Guinea Fowl Puffer is one of my Top Two Marine Pufferfish

Fish-only tanks represent a tiny portion of the marine aquarium hobby, yet by removing all invertebrates, (or setting up a second tank,) you get to keep all the best fish. And one of THE best saltwater fish by far, is the Guinea Fowl Pufferfish, Arothron meleagris.

Guinea Fowl puffers are widespread in nature, being found off the tropical coasts of 52 countries and spreading right around the globe from Africa to Asia, Australia and right the way across the Pacific Ocean to the West Coast of Central America. They have the face of a Dogface or Panda puffer, and usually occur in in black colouration, with white spots. To me they are such smart-looking, handsome fish, the best looking puffer, and second only to the Porcupine Puffer in endearing behaviour.

But they have one more trick up their sleeves, and that’s a yellow form that is just if not more striking than the black and white form. And even patterns that mix the black with white spots and yellow, in a 50:50 mix. The yellow forms are even more sought after and pricy. But their colour, shape, activity and almost mammalian eyes make them a great addition to a large fish only tank.

Tank size

Guinea Fowl puffers can reach 20″ in the wild although I’ve never seen one over a foot in length in captivity. You can normally buy them quite large at 8″ or so, so filtration allowing, you have a big impactful fish from day one. At 8″ the Guinea Fowl puffer will require a minimum tank size of five feet in length. But you’ll need a 6x2x2′ and over to accommodate larger individuals. Combine with a large roller filter for mechanical filtration, lots of ceramic media for biological, a large protein skimmer and a way to control nitrates. A large UV steriliser would be a good shout too.

Tank mates

Guinea Fowl puffers make good tank mates for large Angelfish like the Emperor angel, Volitans lionfish, Snowflake moray eels, Harlequin tuskfish and Triggerfish, and the thought of such a tank would make an impressive sight. Avoid shy feeders like butterflyfish, which won’t want to splash around and fight for food as soon as its dropped in, like the above species would. Leave all mobile inverts out as the puffer will snack on them, and if you leave corals out too, it will enable you to use effective medications if and when they’re needed in the future.

Food

In the wild Guinea Fowl puffers feed on corals, molluscs, tunicates and sponges, but in captivity a diet of shell-on prawns, cockle in shell, mussels, peeler crabs and (if you can find any,) sponges would be good. Don’t overfeed on cockles and mussels as it can lessen their lifespan. Shellfish could also be “gut loaded” with pellets and food sticks in order to provide a more complete nutritional profile.