable as a community fish. South American puffers, for example, are said to be peaceful, and mine certainly are towards one another and as far as aggression goes. But while they ignore most tankmates, slow moving species, like Corydoras, do get nipped. On the other hand, I have red-tail puffers, that are often said to be aggressive fin-nippers, yet mine have only become outgoing and settled in after I added a school of cardinal tetras. Before then, they hid all the time, and now they swim about quite happily.

You will read reports of people with fahaka puffers that attack everything, and others with fahakas that get along fine with other community fish. Likewise with mbu puffers; most are peaceful, but some are psychotic. GSPs and figure-8s have a similar reputation.

I think the single biggest factor (apart from the sex of the fish) is the environment. Every time I have kept puffers, I have kept them in busy, arguably overstocked, aquaria with lots of plants and other decorative items. My rationale is that the more a puffer has to do, the less bored it gets, and a bored pufferfish, like a bored dog, is the one that will cause trouble.

On the other hand, you will also hear reports of fish that are peaceful when young but fierce when mature. Some GSPs in particular seem to be like this. This is one reason that, when choosing puffers for big brackish community tanks, I tend to recommend some of the Arothron spp rather than Tetraodon species. Though Arothron spp are territorial towards one another, they are reliably peaceful towards other large tankmates.

Cheers,

Neale

PS. In this month's PFK magazine, I have an article about pufferfish behaviour that you might find interesting.

 

[AMS]

PS. In this month's PFK magazine, I have an article about pufferfish behaviour that you might find interesting.

Looking forward to it