To coral or to not coral?

[To(meany)Tang]

Hey there my new reef family I hope everyone has had an awesome day. My question is I want corals but i have a honeycomb toby puffer. He loves snails and tries to stalk my hermit crabs from time to time but is a very timid guy. Is there any corals I might be able to get away with and that are good for beginners? Thanks in advance <3

 

[To(meany)Tang]

Hey there my new reef family I hope everyone has had an awesome day. My question is I want corals but i have a honeycomb toby puffer. He loves snails and tries to stalk my hermit crabs from time to time but is a very timid guy and doesn't really pick at rocks because my CB Angel doesnt like it lol. Is there any corals I might be able to get away with and that are good for beginners? Thanks in advance <3

 

[i cant think]

I recommend slowly introducing him to coral, trying not to spend too much. I believe these guys aren’t coral nipping species however you can always try the softer corals such as Leathers then work your way up.

 

[coralfish1]

I’ve always wanted to keep a honeycomb puffer. What size of a tank do you keep him in and what tank mates do you keep with him.

 

[To(meany)Tang]

I’ve always wanted to keep a honeycomb puffer. What size of a tank do you keep him in and what tank mates do you keep with him.

I love their personality. I def recommend. My tank is a 55gal FOWLR. I will post a picture of my list below because there are so many to type lol. Only difference is yesterday I traded my emperor snapper for a powder brown tang.

 

[To(meany)Tang]

I love their personality. I def recommend. My tank is a 55gal FOWLR. I will post a picture of my list below because there are so many to type lol. Only difference is yesterday I traded my emperor snapper for a powder brown tang.

 

[To(meany)Tang]

I’ve always wanted to keep a honeycomb puffer. What size of a tank do you keep him in and what tank mates do you keep with him.

 

[ZipAdeeZoa]

Definitely start with some cheaper softies adn see how it goes, things like gsp, cheaper zoa strains, leathers and mushrooms are all great candidates! Just be careful to keep sime of then off your main rock work as a few of those can grt out of hand when they do well!

 

[coralfish1]

Thanks for the info. Have you noticed if he’s aggressive to any of the other fish in the tank.

 

[strawberryfish]

+1 on softies, If you have enough large colonies even if he does start to nibble at a few polyps now and then it shouldn't be enough to kill any one coral. I would probably start with 3-4 chunky frags of different soft corals, I'd stay away from zoas or shrooms for now you want something with lots of flesh, like Sarcophyton, Capnella, Sinularia, Lobophytum, Sinularia Brassica, Nepthea IMO. If you do go the zoa route get large colonies only anything smaller than 10 polyps will just disappear before they can take off.

 

[To(meany)Tang]

Thanks for the info. Have you noticed if he’s aggressive to any of the other fish in the tank.

Your welcome.. And the only aggression I got from him was when I tried to add a valentini puffer with him thinking they would have enough room and my hermit crabs he tries to get them every now and then but they hide too fast in their shell lol. Actually I was surprised to see my coral beauty angel decide he wanted to bully my puffer. Every day angel picks at puffer and puffer doesn't blow up or care no aggression back at all. I pulled the puffer because he was hiding alot and put him in QT for 2 weeks. When I returned him the coral beauty completely ignores him now!

 

[To(meany)Tang]

+1 on softies, If you have enough large colonies even if he does start to nibble at a few polyps now and then it shouldn't be enough to kill any one coral. I would probably start with 3-4 chunky frags of different soft corals, I'd stay away from zoas or shrooms for now you want something with lots of flesh, like Sarcophyton, Capnella, Sinularia, Lobophytum, Sinularia Brassica, Nepthea IMO. If you do go the zoa route get large colonies only anything smaller than 10 polyps will just disappear before they can take off.

Thank You for the info!! I was thinking octospawn? Would those be okay to start with?

 

[Bucs20fan]

Your welcome.. And the only aggression I got from him was when I tried to add a valentini puffer with him thinking they would have enough room and my hermit crabs he tries to get them every now and then but they hide too fast in their shell lol. Actually I was surprised to see my coral beauty angel decide he wanted to bully my puffer. Every day angel picks at puffer and puffer doesn't blow up or care no aggression back at all. I pulled the puffer because he was hiding alot and put him in QT for 2 weeks. When I returned him the coral beauty completely ignores him now!

You have alot going on for sure, the angel can definitely kill the puffer if it wants to. Also, research everything you put in the tank. If you did, you would see that sharpnose puffers can be very temperamental when put together. Your tank is HEAVILY stocked. You will have aggression in the coming months, no way you wont. Make sure you identify it asap and rehome the perp.

 

[Bucs20fan]

Thank You for the info!! I was thinking octospawn? Would those be okay to start with?

Something cheap. A mushroom, toadstool leather, or zoa would be best.

 

[To(meany)Tang]

Definitely start with some cheaper softies adn see how it goes, things like gsp, cheaper zoa strains, leathers and mushrooms are all great candidates! Just be careful to keep sime of then off your main rock work as a few of those can grt out of hand when they do well!

I will definitely keep this in mind thank you so much? How about anemone or octospawn and some small montis ?

 

[Bucs20fan]

I will definitely keep this in mind thank you so much? How about anemone or octospawn and some small montis ?

Hard corals wont last with a puffer in most cases, so no monties. You can try a nem, but if your tank isnt ready for coral, its sure as heck isnt ready for a nem. Start with one of the one I stated above, The ones you are mentioning arent beginner corals and arent suitable at the moment.

 

[To(meany)Tang]

You have alot going on for sure, the angel can definitely kill the puffer if it wants to. Also, research everything you put in the tank. If you did, you would see that sharpnose puffers can be very temperamental when put together. Your tank is HEAVILY stocked. You will have aggression in the coming months, no way you wont. Make sure you identify it asap and rehome the perp.

The angel can kill the puffer but the real question is why the puffer and nobody else? Second I knew that conspecifics were a no no but I'm stubborn sometimes and like to learn things the hard way lol. And yes I have plans to rehome several of them I don't mind raising them while they are babies.

 

[To(meany)Tang]

Hard corals wont last with a puffer in most cases, so no monties. You can try a nem, but if your tank isnt ready for coral, its sure as heck isnt ready for a nem. Start with one of the one I stated above, The ones you are mentioning arent beginner corals and arent suitable at the moment.

Thank you for the guidance!! Will definitely look into the options you mentioned

 

[Bucs20fan]

The angel can kill the puffer but the real question is why the puffer and nobody else? Second I knew that conspecifics were a no no but I'm stubborn sometimes and like to learn things the hard way lol. And yes I have plans to rehome several of them I don't mind raising them while they are babies.

Its luck of the draw, aggressive fish will pick a target in a lot of cases. I understand learning the hard way, we all did that at some point, Just dont learn the hard way at the cost of a fishes' life.

 

[strawberryfish]

Thank You for the info!! I was thinking octospawn? Would those be okay to start with?

That's a Euphyllia sp. which is a LPS or Large polyp stony coral, and as such is far more sensitive than soft corals that have no hard calcified skeleton. Soft corals are very resilient to parameter swings grow quickly and have lots of flesh that should respond better to occasional nipping. Once you have an established base of soft corals you can more safely try other corals as hopefully aggression will be spread across the tank.