Porcupine Puffer -The Smiley Face fish

[robertprice]

My first marine fish was a Porcupine Puffer, back when I was 19 at Johns Hopkins and had more fish in my DC apartment than the National Aquarium at the time. They are endearing and very intelligent fish who like to be hand fed and have their heads petted. They are omnivores but are obligate shellfish and crustacean eaters, and need crackly food to file their beaks down and for the trace elements they need. They are voracious messy eaters so need weekly water changes of about 20%.

Porcupine puffers can be reef semi-safe, but vary from individual to individual. They will nip fleshy polyps. They are best kept in fish only or Fowler tanks of at least 70 gallons. They are bullies and generally semi-aggressive, but don't bother fish bigger than they are who can defend themselves. I kept mine with a big Volitans Lionfish. They can get a foot long, but most are smaller. They are best known for being able to blow up like ballonns when frightened, and the tetrodotoxin in their livers that are used for Zombie poison and kill people who eat them for sushi.

They are one of the two most Smiley Faced, Spiny Faced pets, along with Bearded Dragon Lizards.

[stevem]

keep in mind they can get very large
there are diiferent porcupine puffers, one getting as large as 15-16"
the other about half the size and not easy to tell the differnece
they can be very interactive when near the tank
I had one in a 90 with a clown trigger and when I would feed them the clown trigger would bite his fins to hold him from getting the food

[robertprice]

I was very inexperienced when I got the Porcupine. It was only 1971. He eventually grew and killed all the other fish, but always kept smilinig. Never had a big enough marine tank for a Clown.