Porc puffer friends?

[banditpowdercoat]

I am getting a 150g tank next week. We were toying with the idea of housing a Porc in it? But, not sure who would be friends with him? Would larger fish, as in a Yellow Tang and Powder Blue be ok? Rabbitfish? Or should Porc's be better in a spiecies tank? I may have a empty 45g corner for him too???

[my2rotties]

I have chromis, ,foxface, 3 tangs, a trigger, regal angel, cowfish, scooter blennies, a cleaner wrasse, gobies, a lawnmower blennie, and a few shrimp and other fish with my big guy. The only fish I could not keep with him was smaller clownfish. I have a saddleback and maroon clown but they are too large for him to eat. He allows the cleaner wrasse as well as cleaner shrimp to clean him up, and makes no move to eat them. He is very well fed... so he does not turn to his tankmates for a snack. It was rough when I first got him, and he was new to aquarium life. Now that he has been in my tank a few months, I don't worry too much about him. He knows where the food is coming from now.

He has a fire shrimp he swims around with at lights out and has not eaten any of my peppermints, or cleaner shrimp. My only issue with him is that he eats smaller snails whole, and they make him sick. Usually the snails live under the sand but when they surface he nabs them. Because he cannot digest the shell, he will puff up to try to spit them out.

I have a lot of rock work so smaller fish like the scooter gobies are not easily accessed by the puffer, and can dart under the rocks. I find the puffer keeps to himself and does his own thing. So long as the fish are bigger then bite sized, I have had no problems with housing them with my gigantic puffer. He is a fun fish and is quite endearing with all his begging... and he starts when you are across the room from him.

[banditpowdercoat]

Thx, that sure opens up alot of choices for me I sure do love the comical erxpressions and personality of others puffers that I have seen.

Now what about Corals? Will they nip Softies? Clams, SPS or LPS?

[my2rotties]

When you get a puffer make sure he is with you for quite some time prior to adding any smaller fish. My biggest mistake with Griff was adding him to my tank with two false percula clowns. He is a mature fish that spent his life in the ocean and was an opportunistic hunter... he ate the clownfish in a couple of weeks of him being home. I added the chromis and the scooter blennies awhile back and he ignores the chromis, and the scooters live on the bottom where he really has no interest in going. They also see him coming and take off.

With Griff it was trail and error and he is a really big puffer. I have never seen one for sale the same size that he is. Everybody has had different experiences with their puffers and bringing Griff home has been a challenge. People are blown away by the fact that he has not touched any of my shrimp, and hangs out with a fire shrimp. I will never get any small clownfish since the colour and movement of the species is much like a fishing lure when you think about it.

He is a glutton of all gluttons and when I hand feed my large cowfish, I have to have both hands in the tank. One to feed to the cowfish, and the other to bock Griffie from coming and eating the cowfish food. He is a beggar and will press his eyeballs and half of his face against the glass to get my attention. I was told puffers need to eat every 2-3 days but I feed mine twice a day. If he is well fed, I have no problems.

My guy is huge and I am not sure the smaller ones will be easier to accustom to tank life or not. I think it is a lot of trail and error, but he pays no attention to any of the otehr fish in the tank and vice versa...

Originally Posted by banditpowdercoat

Thx, that sure opens up alot of choices for me I sure do love the comical erxpressions and personality of others puffers that I have seen.

Now what about Corals? Will they nip Softies? Clams, SPS or LPS?

[my2rotties]

As for any types of corals... he pays no attention to any of it at all. I have a full reef tank and he does not bother anything.

[banditpowdercoat]

I have been told that we are to get a baby porc, no exceptions LOL. So, if the rest of the tankmates are larger, when we get him, and he grows up with them, my thinking is that they should get along

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

My wife's Porc lives with several tangs and dwarf angels no problem. It used to live with a Niger trigger but hated not being boss of the tank & would sulk so I now have a Sargassum trigger in there & he's soooo much happier since the Sargassum is not as bold as the other trigger and so Porc gets to be King.

Anthony

[banditpowdercoat]

Diana, How many snail's does Griffie go through? Is he just slowly picking off your clean up crew, and you just add more snails when they get low? Trying to figure out how much he will eat LOL. OA and JL are looking for a baby for me. We'll see who comes up with one. What about the Hermit's, he like them too?

[my2rotties]

I don't know how many he eats, and I really wish he didn't be honest. They make him sick and then he has to puff up to try to cough them up. I guess he must not always crush them completely and then he can't poop out a shell What goes in must come out of course, and when he is trying to upchuck snail shells, he looks pretty gross.

Griff does not bother the hermit crabs, none of the shrimp or my scooter blennies. When I first brought him home, he already was a large adult fish, and was used to hunting I suppose. He ate my clownfish, and a couple of others at first. He sometimes does try to get my scooter blennies but they are too close to all the rock work and see him coming.

I really have no idea of how many snails I have now, my tank is too big and I have too much rock work. I don't see any right now to be honest, but I know they are in there. I think a baby would be a better choice since he might be able to grow up as a peaceful captive fish. With my guy since he was already mature, it took quite awhile for him to know it was me that provided his meals, and not his tank mates.

The worst one for eating my snails now is my Banana wrasse. I still see him swimming around with them in his mouth and smashing them on the rocks. When he is done then Griff goes and eats the shells with whatever is left of the snail inside of it.

What strikes me as funny is when people come to see the tank, they go nuts over the puffer and my large cowfish. Those two are so easy to keep and nobody that isn't into this hobby notices my hard to keep fish such as my Achilles tang, regal angel and copperband butterfly fish. Then nobody notices I have 10 peppermints, a fire shrimp and 2 cleaner shrimp living in peace with him. Anyone that knows aquariums would see this and be surprised

One thing I do notice with Griff is he rather enjoys a chase when I am feeding him. Instead of just giving it to him, I will circle his dinner around the top of the tank and he will go snapping after it. He can be quite quick for such a big fat fish. You will enjoy the puffer believe me, they are pretty interactive, and back in the day Griff would swim into my hand for belly rubs... not so much anymore now, I guess he is too cool for me.

Originally Posted by banditpowdercoat

Diana, How many snail's does Griffie go through? Is he just slowly picking off your clean up crew, and you just add more snails when they get low? Trying to figure out how much he will eat LOL. OA and JL are looking for a baby for me. We'll see who comes up with one. What about the Hermit's, he like them too?

[banditpowdercoat]

LOL, Griff, thinkin he's too cool. I honestly can't wait to get our porc. Hoepfully in a couple weeks here. The Mrs got a Minpin dog and I get a puffer hehehe.