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Keeping Dwarf Puffers

mlgt

mlgt

Member
Joined
28 Jun 2009
Messages
1,158
Location
London
Anyone keep/kept them before?

I would like to keep one in a 30l planted tank. The tank will be mainly the baby plants from the mother plants and this will pretty much fill most of the tank up.

What are the best ones to keep? I am after a simple fresh water DP.
 
The dwarf puffers are great, proper little characters. A friend of mine kept a group of 5 in a planted 30liter with 2 ottos, probably overstocked but it worked. The only problem being the feeding witch I found with my one in my nano, he rid'd the tank of snails in hours so I had to feed blood worm but he would only take 'wrigglers' so I would have to wiggle the frozen worm with tweezers... Bit time consuming but fun.

With a gang you'd be better adding a cory to mop up the bloodworm they miss,

Why not try a dwarf cichlid pair?
 
Ive always been fascinated by puffers when I was introduced to one when I was 5 in Hong Kong. Although thinking about it the puffer was probably quite stressed as it was puffed up.

But I would love to relive my childhood and buy one in which my wife will look after. Ive been looking after various shrimp set ups for a few years now and think something completley different will be interesting.

The other hard part I face is getting enough snails for its diet. I know LondonDragon + Pieceoffish have lots of snails in their tanks :)

Thanks for the advice and I will try and find a Carinotetraodon travancoricus in London.

Regarding dwarf cichlids I like them especially the apisto, but to really enjoy their colours and behaviour its nicer in a big tank for them.
 
nayr88 said:
The dwarf puffers are great, proper little characters. A friend of mine kept a group of 5 in a planted 30liter with 2 ottos, probably overstocked but it worked. The only problem being the feeding witch I found with my one in my nano, he rid'd the tank of snails in hours so I had to feed blood worm but he would only take 'wrigglers' so I would have to wiggle the frozen worm with tweezers... Bit time consuming but fun.

With a gang you'd be better adding a cory to mop up the bloodworm they miss,

Why not try a dwarf cichlid pair?
Click to expand...

I think 5 in a 30l is really pushing it. I had 6 in a 90L and it felt crowded. I wouldn't try any more than a pair in a 30L.

Also, any corys will get nipped at, probably quite badly depending on the peronalities of the puffers. And they're not happy on their own anyway.
 
So in a 30l its worth trying 2 DP?

I will see at ADC if they have a harmonic pair. But I am planning to set this up slowly over the next month :)
 
3 DP in a 30l. That will be ok? I guess try it and if there is bullying they can sit in my 180l tank :)

Im sure the discus will keep them in check :)
 
I kept several in a 55gal 100% freshwater with excellent filtration and adequately cycled, and they only lasted a few weeks for me, gradually dying off. Dont know why. Really cool to watch, but were sensitive little buggers for me...
 
frothhelmet said:
I kept several in a 55gal 100% freshwater with excellent filtration and adequately cycled, and they only lasted a few weeks for me, gradually dying off. Dont know why. Really cool to watch, but were sensitive little buggers for me...
Click to expand...

That's a shame. Were they eating OK? I think they can be quite prone to gut parasites. Mine were alays very robust.
 
I bought 4 dwarf puffers. I ensured my water quality was good and enough hiding spaces but will be a week or two till the plants establish.

The temp is on 23/24c right now and with a hob filter as well as a air stone. The tank has 5 cherry shrimp a handful of mts and the new dwarf puffers.

Looking kinda lost compared to the small cramped tank they were in. Got them from ADC and I just fed them a little baby bloodworm and 2 of them went for the kill.

I will monitor these closely and hopefully no death. There is a thin scattering of java moss on the bottom of the tank as this will act as a hiding place for the shrimps.
 
BigTom said:
frothhelmet said:
I kept several in a 55gal 100% freshwater with excellent filtration and adequately cycled, and they only lasted a few weeks for me, gradually dying off. Dont know why. Really cool to watch, but were sensitive little buggers for me...
Click to expand...

That's a shame. Were they eating OK? I think they can be quite prone to gut parasites. Mine were alays very robust.
Click to expand...

Yeah were eating great. I had lots of live food in the tank too-tons of scuds (gammarus sp.) swimming around...
 
I am slowly trying to find out which is their favourite food. I am feeding mine bloodworm and brine shrimp but sometimes ignore it.

I have some snails in the tank, but possibly they are finding their own environment and territory? I think I have 3 males and 1 female.

I know that they do eat, but I have left loose java moss on the bottom of the tank to give them some hiding spaces if startled. Should I remove this therefore the bottom of the tank is just sand?
 
Great. I thought so. I will clear a small area for them tonight to all meet for dinner then :)

Very fun characters and I try to get their attention by lightly tapping with my fingernails on the glass as I put the food in with tweezers. I try to wave the bloodworm in front of their faces so they can see it.

I bought some 5in1 frozen food for them that contains a various mix of bloodworms, larvae etc
 
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