Mbu Puffer Tank

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mlawson

Excessum ut clementia
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I had an idea of setting up a very large tank which will be suitable to keep a fully grown Mbu puffer in the long term. I was thinking about a tank which is 8ft long by 4ft wide by 3ft high, which contains roughly 700 US gallons. There would be a large sump for filtration. Also the glass would have to be pretty thick.

The question is would a smaller Mbu puffer be OK in such a large tank? For example it seems a bit stupid keeping a 5 inch puffer in a 700 gallon tank and highly impractical, so I guess I'll start with a smaller tank and give it something bigger as it grows.

Also, if we picked a very friendly, non-aggressive specimin, are there any tankmates we could keep them with, like some fast moving predatory fish?

This is really an idea (so don't get your hopes up) and isn't that likely to happen.

Cheers,
Mike

EDIT: I forgot to mention that the 700 gallon tank could be used straight away if we rehomed a fully sized puffer.
 
I think something like 8x4x2 wouldn't be unreasonable, and starting the fish off in the tank that size would mean it would have plenty of space to move.

Sure, I'd probaby add a sump.
 
It would have a lot of room to move.
I've never really kept large tanks before, for water changes I guess yo'd use a pump, does anyone know which type of pump is good to get?
 
i dont know about fast moving fish but my lfs has plecs and mbu"s together.
 
I have a 1500 litre tank, nowhere near as large as your proposed tank but my water changes are done by Eheim 1262 pump, makes short work of 400 litre water changes bi-weekly

I think you would be best to go with the bigger tank to begin with and let the puffer grow, my own opinion with this is
1. If you keep upgrading and upgrading it is dead money in the end and you have spent more than you need to
2. Bigger tanks with big filtration means more stable conditions for the fish
3. Bigger tanks look better once the fish has grown.

Just a couple of things, how are you going to choose a pleasant non-aggressive Mbu, we have had one that was in with community fish and it didnt touch one, ( Boris was his name ) and another who would not tolerate any other fish in the tank, both looked the same, it was only when it was in the tank did the differences manifest themselves.

Mbus are much more tolerant then Fahakas and the like but will still have the capability to crunch through anything it takes a liking to

Steve :)
 
Sorry guys, I think the idea of a Mbu is off, when I told my Mum about the idea she thought I meant a 700 litre tank rather than 700 gallons. I must have been mad thinking she would really let me. A single Fahaka puffer or a Lungfish may be an option however.

1000-1500 litres might be a more realistic option.

I really wanted a Mbu :( , But there are other things too :)
 

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