Cannibalistic Puffers?

[feliciae]

I have a green spotted puffer right now in a brackish water tank, and he had a buddy for a while. I popped some ghost shrimp in there for them to eat to help file their teeth down, and I left the house, and when I came back, one of my puffers had been canibalized!
I originally put 4 ghost shrimp in a 10 gallon tank, and two were gone and the other fish was dead when I came back!
I was wondering if anyone else had any problems like that. I know that puffers can be fin-nippers and a little violent when confronted with other fish, but I deliberatally bought two fish that seemed to be getting along and that were roughly the same size...
I never expected one to be eaten by the other!
This had happened before, but the other puffer was really small and he had some discoloration on his belly, so I thought that he had just died of parasites or something lke that.
Advice? I am not going to get another live-in buddy for Slirpee (The cannibalistic one) Since nothing but algae can live there with him, but I want to know why he felt the need to kill two of his tank mates.

 

[Fishman1995]

If its to small of a tank then it may have been territorial

 

[achase]

Without the proper amount of space and coverage (plants, hiding places, etc.) like Fishman said they can become territorial to the point of fighting to the death. While your Puffers may be fine in the beginning together once they reach maturity (which appears they did) aggression can become a problem without proper care (such as space and coverage).

Green spotted Puffers should have a minimum of 30 gallons to themselves (Good info: Green Spotted). Which is probably why your Puffers fought and one died.

 

[OrangeCones]

I was wondering if anyone else had any problems like that. I know that puffers can be fin-nippers and a little violent when confronted with other fish, but I deliberatally bought two fish that seemed to be getting along and that were roughly the same size...
I never expected one to be eaten by the other!

Were the two puffers living in a 10 gallon tank together? With two, they need a minimum of 55 gallons. Fish are not 'canibals' in the sense that some people are. Fish are fish, and fish eat what they have available. If carnivores are fighing over territory or food, the smaller/weaker one will lose its life eventually. It's just a matter of time. Puffers are KNOWN for this:

Green spotted puffer

Advice?

Never leave these carnivores unattended with food unless they are alone. When I had three of these puffers in 75 gallon tank, I put mesh dividers in the tank to feed them. One always went to the left, another to the right, and I always had to herd the 3rd to the center. I would not remove the dividers until at least 2 hours after they had finished eating. By then they had calmed back down and could act friendly with each other.

Being in an aquarium is an artificial environment. We, as caretakers, must take extra efforts to keep them safe.

 

[achase]

I put mesh dividers in the tank to feed them. One always went to the left, another to the right, and I always had to herd the 3rd to the center. I would not remove the dividers until at least 2 hours after they had finished eating. By then they had calmed back down and could act friendly with each other.

Interesting and very useful method of feeding!

Being in an aquarium is an artificial environment. We, as caretakers, must take extra efforts to keep them safe.

I totally agree with OrangeCones!

 

[Fishman1995]

Yes i do to, we went to the aquarium at the beach this past week and they had a puffer tank it was so sad, the puffers had eatin each others tails completely off and it was a strugle for them to move