saddle velentini puffer suitability

[Moonstream]

I'd really love one of these guys; from the fairly sizable amount of research I've done, it seems like these guys are feitsy, personable little fish who can sometimes turn on corals and will often eat snails and hermits. I'd love to include one in the dedicated soft coral dominated tank Im planning to setup, mostly softies and mushrooms, nothing very tasty. probably include a few brittle/serpent stars, might try a coral banded shrimp. I'd like to have my rather large (2"+) electric blue hermit in here as well. piscine tankmates would include my longnose hawk, yellowtail damsel, and YWG to be paired with a tiger pistol before the addition of the puffer.

my questions,
are these suitable tankmates? I figure they should be able to hold their own?

how likely are these guys to nip at leathers and mushrooms? in my reading their nipping seemed to be focused more on hard corals and ocasionally zoas, but I dont want to lose any of my softies to one.

how likely would it be for one to take on my 2"+ electric blue hermit? Ive become fairly attached to him, I'd rather not lose him

any help is greatly appreciated! if not the puffer, im considering a smaller fuzzy dwarf lion

 

[MrTuskfish]

These are neat little puffers. I've only kept one, several years ago for about a week. They have a nasty habit of taking nips from other fish and your hawk will be a prime target; because they spend most of their time just sitting. I got rid of mine when I noticed two circular holes in the fins of one of my flame hawks----a dead give away. I think the hermit would be gone in no time; small puffers love to pick at crabs & shrimp. They don't have that sharp beak for flake food.

 

[MrTuskfish]

Thought you might want to follow this thread, there may be exceptions to my drivel above, there always are.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2023472

 

[Angel*Fish]

Cool little fish. I forgot all about the fin nipping :lmao: Once in a while one of the clowns would wake up with a perfect Valentini sized bite on the tail in spite of having two big adjacent anemones. Mine was a good community fish other than the night time sleeping fish snacking.

They are fascinating fish. They have unusual sleeping habits, suctioning themselves onto a smooth surface. And like triggers, I don't think they do much deep sleeping. They seem fairly intelligent for fish and are always observing everything including people and things outside the tank.

Mine jumped twice. (Saved him both times) Be careful when your hand is in the tank and have a cover. Those were almost the only times I ever saw him puff up. Cute as heck and round like a golf ball, but unfortunately only seen in times of dire stress.

I don't know for sure, but unless that cbs can defend himself, I would think he would be nipped to death. And of course there is no keeping snails.

I never understood why, but when I upgraded from a 55g to a 100g, he developed a pacing habit. He'd go back and forth along the front glass all day. The main difference in the tank at that time was that the rocks were more spread out than they were in the 55g.

 

[Moonstream]

I have been getting more and more curious- if they snack on the CUC, do you guys with puffers just not have a CUC, or what? how does that effect the tank?

 

[Definitive_Aqua]

In a 40 I wouldnt put either of those guys in and tell you your guaranteed safe lol fiji jewled puffers are similar and would be much better suited for a reef tank - they are much more peaceful though they have been known to chase star fish.

I just plain wouldnt put a lion in a reef tank because they kill anything little if they are hungry.

The valentini if feed krill and kept full might leave your other fish and coral alone but fiji jewled are equally as cool if not cooler.

Heres a link
http://www.fish-species.org.uk/puffer-fish/02-jewel-puffer-fish.htm

 

[Moonstream]

its not for my 40, they'd be going in a 29 softy tank I'm setting up, hence why I was considering a valentini over a blue spot (AKA fiji jeweled puffer), because valentinis stay a bit smaller.

I'm considering maybe doing a red fin dwarf waspfish instead of the puffer or lion; they seem a bit better suited to my tank size, more peaceful/smaller mouths as well. LADD has been listing quite a few recently.