Newby to Reef Aquarium - Puffer fish?

[Mick Callaghan]

Hi all,

Im quite new to marine tanks (or any tank!).

Iv had the tank running with live rock with salinity and temp within guidelines for a couple of weeks now.

Just planning what fish i want in the outset. Top of the list is a couple of clown fish and a couple of tangs. Puffer fish really really interest me. But so do corals and invertibrates. Would it be a good idea to have a small puffer? What could happen if i did introduce later down the line?

Cheers. Mick

 

[mcgyvr]

In general puffers aren't considered reef safe so them plus corals isn't a good idea..

 

[Joke]

What size tank?

 

[homer1475]

What size tank?

+1
Also, "within guidelines" mean nothing to us. We need hard numbers to tell if your doing right.

 

[Mick Callaghan]

Cheers for the replies,

Its a 300L "Aqua Reef" with standard sump and skimmer plus phosphate and carbon reactors.

Temp is currently between 25 and 26 Celsius with salinity at 1.024 sg @ 25 Celsius

 

[Mick Callaghan]

In general puffers aren't considered reef safe so them plus corals isn't a good idea..

Corals and invertibrates would be my preference.

 

[shadowmonster]

You could try something like a Valentini puffer, but like mentioned above these fish are usually not recommended for tanks with corals & invertebrates in them. That beak of theirs could do some serious damage.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+39+250&pcatid=250

 

[Mick Callaghan]

Excellent, thanks for the advice there shadow monster. Suppose this will still be risky by the sounds of it. May be worth me speaking to my local aquarium shop to see if i can return it to a good home if it does not work out?

 

[MuShu]

Valentinis are generally considered safe "with caution" because they can devour your clean up crew. I have one in my 55gal tank, and he's been fine with the corals. I got a few test invertebrates- asterina snails and micro hermits- and he's completely left them alone.

I have seen tanks where a valentini is kept with a flame scallop or clam, but that doesn't mean that all of them would be compatible. It really does seem to depend on the individual puffer.

 

[Mick Callaghan]

Mushu, how many clean up crew and what type would genneraly be good for this tank? (Puffer aside!)

 

[MuShu]

No idea. The general school of thought is that the packages sold by a lot of online retailers are too many for a given tank size. It seems that a lot of people start with a couple different types of snails, crabs, or shrimp, and then add from there. You kind of need to see what kinds of fish you plan to keep and which cuc critters would work best, since some snails may go after fish that sleep in the sand, and some crabs may go after small fish. I am not brave enough to try a shrimp with my puffer since I feed mysis.