Toby puffer in a reef?

Cooperdude916

New member
I want to add a leopard Toby puffer into my 30 gallon reef but I'm not sure if they eat red mushrooms or not. I want to know if they would eat the mushrooms and if they would bother my pygmy cherub angel, true percula clown, or my six line wrasse. I know that it would eat my crabs and snails but could I have a big brittle star as my clean up crew?
 
Considering that a Leopard Puffer is just about the smallest common saltwater puffer, a 30 would probably do. Although bigger would be better.

The thing about Tobies is that they are puffers. All puffers come down to personality. That personality can range anywhere from sweet and innocent to homicidal maniac. While different types of puffers may be more prone to a specific level of aggression, all of them are capable of anything along that range. In my previous tank I had a Valentini Puffer (Canthigaster valentini) that wouldn't bother snails and a Spotted Puffer (Canthigaster jactator) that tore Ricordeas apart and eventually nipped the tails off two Engineer Gobies, so there you go on potential range.

That said, Tobies tend towards the sweet and innocent side of the scale. Odds are that it'll be safe with your fish. It'll have the best odds of being reef/invert safe as just about any puffer. And considering that it is the smallest of the Tobies, it'll probably be safe with larger invertebrates. That said, be very careful on selection. Don't get one that looks like it is starving (hungry puffers tend to look at everything from the point-of-view of "is it edible?") and isn't attacking everything in sight. And consider a bigger tank, because the smaller the area the more likely a puffer is to get bored (bored puffers tend to look at everything from the point-of-view of "is it edible?").
 
Ok, well I think I'm going to hold off on the puffer idea for a while. With that in mind, would I be able to get a yellow wrasse or would the six line bother it? If I cant do the yellow wrasse then how about a long nose hawkfish?
 
I would say a pygmy banded wrasse is your best bet. Fun fish.

I like tobies a lot. But one I had was so violent he KILLED a young blueline trigger that was about his size! Crazy!

Another one I had was so shy smaller clownfish would outcompete it for food.
 
Puffers need to be in a tank of 50 gallons or more. They're not reef safe.

Actually there are some that are reef safe! They are not considered "reef safe" cause they eat inverts but for the mostr part wont mess with your coral. Leopard Puffer should be fine in a 30 Gallon they dont grow any bigger then 3" also Saddle Valentini Puffer are the same. Of course some will pick on coral but isnt the norm for those 2 puffers. IMO you will be fine.
 
I might get one. I was just thinking about if a upgrade any time soon than it might get aggressive if I add anything else. Other than feeding them krill and other hard meaty food are there any special needs to take care of them?
 
I have a blue spot toby in my 56 gal FOWLR. At first I noticed the tell tale circle nips off of tank mates tails, however it has now been over two months since he has nipped any tank mates. He did kill my two turbo snails but leaves the rest of mt CUC alone for the most part. I have button polyps that came with a piece of rock I got and he never touches them. I have heard that mushrooms are in general fish safe. I may add some in the near future and I will post my experience. I feed a variety of foods, I swear they eat better than I do! I feed marine S pellets, frozen spirulina and brine, gel herbivore diet (I have a coral beauty and a sailfin blenny) and the puffer gets freeze dried krill or clam on a half shell several times a week. I feed twice a day, sometimes three times on weekends. I have fat happy fish. The puffer shows the least aggresion towards a new tank mate out of all the fish I have. Hope this helps. He was one of the original fish I purchased and my tank is almost a year old.
 
Thanks a lot for the info. I think I'm going to get one than. I was just looking around on some web sites for another fish that could hold it's own with my other fish (the clownfish is the most aggressive) and I saw this fish and I thought it looked really cool so I decided that I wanted it.
 
Thanks a lot for the info. I think I'm going to get one than. I was just looking around on some web sites for another fish that could hold it's own with my other fish (the clownfish is the most aggressive) and I saw this fish and I thought it looked really cool so I decided that I wanted it.

Hi

Did you add a Leopard Toby Puffer to your reef tank? How did you get on?
 
Old thread but I wanted to say we used to feed our old Valenti with shrimp with the outer skin on a bamboo skewer. I feel like this daily helped his teeth and it allowed us to take small pieces of shrimp and he would eat until full. I did this while feeding the rest of the tank nori, standard small pellets, or mysis to keep the other occupants occupied first. The puffers are pretty darn smart, he would know when it was time to feed him when I gently bumped the right corner of the tank.
 
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