Punks.......

[jonnyuk]

i'm debating whether to put a pair of punks in my 20gal, currently has a small calvus and danio's, would like some shellies as well. i know a few members have punks and have read and read about them. from what i can gather they swim all over the tank, will spawn in shells if provided or caves. when spawning the male can be very agressive to tank mates but generally ok, this is all good and well but i want know from members who keep them,

1: how much space do they actually take up (in terms of tank real estate)

2: where do they spend most of their time (open water, substrate, rocks, caves)

3: aggression towards shellies and cavlus

4: if i have an area for shellies will the punks try and take this over at spawning

5: when spawning how aggressive are they?

any info much appreciated.

 

[elisew]

i'm debating whether to put a pair of punks in my 20gal, currently has a small calvus and danio's, would like some shellies as well. i know a few members have punks and have read and read about them. from what i can gather they swim all over the tank, will spawn in shells if provided or caves. when spawning the male can be very agressive to tank mates but generally ok, this is all good and well but i want know from members who keep them,

1: how much space do they actually take up (in terms of tank real estate)

2: where do they spend most of their time (open water, substrate, rocks, caves)

3: aggression towards shellies and cavlus

4: if i have an area for shellies will the punks try and take this over at spawning

5: when spawning how aggressive are they?

any info much appreciated.

You honestly won`t regret it if you were to add a pair of punks but I would advise trying to get a male and female that are already paired off. Just because you buy a pair it doesn`t neccesarily mean they`ll actually be 'a pair'.

To answer your questions:
1: If you look at the photo below, the middle section of the tank between the rocks is the area that the punks have claimed but it could be a smaller area in a smaller tank, I have a lot of upper level swimmers so the punks are pretty much left alone.

2: My punks spend most of the time in the open middle section around the shells, but they do occasionally swim around the edges of the ocean rock.

3: Aggression is very low, both male and female give the others a bit of a nip or shove IF they come too close to the shells but there is nothing to cause any concern.

4: Providing you give the punks plenty of their own shells it`s unlikely that they`ll attempt to take the shells from other shellies you keep. I never had any problems between the multies and punks at all.

5: Again, even during spawning the punks aren`t overly aggressive, they will give a shove or nip if any other the others come too close but there`s nothing of any concern.



Photo of my tank, the middle section is the punks territory:

 

[doresy]

I have a couple of small ones and they are all over the place. I do not have shells (but may get some) Hope to get some more soon.

 

[bullit]

You might be ok with punks but it might be pushing it if you have shellies aswell. They might compete for the shells but then you might be ok. Id prob go one or the other. Probably the shellies as they are smaller. Then as you have a lot of rockwork, maybe some julies. I think you want punks though lol

 

[kiriyama]

I had 1 in a 20 gall with 1 juli dickfeldi and 6 young multies, finr with the julie but it gave the multies a hard time, mainly as i didn't have enough rockwork and the tank wasnt laid out so good. Think it would works with a couple of punks and a juli or a couple of punks and a calvus
Very nice fish to have