# Bottom cleaners for 10 gal brackish puffer tank



## Buggy (Oct 17, 2006)

Just bought a figure 8 puffer and I'm slowly switching from fresh to low end brackish (1.005-1.008). I need a bottom feeder to clean up what the puffer misses. Any suggestions on a brackish bottom feeder that will survive a nipping puffer and fit well in a 10 gallon tank? Any suggestions on brackish snails that the puffer won't mistake for dinner?


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## flamingo (Nov 5, 2005)

In a tank that small, with a puffer, no fish is really a suitable tankmate. Just keep up on the water changes.


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## Dr_House (Aug 15, 2006)

Agreed. Puffers do not make good tankmates. You can read a great profile on the Figure 8 Puffer here.


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## SBDTHUR (Jun 15, 2007)

You would need a bigger tank and possibly even have it planted.. Once again, agreed.


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## Buggy (Oct 17, 2006)

Ok, so much for the bottom feeder idea. How about some kind of snail for brackish water...that won't become a snack. Any suggestions?


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## flamingo (Nov 5, 2005)

All snails will be a possible food item for a puffer, MTS are the only common ones that cannot be easily eaten, but have a bad history of cracking their "beak."


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## fishbone (Jan 15, 2007)

Try Malaysian trumpet snails. I've been told their shell is too hard for the puffer to get through. And if he does, those snails reproduce like crazy anyway


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## flamingo (Nov 5, 2005)

There are too many cases of their shells hurting the puffers mouth to really risk it.


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## Buggy (Oct 17, 2006)

Yeah, this little guy barely has any teeth, you have to look very close to see them. I know he will suck a snail out of the shell if he can't crack the shell. I put a good sized ramshorn in the tank and he slurped it right out and I had to remove the empty shell. As a matter of fact I've removed a lot of empty shells after his escargot feast. lol
Looks like I'll just have to keep doing frequent vacs to take care of his messes. I'm a mom so I know all about cleaning up after messy eaters. lol


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## Fish Taco (Jan 24, 2008)

I put a red crab with pretty good sized claws in my brackish tank w/puffers. does pretty well. puffers dont mess with him


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## fishbone (Jan 15, 2007)

They will eventually. That crab is completely ill-suited for that environment if you're looking to do anything beside him being puffer food. He'll also need access to land, somewhere above water.


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## Fish Taco (Jan 24, 2008)

i thought the same thing at first..my crab just molted..(lol wife thought it was dead until it came out from behind some coral) its doing great


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

Buggy, what about just giving him a fairly constant cache of snails to choose from? As long as there are more than he would eat in the tank then they would be helping with the cleanup. All you would need to do this for free is a tank where the source snails could reproduce safely away from Mr Puffer. It is not an elegant solution, but it should keep things relatively clean and keep your puffers beak in check. After a while I bet you would know exactly how many you would need in the tank to accomplish your goals.


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## oliesminis (May 7, 2007)

red ramshorn snail breed readily in any size tank, also a delicous snack my fish love them


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## petlovingfreak (May 8, 2009)

I have a few small coreys in the bottom of my puffer tank, the puffers leave them alone and they help clean up after the messy eaters.


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## Hoyo12 (May 18, 2009)

Bumble Bee Catfish (Microglanis Iheringi). I had one in my tank and he did just fine with my three Green Spotted Puffers. Ate any food that was missed (But normally only came out for the food at night).


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## sonnyrg (May 9, 2009)

You need to get a bigger tank the min is 30g


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## SouthernBelle23 (Mar 24, 2009)

The original post is from 2 years ago....just FYI.


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## Hoyo12 (May 18, 2009)

LOL. Guess I didn't look at the date. I saw the 25 and saw that there was a new post and just decided to throw in my opinion. Sorry.


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## Buggy (Oct 17, 2006)

LOL. Mr. Puffer has gone to the land of the great beyond. But thanks for the advice. I'll keep it in mind the next time I try to keep puffers.


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