clean up crew with puffers?

[Neptune 555]

I am in love with my blue spotted puffer... and am thinking of getting another. Will Blue spotted and valentini live in a 75 gallon 4 foot tank?

AND what do I do for a clean up crew? They will eat my snails and hermits. I also had a tuxedo urchin chomped in a day.

thanks!
Neptune

 

[mort]

Puffer mixing is down to the individual puffers "personality", some will coexist but others won't tolerate each other. Personally I wouldn't mix them but you'll likely find people who have successfully but I'd ask how long they have had them together.

As for cuc, there is no real way of adding any. Sometimes large hermit crabs are ok but again it's down to the individual puffer. In my tank with a honeycomb I have a single money cowrie (harder to eat due to the small opening in their shell) which I've had before the puffer went in, and some large serpent/brittlestar, again residents before the puffer and I'm keeping a close eye on their legs for signs of nipping. Heavy feeding may increase the chance of keeping snails or crabs alive but my secret weapon is a large refugium which reduces the nutrient levels and severely limits the algae I see in the main tank.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Agreed completely with mort. Some puffers tolerate others, some do not.

Most cuc is at risk with Canthigaster species.