Toby Puffer Reef Safeness?

[Maddlesrain]

I love the body shape and personality of pufferfish and would love to add one of the little toby puffers to my tank!

However, I also love my corals... and would prefer they weren't eaten.
I have lps, mushrooms, a leather, sps, zoas / polyps, gorgonians, nps, and a maxi mini carpet... so a pretty mixed-bag reef tank.

I also have two large shrimp. A coral banded and peppermint. I think they're too big to be made a meal of. I had a blue throat trigger that went for the banded once and the shrimp was able to fend the fish off.

Fish include: Potter's Angel, pair of ocellaris clowns, a pj cardinal, three chromis, and a masked goby.
Any foreseeable conflict here? Everyone is fairly docile, but the clowns aren't afraid to stick anyone in their place.

The three tobies I'm deciding between are the leopard (Canthigaster leoparda), Central American Sharpnose (Canthigaster punctatissima), and Honeycomb (Canthigaster janthinoptera).

Is one more safe than the others? Are they known to go for corals or just inverts? There is also a handful of nassarius snails in the tank, but they can be sacrificed. Haha

Thanks!

 

[glb]

I’m no expert, but I think a puffer is bigger than anything you have fish wise. Plus you want to hang on to your nassarius snails. They really keep the sand clean. Hopefully someone with a puffer can offer more help.

 

[Kremis]

I’m no expert, but I think a puffer is bigger than anything you have fish wise. Plus you want to hang on to your nassarius snails. They really keep the sand clean. Hopefully someone with a puffer can offer more help.

believe OP Is talking about toby puffers which max at around 3 inches in aquariums.

as for the original question, IME they will nibble on sps tips, and eat most inverts. nassarius snails should be o.k as they are nocturnal and stay in the sand during the day. the shrimps will be harrased throughout the day and will eventually die most likely.

 

[Maddlesrain]

believe OP Is talking about toby puffers which max at around 3 inches in aquariums.

as for the original question, IME they will nibble on sps tips, and eat most inverts. nassarius snails should be o.k as they are nocturnal and stay in the sand during the day. the shrimps will be harrased throughout the day and will eventually die most likely.

Yup! I’m looking at the little tobies!
Ah, that’s a shame. I’m not sure I want a fish that is likely to nip. Do they do much damage in your experience?

I’d also hate to have my poor shrimp killed. They’ve been with me for at least a year each, so they’ve really grown on me. Haha

 

[Kremis]

Yup! I’m looking at the little tobies!
Ah, that’s a shame. I’m not sure I want a fish that is likely to nip. Do they do much damage in your experience?

I’d also hate to have my poor shrimp killed. They’ve been with me for at least a year each, so they’ve really grown on me. Haha

It depends on how much SPS you have. I only had 1 montipora and 1 birdsnest with it, he would constantly go around and nip off the tips of the birdsnest and eat the edges of the plate monti.if you had like, several colonies I doubt you would notice the effects of the nipping. depending on the size of the coral banded and the number of caves, it could possibly be ok. peppermint most likely toast though

 

[Maddlesrain]

It depends on how much SPS you have. I only had 1 montipora and 1 birdsnest with it, he would constantly go around and nip off the tips of the birdsnest and eat the edges of the plate monti.if you had like, several colonies I doubt you would notice the effects of the nipping. depending on the size of the coral banded and the number of caves, it could possibly be ok. peppermint most likely toast though

Hmm. Some things to think about for sure then! My tank is mostly in the frag stage, so I’m not sure the corals could withstand any major damages.

Thanks for the info! I appreciate it!

 

[Forsaken77]

Yup! I’m looking at the little tobies!
Ah, that’s a shame. I’m not sure I want a fish that is likely to nip. Do they do much damage in your experience?

I’d also hate to have my poor shrimp killed. They’ve been with me for at least a year each, so they’ve really grown on me. Haha

I've had multiple tobies (saddleback, blue spot, and finger print) all at the same time in a 93 cube.

It's all dependent on the fish. Could go either way. They sleep on the top and sides of rocks and get spooked easily at night. I lost the saddleback and fingerprint because they jumped out the back opening of the tank at night.

My blue spot went after a huge cleaner shrimp at first. They will take chunks out of the shrimp, not eat it whole. Just make sure the shrimp has a spot the toby can't get to. Now the puffer leaves the shrimp alone that he realizes I didn't add him as food, lol. But at first the puffer made a bee-line for the shrimp. Though the shrimp was added after the toby. Luckily the shrimp is faster than the toby is.

As far a nipping, again it could go either way. They usually do this to find food within the coral, not to eat it. But they have been known to shred things looking for food. Mine, at first, shredded a soft coral down to the stump (again, it was added after the toby). It regrew and he never touched it again. They are very curious fish and may pick at any new additions.

The way I trained my fish not to nibble on other things was to feed them early in the day, soon after they wake up. If they're full, the less likely they are to chomp on other things. I did that for 2 months and over the coarse of a few more months I've fed later and later until he realized he would be fed and was out of the habit of looking elsewhere. Now he leaves the coral and shrimp alone completely.

It also helps if your coral are in high flow areas because the tobies are slow fish and don't like turbulence. It makes it hard for them to maintain a position without getting swept away.

Hope that helps. But like I said, it comes down to the fish. Training helps also.

 

[Maddlesrain]

@forsaken thank you! That was very informative! I’m so tempted to get one, but a little nervous as well. Did you see any difference in getting one when it was an adult or juvenile?