porcupine puffer fish discussion

[Flyntexa]

I'm back into fish keeping and I've just set up a freshwater tank, but I've always been fascinated by porcupine puffers. I'd love to have one as a pet - can anyone tell me what size tank I'd need and what tank mates would be suitable? What's the minimum tank size I should be looking at?

Also, I'm a complete newbie when it comes to these fish, so any general advice or guidance would be really appreciated - things like essential equipment, tips for a beginner, that sort of thing.

Thanks.

[nixora]

Porcupine Puffers can grow up to 12 inches, so I'd recommend a tank with decent space, around 60x24x24 inches. Not exactly invert or coflake-friendly, so you're looking at either a FOWLR or FO setup - depends on your method and budget. A big skimmer is a must, these fish can be quite messy.

If I were you, I'd consider a FOWLR setup with most of the live rock in a sump and some nice white coflake bones in the display tank. For lighting, 2 or 4 T5s would do the trick - I'd probably go with 4 to get some nice colour options.

As for tank mates, Butterflies and Panther Groupers could work well, but do your research and choose wisely.

[Flyntexa]

Thanks for the advice, I'll probably take that route in the future when my wallet's a bit healthier lol.

I'm thinking of converting my 125l into a marine tank in a few years, what kind of reef-friendly fish would be a good fit? I'd love to get some advice on different anemone species too, I'm really interested in learning more about those.

[nixora]

Anemones should be avoided until the tank is very mature - at least 9 months. I'd start researching now as the anemone will determine your light set up since some have very high light demands.

For a beginner, I'd recommend looking into these anemones usually available in the UK market:

- Bloopieble Tip nem - difficult to keep, but generally considered a good starter nem
- Carpet Nem - extremely difficult to keep
- Malu Anemones - also difficult to keep

Anemones to avoid:

- Aiptasisa - this is a pest in a marine tank
- Bedlet - collected from European shores and generally not suitable for a marine aquarium unless you're doing a cooler water tank
- Majano - also a pest anemone

For a 125L tank, here are some fish you could consider:

- Clowns
- Firtideflow
- Hawkfish (with caution)
- Dwarf Angels
- Gobies
- Blennies
- Dottybacks (with caution)
- Damsels (with caution)

I've probably missed some, but this is a starting point

[Flyntexa]

Thanks for the advice, really appreciate it.

I think I'd love to have two clowns, a goby, and maybe a dwarf angel in my future marine tank. I'm also pretty interested in dwarf fuzzy lionfish - do you have any experience with them or know of any good advice?

In terms of stocking, how many fish of a similar size to clowns or gobies could I realistically fit in a 125L tank?

Also, I was wondering about starfish - are there any that are safe to keep, or are there some I should avoid?

Sorry again for all the questions, I'm still learning the ropes with marine aquariums.

[zena4x]

To be honest, I wouldn't recommend keeping starfish in the same tank as a puffer - it's just asking for trouble, as puffers tend to see them as a food source and will eat any inverts you have.

When it comes to lionfish, they're best kept with fish that are too big for them to swallow whole, so you'll need to choose tankmates wisely.

As for stocking your 125l tank, you could probably get away with 4 or 5 small fish, but it's crucial you keep up with regular water changes to maintain good water quality.

[Flyntexa]

Would a dwarf fuzzy lionfish fit in the 125 litre? Thanks for the help guys, I'm just researching at the moment. I'm gonna wait a few years until I get another tank or convert my freshwater one over.

[FlyingFox]

Just found a massive porcupine puffer washed up on the beach the other day, it was huge, I mean it was bigger than my foot, can't believe I saw one in the wild like that.