Dwarf Puffers

[troy]

Whats the minimum tank size for 1 Dwarf puffer? I might be getting one in the future. Also what do they eat?

[YaYgoldFish]

I think you can get a 5 or 10g.

Id pm kimmers318..

[Rue]

You need to have more than 1 dwarf...they're not solitary fish.

[kimmers318]

On the contrary, dp's are just as happy solitary as they are in groups, alot of the time more so. They have such strong personalities that a dominant one will only accept one if it wants to, and will kill others.
Some sites will tell you 3g minimum, I tried a 5g with my first one and noticed a big difference in happiness, but that was also a corner model, a regular rectangular one that gives more swimming footprint might work better. Most do agree though that 3-5g per is okay which is why a duo or trio usually works in a 10g.
Things that will work is to make sure you have a completely cycled tank and add your dp's together when young.....the downside to this is not being able to tell male from female. I have been able to spot some very young males but that is from looking at a lot of dp's over the years:c3: . Lots of decor to break up the lines of sight and give them alot to explore and make sure you are ready with a source of snails. Most puffer owners have a separate tank or container just to breed snails to feed their puffs. Puffers have to have crunchy food to help keep their teeth worn down or they will overgrow and they won't be able to eat and will die unless you manually clip them.
Dp's, as with most puffers, are notorious for not wanting to eat dried or frozen food, although most will take frozen bloodworms happily so be ready to cater to a picky fish!

[Rue]

...I don't know...my 4 exhibit definate group behaviour...min. signs of aggression...I have the 4 of them in a 10g tank with 'decorations' to help divide up the space...

Mine are all accepting frozen brine shrimp, mysis, bloodworms and glassworms...

...and live snails of course!

[hungryhound]

kimmers can correct my if I am wrong, but I was looking in to getting some and what I read suggested that you want to have a heavily planted (or fake planted with very short sight lines. You will cut down thier aggression if they cannot see each other all of the time. They tend to be aggressive in a bare aquarium. No experience but that seemed to be a theme that popped up over and over again when I was researching them a couple of months ago.

[thepuffy]

Hi,

Im just starting a 10g tank and I am putting 3 dwarf puffers in it. But, I don't know what other colorfull fish I can put with it.

Can someone help me?

[kimmers318]

Yes, plenty of decoration is the big key to keeping groups so they can run around alot and not see much of each other. Another part is luck, or as I said, taking them home young seems to help.
My first dp, Missy, is a dominant female. I brought home another female for her and all was well for 3 days, that last night though ended in a thrashing fight that looked like an alligator roll. The new female was dead the next morning.
When I found the male I wanted I had him picked out and put into the transfer container at the store. I then picked out another female, but when she was placed with Gizmo he immediately attacked her. It took 3 tries before a female was placed with him that he didn't attack...so I brought home Lucy.
I kept Missy's tank divided for 2 weeks with her on one side, Gizmo and Lucy on the other so they could see each other without fighting and hopefully give Gizmo and Lucy a chance to strengthen up with some good food. That did work.
I guess what I am trying to get across here is that puffers are iffy. Some will put up with tankmates, others won't, and you don't know until you try, but if you wish to try make sure you can either separate them, return them, or be prepared that they may die.
As for keeping other fish with dwarf puffers, not usually a good idea. Anything with fins is going to be nipped up something fierce. Otos usually work if there is enough algae growing to sustain them. Dwarf frogs have worked a few times, but anything with fins would be a no-no.

[xDopeBoY]

i just picked up some dwarf puffers about an hour ago. 5 small dwarf puffers in my 10gallon along with a pleco.

[gm72]

A common pleco in a 10 gallon with puffers? I'm hoping this is not the case, xDope.

[kimmers318]

Xdopeboy, not to be busting your bubble here, but I don't foresee the inhabitants lasting too long in that set up.
What is your water change schedule like, and what are your nitrate readings when you do water changes? Puffers can be slightly messy eaters which will raise your nitrates rather quickly, and also can cause problems with the bacteria just not being able to keep up and you seeing ammonia and nitrite spikes.
Common pleco's will get way too large for a 10 gal, the dp's are likely to nip it to death, and it will be so messy in there that your water will quickly foul. Pleco's may remove a lot of algae, but they poo like noone's business so there is a tradeoff here.
With twice weekly water changes you MIGHT be able to keep your water parameters ok, but that is iffy.
You are likely to see more aggression issues out of the dp's with that many in such a small space also, they just won't have room for themselves.

[troy]

If you have a larger tank the pleco can go in and put it in there. Then put a bunch of plants and decorations in the tank to keep the aggression down.

[SpiderPig]

ah, do you feed dp's only baby snails? i mean, how exactly do dp's each snails? do they only eat snails that will fit in their mouth or do they each snails by opening the "door" and sucking out the meat?

[gm72]

Xdopeboy, not to be busting your bubble here, but I don't foresee the inhabitants lasting too long in that set up.
What is your water change schedule like, and what are your nitrate readings when you do water changes? Puffers can be slightly messy eaters which will raise your nitrates rather quickly, and also can cause problems with the bacteria just not being able to keep up and you seeing ammonia and nitrite spikes.
Common pleco's will get way too large for a 10 gal, the dp's are likely to nip it to death, and it will be so messy in there that your water will quickly foul. Pleco's may remove a lot of algae, but they poo like noone's business so there is a tradeoff here.
With twice weekly water changes you MIGHT be able to keep your water parameters ok, but that is iffy.
You are likely to see more aggression issues out of the dp's with that many in such a small space also, they just won't have room for themselves.

Kimmers has it very correct. Bad setup for a 10 gallon, sorry to say.

[kimmers318]

Dp's can be fed any size snail....pond snails being the preferred kind. Snails smaller than their eyes they should just gobble right up and those will help with the teeth.....larger snails they will suck the meat right out of them and leave the shell laying on the tank floor for you to clean up:c12: . Watch them as you feed them and you will see. Most people will tell you to stay away from MTS snails for any puffer....those are the long cone shaped ones.....because the shells are extremely hard and puffers have been known to break teeth on the shells. I feed them to my dp's when they are larger as I know they will just suck the meat out of the shell and not try to eat it.