new dp pics

[kimmers318]

Since you asked so nicely William I took some shots this morning and have them ready for everyone to see. My dp tank is a 10 gallon, with 3 dps, 2 adfs, 1 oto (who I rarely see!). Missy is my "oldest", then I added Gizmo (male) and Lucy. Here they are....

Full tank shot, if you look REAL close, you might spot 2 dps
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Here is all 3 together
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Missy and Gizmo hunting snails
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Missy "eyeing up" her next kill
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Missy with one of the frogs
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Gizmo and Lucy (she is a little camera shy yet)
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Lucy
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Gizmo, who is a little oddly marked, more striped than anything
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And, finally, one of the adfs
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The adf's were the kids' idea...but now that they are active they really do make a nice addition to a tank! I put 1 of the 3 in with a betta, and he still isn't coming out so I may have to put him back, or get him a friend for that tank.

Hope you guys and gals like the shots!

[William]

Great pics and addorable Dwarf puffers. I really want some puffers when I see yours.

But I think you can se all 3 puffers in the first picture if you look closely ;-)

And thanks for the pics!!!

[kimmers318]

Your welcome! You SHOULD get some puffers then William....they are great little buggers. They can be a bit messy....but any extra food that falls is usually gobbled up by the frogs, and I don't find that their waste is any worse than some of my other fish. The biggest clean up problem is the snail shells, and I solved that problem by using a straight hose without the gravel vac attachment on it, it sucks the shells right up! And as a side note....that method also works quite well for my sand bottom tank that is on the bottom of the tank stand creating a low suction with the siphon.

[William]

I will but not untill I stop moving every 6 months and to a new country every year.

[CatfishLover]

great pics. the puffers look very nice in there

[kimmers318]

Thank you catfishlover....I bought Missy for a snail problem...was told she was community capatible! NOT. I quickly found out that she was nipping the fins off of my other fish when she started to mature so I got her into an old 10 gallon I had laying around. Hubby bought me a new 10 gal along with a 29 gal for my bday so that I could set up a nicer dp tank. (The old 10 gal is odd shaped and plexiglass/plastic, which I hate). What you saw is the "final" dp home....she has gone thru a few changes around here....didn't accept the first new dp I got as a tankmate and I did some "creative" introduction when I found the male and he fell in love with me! I had to stop and pick up some supplies, and of course looked at the fish, this little male would not stop watching me. I visited him 2 more times and did alot of thinking before finally deciding to try a tankmate for Missy again. I had the store employee put a couple of different females in the specimen tank with the male after he was captured to see how he would react. Lucy is the only one he didn't go after....so he chose her also. He still watches me constantly, although that could be because I am where the bloodworms come from...but I prefer to think he loves me to death because I brought him home and gave him this wonderful place to live with 2 little girls to hang with!! :) I divided the tank for about 10 days giving the new dps a chance to fatten up and get healthy (chain stores are notorious for not feeding them properly) and give Missy and the newbies a chance to see each other without an instant fight. When I removed the divider I did a water change and rearranged and added decor which threw everyone into a tizzy and they were more interested in settling down afterwards and all has been well since. I may have overdone the initiating phase, but the first new dp I tried to add was a disaster. Missy and Dip swam together for about a day and a half, then Dip started hanging in the one corner and wouldn't eat. Then the next thing I know is Missy and Dip are doing this alligator roll/thrashing fight and I lost Dip the next day. I didn't see any physical damage to Dip, but I have to assume for whatever reason that Missy most likely harassed her to death so I was overly cautious this time.

[William]

What can I say. That is a blue print for how you best introduce new aggressive fish to an existing tank.