Are Bennet Sharpnose Puffers Nippy?

[Cina]

Does anyone have experience with Bennett Sharpnose Puffers? I added one to my 36 gallon tank 5 days ago and today I noticed my two clowns fins are tattered. One clown is worse than the other. I have seen the puffer dart at the clowns maybe 3 times since I added it to the tank. The clowns were fine before I introduced the puffer. I'm really considering returning the puffer for the safety of my clowns.

 

[ichthyogeek]

No experience with that specific Canthigaster, but all puffers have the potential to be very nippy. Sometimes in smaller tanks this is due to aggression. It may taper off as time goes on, but remove the fish the moment you see bite marks on the clown's bodies (and not the fins).

 

[mort]

I agree it's a toby puffer characteristic to nip the odd fin here and there. In general it's something that doesn't cause many problems once the fish settles in and the rest of the fish population gets used to the puffer. If it's just nipped fins then again I agree I'd give it a chance to settle down but if you see it progress, step in.
You can keep the puffer occupied for longer by adding clams in the half shell, or mussels etc, that the fish can graze on throughout the day.