Which Puffer

[Amber]

I bought a 3ft tank (20Gallon) on the advise of my lfs to house a mbu puffer that I had seen and fallen for - after researching the fish Ive found that the tank is in fact too small (i hadn't bought the fish yet)
So now im stuck with an empty tank, I wanted to ask what species of puffer (if any) would be suited to my tank, brackish or freshwater. I won't have room to upgrade the tank at a later date so it must be suitable for the lifespan of any fish that go in there.
My lfs shop has mbu - Topaz- green spotted - spotted - redeye - Figure8 but I know there a lot more about and if any were suitable Im sure I could find them.

 

[Pufferpunk]

Check out the Puffer List for ideas.

 

[ingo_1978]

That size tank would suit a green spotted puffer best.

 

[Amber]

Thanks for the replys ive been off doing a bit of reseach

In regards to the filtration - the tank is a Juwel with the internal box filter already in, will this be suffcient (sp?) for a puffer tank - its quiet good as I have another that holds 3 fancy goldfish & the water quality stays good as long as I do weekly water changes which I do with all my tanks anyway.

What do you think?

 

[ingo_1978]

Puffers are very messy eaters and very sensitive to ammonia and nitrites. I'm not sure myself on how good Juwel filters are but I would recommend getting an extra filter, as double the filtration is recommended for puffers. It's better to be safe than sorry.

 

[Amber]

Ok thanks ingo_1978

Lots to think about I wanna be really sure before I choose one. I read pufferpunks link - I can't beleive my LFS told me 3foot for a mbu, that link says 1000 gallons, how bad is that

 

[jflowers]

Standard jewel filters are designed for average stocking of average fish and are good for that. Messy fish need more, I would reccomend keeping the jewel filter as is and adding a decent external, fluval 204/ehiem ecco that you can get quite cheap. These external filters are very versatile and can be filled with your own choice of media, but the ehiem/fluval bio medias are quite good.

LOL, a mbu would probably be ok in a 3' tank for a couple of weeks. GSP or F8 is what I would go for, but then I am biased.

Jon

 

[Amber]

LOL, a mbu would probably be ok in a 3' tank for a couple of weeks.

Shame because they had loads of young 'uns in and im sure the adverage person on the street aint gonna be able to provide them with a 1000 gallon tank!


I must admit im rather taken with the F8 - just gotta convince other half that i need more fish stuff!! (ie. external filter) shouldn't be too hard as the XBox 360 (he aint stopped talking about it ) is due out soon so im sure he'll wanna keep me sweet

 

[pica_nuttalli]

they must've meant the puffer was 3' in diameter. actual mbu puffers get HUGE! but aren't they sooo pretty...

In a 3' you could try keeping several S. American Puffers (Colomesus Asellus). They're cute and friendly... (<-- I'm biased too )

 

[Pufferpunk]

Shame because they had loads of young 'uns in and im sure the adverage person on the street aint gonna be able to provide them with a 1000 gallon tank!

Poor puffers! 1 of the many "tankbusters" that belong where they came from, not in most folk's tanks!