pufferfish in a reef??

[Thegrumpyfish]

Ok so i have a 200 gallon tank that ive had running for about 3 months now and my mother in law got me a puffer fish. I was planning on setting up a reef tank the question i have is are they only considered a non reef safe fish because they will eat all the inverts or will they eat corals and polys? The only fish i have so far is a puffer three damsels and three hermits.

 

[Terrance]

what kind of puffer is it? Some SW puffers are more likely to chew up your reef than others; however, puffers are generally NOT reef safe.

 

[Thegrumpyfish]

Its a porcupine puffer its so ugly its cute

 

[Terrance]

Man I want one of those puffs They are so awesome looking lol.

Yeah those puffers will get larger and kill your reef.

 

[Greenturtle]

I had an F8 puffer (in a brackish tank) and loved him, but I think you need to either return him, give it to a friend, or make it a FOWLR tank

 

[Terrance]

Those porks are worth around $50 depending on size. Good luck finding him a new home or redoing your tank. I know my LFS won't give me store credit for returns.

 

[FTMMWS]

He won't harm any corals ,,maybe bump into them or move em,but won't nip and eat them like an angel would..
They are considered non reef safe because all your inverts will be gone...
I say keep em

 

[Terrance]

He won't harm any corals ,,maybe bump into them or move em,but won't nip and eat them like an angel would..
They are considered non reef safe because all your inverts will be gone...
I say keep em

You guarantee his pork won't nip on some expensive corals?

 

[FTMMWS]

You guarantee his pork won't nip on some expensive corals?

well nothing is a guarantee in this hobby ,,so obviously, no i don't...,but think its a lot less likely than an angel nipping...

 

[Thegrumpyfish]

Well i was planning on keeping him but i wanted to know what to expect because as of right now i have no corals in my tank i guess that if i do put any in ill have to stay on the cheaper side also im watching my hermits like a hawk and the day he eats one im getting 12 more to replace it just so it wont wipe out my cuc

 

[Thegrumpyfish]

One other thing i was wondering is how big will this beast get

 

[FTMMWS]

One other thing i was wondering is how big will this beast get

Its hard to say ,,probably 9-10 inches ..
Plus CUC's are just a novelty IMO,i haven't had one in years

 

[Thegrumpyfish]

Ok i was told the fish store said about 18inches but i didnt believe thanks for the input

 

[Thegrumpyfish]

Update i still have my puffer and it seems to be doing great not nipping at my other fish i havent added any corals or polys yet as i dont have the proper lighting for them (all in good time) he has left all the hermits alone and also left all the snails alone he is eating whole large uncooked shrip, clams on the half shell, and krill on a rotating schedule i added around 13 snails of them only have like 9 left (hermits thought they were for them) love my puffer he knows me already and almost able to hand feed thanks again for all the great advice iv recieved

 

[Terrance]

I lost track of this thread. Porks usually grow to ~8inches in captivity since tanks are way too small for these fish. Many larger porks are caught in the wild and brought into captivity. If your pork grow larger than 8-9inches, then you're doing a good job raising/feeding him.

Good update. The young porks are usually less aggressive than the full grown ones. For more info, here is a good article on porks:
The Puffer Forum • View topic - Marine Puffer Care and Information

 

[Thegrumpyfish]

I just took video of my puffer being "hand fed" is there a way to post videos to this forum or would i have to post a link to it???

 

[Terrance]

upload the video on youtube. then you can copy and paste the direct link into your posting for instant videos.

 

[Thegrumpyfish]

Mmmk ill try it when i have access to computer probably some time tomorrow thanks