Can I get an amazon puffer?

[NotFishyFishGuy]

hey everyone planning to get a 60 gallon tank and i have always wanted to have puffers other than pea puffers. I’m looking to get amazon puffers since they are smaller and more peaceful. My tank will have guppies, mollies, swordtails, Congo tetras, Siamese algae eaters, golden algae eater, and dwarf gouramis, loaches, and maybe more fish depending on how much space I have. Will an amazon puffer be ok?

 

[SaraB]

They need brackish water I think. Just keep that in mind.

 

[Brookster123]

They're fw. Not necessarily the best community fish. They are constantly moving about. Can be aggressive. I keep some with pea puffers and celestial pearl danios, Cory's. No major issues.

 

[SaraB]

My mistake, I must have been thinking about a different puffer.

 

[Brookster123]

My mistake, I must have been thinking about a different puffer.

There are many types. Amazon are commonly confused with brackish type puffers.

 

[mdjrnc]

I currently have 2 of them in a 20 long with rhinogobius gobies a twig cat and an Indian butterfly catfish. They are super super peaceful. My siamese algae eaters that were in there would actually chase the puffer and stress them out. Defianntly be prepared to trim their teeth with cuticle cutters. I cut my puffers teeth every few months even though I feed lots of snails. I don't use a sedative either. Mine are very comfortable with me and I'm able to hold them in my hand under the water and trup their teeth that way. Be careful though bc if they puff up fully they will die. These are not a pufferfish where it is fun to see them puff up. It will kill them. When I first bought my siamese he was maybe 3/4 of an inch and no problem with the puffers. He got a bit bigger and became one. So i would say for the Amazon pufferfish to keep something that will stay at least three fourths their length. Otherwise mine are super not nippy. Also for your tank I would start with a set of 6 to 8 puffers in a shoal and then maybe add a few smaller catfish species like cories and other small stuff on the bottom and maybe one school of smaller minnow like fish. In all I would do 6 to 8 puffers, maybe 10 cories or kuhlis, and potentially 2 schools of 8 tetras or rasboras each. Nothing to fast moving or nippy though because these puffers are more likely to be nipped than to nip

 

[mdjrnc]

All in all though they are absolutely amazing fish. Just takes a longgggg time to get them. At least where I am I had to wait almost 5 months for the local store to get them in

 

[mdjrnc]

Essentially keep them with anything that is never going to nip or chase the puffer and make sure to have a bottom clean up crew. Also avoid golden algae eaters because they suck. I kept them once and they didn't ever eat algae and they became aggressive against my other fish. Same deal with siamese except they do eat algae.

 

[Leeatl]

I currently have 2 of them in a 20 long with rhinogobius gobies a twig cat and an Indian butterfly catfish. They are super super peaceful. My siamese algae eaters that were in there would actually chase the puffer and stress them out. Defianntly be prepared to trim their teeth with cuticle cutters. I cut my puffers teeth every few months even though I feed lots of snails. I don't use a sedative either. Mine are very comfortable with me and I'm able to hold them in my hand under the water and trup their teeth that way. Be careful though bc if they puff up fully they will die. These are not a pufferfish where it is fun to see them puff up. It will kill them. When I first bought my siamese he was maybe 3/4 of an inch and no problem with the puffers. He got a bit bigger and became one. So i would say for the Amazon pufferfish to keep something that will stay at least three fourths their length. Otherwise mine are super not nippy. Also for your tank I would start with a set of 6 to 8 puffers in a shoal and then maybe add a few smaller catfish species like cories and other small stuff on the bottom and maybe one school of smaller minnow like fish. In all I would do 6 to 8 puffers, maybe 10 cories or kuhlis, and potentially 2 schools of 8 tetras or rasboras each. Nothing to fast moving or nippy though because these puffers are more likely to be nipped than to nip

Sounds like way more trouble than worth . Why do u want a fish that has to have it's teeth trimmed ? Up to u I guess...lol

 

[mdjrnc]

Sounds like way more trouble than worth . Why do u want a fish that has to have it's teeth trimmed ? Up to u I guess...lol

Yeah definently a bit scary at first but once you see these fish and get to enjoy them it is absolutely worth it and not as bad as you would think. Ive had mine for almost 7 months now and will never get rid of these fish. They do live a long time like 10 to 15 years plus.

 

[Brookster123]

They don't have to have their teeth trimmed. Their teeth do need maintenance. I've only had to trim once in 3 years on one of my 3. I add snails monthly.

 

[mdjrnc]

They don't have to have their teeth trimmed. Their teeth do need maintenance. I've only had to trim once in 3 years on one of my 3. I add snails monthly.

What kind of snails do you feed? I use pond snails and I try to feed as much as I can about 20 per week. I also have a population of trumpet snails that they eat sometimes. mine still have needed trimming every 3 months or so.

 

[NotFishyFishGuy]

I currently have 2 of them in a 20 long with rhinogobius gobies a twig cat and an Indian butterfly catfish. They are super super peaceful. My siamese algae eaters that were in there would actually chase the puffer and stress them out. Defianntly be prepared to trim their teeth with cuticle cutters. I cut my puffers teeth every few months even though I feed lots of snails. I don't use a sedative either. Mine are very comfortable with me and I'm able to hold them in my hand under the water and trup their teeth that way. Be careful though bc if they puff up fully they will die. These are not a pufferfish where it is fun to see them puff up. It will kill them. When I first bought my siamese he was maybe 3/4 of an inch and no problem with the puffers. He got a bit bigger and became one. So i would say for the Amazon pufferfish to keep something that will stay at least three fourths their length. Otherwise mine are super not nippy. Also for your tank I would start with a set of 6 to 8 puffers in a shoal and then maybe add a few smaller catfish species like cories and other small stuff on the bottom and maybe one school of smaller minnow like fish. In
all I would do 6 to 8 puffers, maybe 10 cories or kuhlis, and potentially 2 schools of 8 tetras or rasboras each. Nothing to fast moving or nippy though because these puffers are more likely to be nipped than to nip

What about the other fish that I already have? I have seen some tanks with amazon puffers and guppies before... wow 6 of them? Could I even fit that many? So 6 amazon puffers, 3 mollies, 3 swordtails, 3 Siamese algae eaters, 5 guppies, 4 or 5 dwarf gouramis, 2 golden algae eaters (will return them if they get to aggressive), 6 kuhli loaches in a 60 gallon 36x20x20 (lxwxh) tank?

 

[NotFishyFishGuy]

What about the other fish that I already have? I have seen some tanks with amazon puffers and guppies before... wow 6 of them? Could I even fit that many? So 6 amazon puffers, 3 mollies, 3 swordtails, 3 Siamese algae eaters, 5 guppies, 4 or 5 dwarf gouramis, 2 golden algae eaters (will return them if they get to aggressive), 6 kuhli loaches in a 60 gallon 36x20x20 (lxwxh) tank?

I will be running a fluval g3 filter and a fluval u2 internal filter.

 

[mdjrnc]

What about the other fish that I already have? I have seen some tanks with amazon puffers and guppies before... wow 6 of them? Could I even fit that many? So 6 amazon puffers, 3 mollies, 3 swordtails, 3 Siamese algae eaters, 5 guppies, 4 or 5 dwarf gouramis, 2 golden algae eaters (will return them if they get to aggressive), 6 kuhli loaches in a 60 gallon 36x20x20 (lxwxh) tank?

I would highly advise no dwarf guiramis, and none of the algae eaters. The rule of thumb for the puffers is 1 per 15 and then for every additional puffer 5 gallong so 60 -15 is 45 and 45/5 is 9 so in theory if you really wanted to you could shoal 10 puffers in a 60 gallon. These puffers love company and are a shoaling puffer so it is great to have more. It will also help if you have any fish that chase them and nip them to divert that aggression more but still keep a very close eye. Also keep some meds on hand when you get them. They will be wild caught so probably have internal parasites and will most likely get ich. I use api general cure and ich x by hikari and that is what worked for mine. Also be very careful with meds and puffers because they are pretty sensitive to meds.

 

[mdjrnc]

What about the other fish that I already have? I have seen some tanks with amazon puffers and guppies before... wow 6 of them? Could I even fit that many? So 6 amazon puffers, 3 mollies, 3 swordtails, 3 Siamese algae eaters, 5 guppies, 4 or 5 dwarf gouramis, 2 golden algae eaters (will return them if they get to aggressive), 6 kuhli loaches in a 60 gallon 36x20x20 (lxwxh) tank?

Also do way more kuhlis. You could do 10 to 15 and that would be cool because they would swim everywhere then. The more kuhlis you have the more active. You could do say 6 puffers, 10 kuhlis, 3 mollies, 3 sword tails and then like 10 guppies. That would look cool. Kuhlis are great for cleaning. One trick I use is also to let Malaysian trumpet snails take over the whole puffer tank. The puffers will eat them and then they will hide during the day and only come out at night. It works fantastically. The puffers also get a few everytime the light kicks on in the morning. But defisnntly feed mainly pond snails. The trumpets are good to have in there but the puffers eat the faces out the shell. You need them to crunch the shell which is why I breed pondsnails in another tank.

 

[NotFishyFishGuy]

Also do way more kuhlis. You could do 10 to 15 and that would be cool because they would swim everywhere then. The more kuhlis you have the more active. You could do say 6 puffers, 10 kuhlis, 3 mollies, 3 sword tails and then like 10 guppies. That would look cool. Kuhlis are great for cleaning. One trick I use is also to let Malaysian trumpet snails take over the whole puffer tank. The puffers will eat them and then they will hide during the day and only come out at night. It works fantastically. The puffers also get a few everytime the light kicks on in the morning. But defisnntly feed mainly pond snails. The trumpets are good to have in there but the puffers eat the faces out the shell. You need them to crunch the shell which is why I breed pondsnails in another tank.

What about what you said except 8 loaches and 6 guppies and also add in 4 honey gouramis

 

[mdjrnc]

What about what you said except 8 loaches and 6 guppies and also add in 4 honey gouramis

That would be fine. Just watch for aggression from the gourami.