Reef safe puffers?

[reeftanker04]

Are there any puffers that are reef safe? I had a puffer years ago and I really liked it but now that I have coral I don't know if I could get another one. I think I had a Valentini puffer. Any ideas?

 

[barbra]

I have never heard of one that is generally considered to be reef safe, but that statement usually opens up a slew of posts from individuals who have examples otherwise.

 

[Sepeku]

Barbra hits the nail on the head.

They are actually very intelligent from what I gather and can learn new habits if treated right. But then, I've never had one.

I'd really like one though. As a matter of fact, I've heard the Valentini is a good reef safe puffer.

 

[reeftanker04]

I've been doing a lot of reading and you guys confirmed what I've read. There are plenty of instances where Valentini's have been successfully integrated into a reef tank. However there are just as many instances (if not more) where the puffer has used the reef as his "buffet" eating every invert in the tank.

 

[TriniStylez]

I have had my Valentini in a full reef tank for almost two years now and he has never touched a single coral. He does eat all pods, worms and small stuff off of the LR but never bothers the corals. In the same reef is a Green Spotted Puffer who also has never eaten or biten a coral. Really depends on the puffer though.

 

[reeftanker04]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9709406#post9709406 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TriniStylez
I have had my Valentini in a full reef tank for almost two years now and he has never touched a single coral. He does eat all pods, worms and small stuff off of the LR but never bothers the corals. In the same reef is a Green Spotted Puffer who also has never eaten or biten a coral. Really depends on the puffer though.

Cool, do you have any snails? shrimp? That's my main concern, from what I've seen they tend to leave the coral alone but like eating the inverts. How's your cleanup crew doing?

 

[jer77]

My friend NickBee has a spotted or honeycomb toby puffer in his FOWLR tank with a cleanup crew and it hasn't touched any of the hermits and most of the snails. It did try to go after his nassarius snails however. He thinks its because they look like worms when they squirm around. They also can't fully protect themselves from the attack. But they still have survuved because they bury themselves during the day and come out to feed at night when the puffer is asleep.

In general puffers are very smart and curious creatures by nature, so even if they haven't picked at stuff in the past they can teach themselves to do so. They best way to try and prevent this from happening is to keep them well fed, and really try not to introduce a cleanup crew or corals with long tenticles like LPS.