Porcupine Puffer

[tymon]

how easy is the porcupine puffer to care for? does it need very high quality water? what is a good thing to feed it and how much?

 

[CPL_DSM]

Mine liked silversides and octopus.

 

[Nathan.Titulaer]

Mine was hand fed silversides, krill and prawns from the market. Tons of personality and I would say the easiest salt water fish I have ever had.

 

[stangd1909]

My puffer eats Krill, shrimp......pretty much anything you put in the tank LOL. They are very good fish and have great personalties

 

[CPL_DSM]

I say they are all mosty like a dog when it come to personalites. I never had two puffers that acted the same. Easy to take care of, Interact with you.

 

[agreeive?fish]

how easy is the porcupine puffer to care for? does it need very high quality water? what is a good thing to feed it and how much?

my experience with MY porc with disclaimers

my porc will eat most anything including my perc clownfish. but especially loves any type of crustation

my porc is my water tester, if my water quality starts to go down he will stop eating

disclaimer#1, i didnt see him eat the clownfish but he is the only fish in the tank that could remotley even eat a clowfish and there is no cuc in the bare bottom tank

disclaimer#2 this is on MY porc your fish mileage could vary greatly

 

[Flaring Afro]

They also get big. 1-2 feet depending on what the actual species is you get. And you shouldn't use a net to move him. If he puffs out of water, he will likely die. Because of that and because they are often carriers of parasites, it would be a very good idea to QT him as well.

 

[vamaro]

They eat anything. Easy to care for, but you need a decent skimmer when they start to get bigger.

 

[Nathan.Titulaer]

They also get big. 1-2 feet depending on what the actual species is you get.

There are two separate species of porcupine puffers that are very hard to tell the difference between. One gets around 1' and the other grows to easily 3'. the main difference is the 1' one is readily available in the hobby and the 3' one is rarely seen and super expensive, so if you are paying market rate you can expect that you have one that will grow to be around 1'.

The two I had ate a lot and grew quickly, I later found out that I killed them with kindness and ignorance. They are smart and learn behaviors that get them fed much like dogs. So both the ones I had used to do a feed me dance every time I walked in the room so be aware of how much you are feeding them cause they will eat to the point of being unhealthy much like sharks and people.

 

[anbosu]

They have great personalities, but are tough to find tankmates for when they get bigger. I had one eat a 7" lunare wrasse - I actually saw it - and they can bully other tankmates.