Are Porcupine puffer and Mantis Shirmp good tank mates?

Brandy Jane

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Good evening all. We have a question. We currently have 6" porcupine puffer and my husband has been dying to get a mantis shrimp for years. Has anyone kept these two together successfully? What size mantis should we get so the puffer doesn't mess with him? Any and all advice, tips on this will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you, Reefers wife that maintains, cleans, feeds doses, checks parameters etc for husband but wouldn't have it any other way,
B
 

Wannabereefvet

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Good evening all. We have a question. We currently have 6" porcupine puffer and my husband has been dying to get a mantis shrimp for years. Has anyone kept these two together successfully? What size mantis should we get so the puffer doesn't mess with him? Any and all advice, tips on this will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you, Reefers wife that maintains, cleans, feeds doses, checks parameters etc for husband but wouldn't have it any other way,
B
Personally I wouldn’t try that mix. I don’t know of anyone who has, but two things capable of killing/eating each other are not usually good tank mates.

Puffers have personality, some are more aggressive than others, some never touch a coral while others decimate reef tanks. You might be safe from the puffer side but if he decides to nap on the bottom there’s no guarantee he isn’t getting clubbed by the mantis.
 

Brady4000

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I wouldn’t do it. Just a guess, but they are both going to die. Would he one heck of a fight. Mantis with holes and puffer with missing spikes. The mantis will eventually hit the puffer, even if the puffer doesn’t want to fight, seen a video of one punching an octopus because it felt threatened.
 

Pkunk35

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Personally I wouldn’t try that mix. I don’t know of anyone who has, but two things capable of killing/eating each other are not usually good tank mates.

Puffers have personality, some are more aggressive than others, some never touch a coral while others decimate reef tanks. You might be safe from the puffer side but if he decides to nap on the bottom there’s no guarantee he isn’t getting clubbed by the mantis.

++++++++++++1

Guaranteed death match
 

Pkunk35

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I wouldn’t do it. Just a guess, but they are both going to die. Would he one heck of a fight. Mantis with holes and puffer with missing spikes. The mantis will eventually hit the puffer, even if the puffer doesn’t want to fight, seen a video of one punching an octopus because it felt threatened.

could you imagine?! Who wins?
 

Brady4000

I just wanted a Mantis Shrimp.
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could you imagine?! Who wins?
I would say the mantis because it’s faster and probably could hide from the puffer. When they fight something larger than them, they dart at the larger object hit and retreat like lighting. Until it backs off... in a tank lol that will be a dead puffer.

But again.. one good bite and it doesn’t matter who wins lol. Both are dead.
 

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