Wesgilroy Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 What would you suggest for tank mates for pea puffers? Ide like to get a few different schooling fish but dont know which ones wont harm the puffers and that the puffers wont hurt also. Im going planted tank 180gallon cave on one side spindly logs in middle and a forest of tall plants on other side. And microsword or other carpeting plant over the bottom of majority of tank. Sorry if theres alot of info wanted give you idea of tank incase it matters with what fish would work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roko Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 Watch some puffer videos from aquarium co-op. Long story short best tank mate is no tank mate for them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wesgilroy Posted November 21, 2020 Author Share Posted November 21, 2020 I have and will watch more just seen others having community tanks with them in it thought with large tank might help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roko Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 It can be done but there is one thing you need to remember it could go well and it could go horribly wrong. Thing is if puffers are territorial and you add bunch of other fish with them they will probably go in "shy mode" or "aggression mode" in both ways you will not enjoy them. So my advice do community tank in 180 gallons and if you want them enough get one 20gallon tank and keep few of them there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RovingGinger Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 I have mine in a 40 with guppies, platies, and mollies. He is not aggressive towards them and is not overly shy. He was very shy when in his own tank, but oddly (and admittedly against most advice) he came out of his shell more in the community tank. There are plenty of hiding spots but he can also zoom anywhere he wants and no one is dumb enough to pick on him. If he runs out of snails and gets ambitious the tank is full of fry. I recently bought four more but they are like 1/4th his size so for now they live with a guppy colony as they put on some size. We will see what it looks like when they are a little bigger; they look to be a different variant so I’m not sure if they’ll play nicely with original puffer or have to be their own group somewhere else. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 12 minutes ago, RovingGinger said: He was very shy when in his own tank, but oddly (and admittedly against most advice) he came out of his shell more in the community tank. I have had the same experience with shy fish. Most recently I had little pygmy sunfish in their own species tank where they were ne'er to been seen. But as soon as I moved the pygmy sunfish to a community aquarium, suddenly they were out and about frolicking and showing off in the central open area of the aquarium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RovingGinger Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 Think my extroverted friends will get mad if I refer to them as my dither friends? 🤓 1 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wesgilroy Posted November 21, 2020 Author Share Posted November 21, 2020 Thank you for feedback Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wesgilroy Posted November 21, 2020 Author Share Posted November 21, 2020 Well if mixing not good how many pea puffers can i have in a 180 gallon without over stocking my tank? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roko Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 @Wesgilroy One pea puffer per 3 gallons sooo 60 of them 😬 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roko Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 You could check some bigger puffer fishes for that size of tank really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wesgilroy Posted November 21, 2020 Author Share Posted November 21, 2020 I was also contrmplating the congo spotted puffer but not sure my pet stores here in saskatchewan has them yet. Right now im trying do as much research as possible. Any suggestions on puffers that are hardy and good for new puffer owner? Ive had many fish before mostly cichlids and or piranha though. I liked the pea puffer for the size and didnt have worry over much with getting teeth grind down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquachris Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 I have 6 in a 20 gallon right now, and they seem happy as, peas. 🙂 I had them in a 10 gallon quarantine and they just got out of jail/quarantine. There is a cull shrimp and 4 guppy babies I could not get out for my life before they went in.. still see those babies tho (granted they've only been together a few days). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mynameisnobody Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 @Wesgilroyroughly 60 would be the max in a 180, however with that much room, I’d imagine you could have a thriving bottom dweller colony (plecos, corys, loaches, etc), if you kick back to about 40 pea puffers (41 if you’re Dean). I’ve never done this, so someone please correct me if I’m dead wrong, but I’d plant it fairly heavily and it could be tremendous with patience. I did have 6 pea puffers in a 20 high planted and they were cool amongst each other, but they’re mellow ways ended there as far as tank mates. The problem I had with that aquarium was that there was nothing to roam around and eat the left over food. The above stocking idea would eliminate the problems I was having with my aquarium. Personally, if I had a 180 and wanted to keep a puffer species, I’d go with a much larger species, most likely a colony of Schoutedeni. However, to each their own and I think you could be on to something pretty cool. Good luck and post your progress, no matter what you decide to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wesgilroy Posted November 22, 2020 Author Share Posted November 22, 2020 Im actually goin do just the pea puffers after all the videos from the spotted congo and the pea puffers i have go with the pea puffers as they just a real nice looking puffer and i think if i go with 20-25 of them in a 180 gallon lots of plants and hiding spots i think it be a nice looking tank. Hopefully i will get lucky and have more females than males for from what ive watched is better cant wait to get everything and get it set up. Appreciate all the advice. Been watching vids for days now trying nail down best filter best fish substrate plants lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wesgilroy Posted November 22, 2020 Author Share Posted November 22, 2020 Hopefully aquarium coop can ship to canada. Hoping to purchase my plants from them and the puffers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ange Posted November 22, 2020 Share Posted November 22, 2020 Aquarium Co-Op doesn't currently ship to Canada, especially not live goods. There are a lot of legal hoops they'd need to go through and the process was delayed a lot by the pandemic. I believe the only products currently available to Canadians online are Easy Green and Easy Root Tabs. If you're able to drive to their store from across the border it's definitely an option, I've heard of a few people doing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wesgilroy Posted November 22, 2020 Author Share Posted November 22, 2020 Well def getting easy green with the auto dispenser for my planted aquarium Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wesgilroy Posted November 22, 2020 Author Share Posted November 22, 2020 Guess will find spot closer for live goods Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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