dwarf pufferfish

[tropfish]

, i'm getting 4 dwarf puffers for my 10g tank (i moved my betta into the 5g so its just them) alot of sites said they need live food, while others said freeze dried bloodworms are fine. and also do i need snails to grind down their beaks because some say i do and other sites say that they don't have the beak overgrowth problem. Thanks!

(btw rue i was gonna pm you b/c ino u ahve puffers but ur message box is full.)

[squirt_12]

Yeah well they would injoy som live food. But it may take them a while to kill it because they are slow moving and they slowly pick at the fish. And the frozen bllon worms and brine shrimp would work great for them aswell and also some flakes or pellets. Ye you do need some snails (from my understandings) to grind down their teeth but rue will probably teall you more about that.
Hope this helps!!!!:thumb:

[tropfish]

ok thanks squirt

[squirt_12]

no problem...anytime.
But we will def. need to see some pics when they are settled in. lol :D

[gm72]

Just be sure what kind of puffer you are getting. There are 2 varieties of dwarf freshwater puffers, one is actually true freshwater but the other is brackish.

[squirt_12]

good point gm72 i totally forgot about that. lol.
thanks for that. lol

[tropfish]

well i dunno the exact kind because they just said dwarf freshwater but for the puffer tank the sign said no salt necesary. I askedo ne lady and she said they didn't have them, she lookedi n all the tanks and couldnt find them. So i spent a good 20 minutes looking over fish. I also discovered how many fish they have. They have cribs and kilifish and a number of things i had no idea they had. They also had this bottom feeder called a something (i dotn rem the first name) raphael catfish. It was black any yellow striped it got 5" so i was ogfnna get it so i asked the lady i was liek can i ahve... then i saw the puffers. And i asked for 4, but they only had two in stock, so i'll have to wait a bit. they're really awesome tho lol.

[Dave66]

Platydoras costatus. And they reach 8 inches, not five. Striped Raphael Catfish.

Dave

[tropfish]

Whew glad i didn't get it. Yea i jsut found a websiyte about them right before i saw this post. [Only Registered Users Can See Links.]
talk about conflicting info, i'e read a couple different sights and i'm getting maximum length of between 5 and 8 1/2 in" but i'll go with dave
they are awesome fish, but i'm really glad i didn't get one then b/c i couldn't house it in the 10g

[squirt_12]

Yeah they are awesome fish...and where i work...we hear them croaking all of the time and it is very neat how they do it. lol.
But yeah they also have....um....well i don't know the right word for them but...they are like hard fins (like that on a mudcat) so you would have to use a cup to catch it if you had it in your tank.

I still don't know what the real name is.:confused:

[tropfish]

Yea i've been reading up on them, and now i realyl want one lol, when in a net they're fins 'Lock into place and have jagged edges that they rub together to make noise. maybe i'll get one for my 29g, they don't seem to add to much to the bioload.

btw they're called striped raphael catfish.

[squirt_12]

no what i mean is that their fins will get stuck in the net so you are not supposed to catch them with a net.
('It is best to catch the Striped Raphael Catfish or Chocolate Catfish with a glass rather than a net as they are prone to sticking out their side spines in a very rigid manner when they are stressed. They can easily get caught in a net. Not only is it difficult on both the fish and you when you try to get them untangled, it is also a bit dangerous. A prick from the spines of this fish is quite painful!')

ok well i copied and paste that what is in brackets. That is what i mean by catching it in a net.

[tropfish]

and that sometimes you have to cut the net away because they become so helplessly tangled. I red about that. thanks for clearing it up squirt.

[tropfish]

I tried feeding them some freeze dried bloodworms last night and this morning and both times they didn't touc hthem. i also have these thing called shrimp puffs that are really big, but i grind up for the small fish. i also have these super soft sinking pellets with krill, and cichlid pellets for the 29g, will they eat any of this or will i have to buy some snails or ghost shrimp to get them to eat?

[squirt_12]

um....i don't know why they wouldn't eat them....my community tank just loves them so i figured that they would also love them. Well i was just reading something on thie page...[Only Registered Users Can See Links.] and there is where i always go to look at my fish and see what they eat etc... and well it said that they will eat krill, brine shrimp, snails, and their favourite is a goldfish. If you feed them a goldfish (dead or alive) they will easy eat it all up. But if they don't you may have to take it out because if you don't....your ammonia will spike.
I hope that all of this helps.

[jeffs99dime]

let's see some pics of the tank when you get it up and running

[tropfish]

ok i'll post pics soon. Squirt i tried taking part of a shrimp puff and putting it on a scewer and moving aroudn slowly, but that didn't work, so i jsut took a guppy (i've been wanting to get rid of these 2 guppies) and put him in. One puffer started chasing him a little, but it might take them a while to kill it. If they don't eat tomorrow then on monday i'll pick up some snails and ghost shrimp.

[cocoa_pleco]

hmmm, thats odd. in my old 33g i had a large spotted puffer and 2 pea puffers, and they all took bloodworm

[tropfish]

well they're staying towards the bottom most of the time or in the middle, but they explore the whole tank. I saw one take a little bite outta a pellet which makes me feel a lil better. and the guppies eating some of the food that the puffers aren't eating. I'm a little worried because these guys are so cool. the problem with the freeze dried bloodworms is they always float, it they'd sink then the puffers would probably eat them. Hopefully its just because thye're new.

btw they are pea puffers, after a lil researching im postive that their peas.

they've also been nipping the glass a bit, i guess they see some mocroscopic critters.

[cocoa_pleco]

ahh, that explains it, i used frozen bloodworm. mine also liked live crickets

[tropfish]

ok i'll try that. I'm picking up some frozen bloodworms in a couple days, along with 3 more puffers when they get them on tuesday. The first paragraph of this makes me feel better tho. [Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

Cocoa is it ok to catch crickets outside or should i just by them (they're like 7cents each)

[tropfish]

well i went upstair and was lookin at the tank, and i saew one of the puffers combing the bottom for food. He never went after the pellets, but he wa eating small particles of food. I really like these little guys and i'll be getting them some frozen food and crickets soon.

[cocoa_pleco]

i used storebought crickets. they shred them up and ate the meat inside.

[tropfish]

well i cant go to the store till tuesday so i foudn a small one outside, and as it sank it was sitll moving so one puffer like kept circling it but iddn;t bite it. Now the crickets dead so i have to take it out. Ill leave it in for like 20 mintues to se if they still want it.

[cocoa_pleco]

all puffers are different. just see what yours like

[tropfish]

yea, its just worrying me. Hopefully tis jsut that they're still ajusting to their surroundings. i really thought the crickets would work tho.

[squirt_12]

Well puffers sometime wont take pellets or flakes....like cocoa said....you have to try different things so be patient. Also i wouldn't use a cricket from outside because it could have pesticides on it and that could kill your fish.
But the puffers can go a couple of days without eating so if they arn't eating try different things. Like they would LOVE a goldfish (fedder).
Well i hope that they start to eat soon.

Post some pics!!!

[cocoa_pleco]

lol, squirt, they cant eat feeders. the puffers are the size of a pea

[gm72]

Man, that would be freaky to see several dwarf puffers going after a feeder fish. Like a school of pirahna or something!

[squirt_12]

yeah well when i was on a website they said that they could....like a little one...ok maybe it was a feeder guppy i was thinking about. lol. t probably just sliped my mind. lol.
Well yeah i would use a feeder guppy. A couple. cause if you have one their chances of catching them are less.lol.
Well i think that i have got it right this time.:confused:

[cocoa_pleco]

thats what my serpaes do, they are known for acting like piranhas. i feed live crickets to my 55g, and if a live cricket sinks and is still moving all 12 swarm and within 3 seconds all thats left is a floating leg.

[squirt_12]

hahahahaha well that woud definatly be something to see.

I really really wish that i would have a fish that would do that. Hearing about these things makes me want to sell all of my fish in my tank and get some ciclids. But i don't think that i will ever do that because i love all of my fish that i have. lol

[cocoa_pleco]

endlers guppy fry would work.

[tropfish]

ok i'll put the two guppies i have in the tank. thanks! Also i never thought of that suqirt, and i took them out of the puffer tan kand put the dead crickets in the cichlid tank and thye were gone in 5 seonds, the BP and con each swallowed one whole haha.

[squirt_12]

o well thats good. Well if you were to buy crickets for your puffers....you will have to buy the smallest ones that you can find so that they can consume them all.

[jeffs99dime]

Man, that would be freaky to see several dwarf puffers going after a feeder fish. Like a school of pirahna or something!

i actually saw that happen once. at a lfs. it was a whole school of dp's attacking a few feeders.

[squirt_12]

yeah i know so have i thats why i suggested it. And in like all of the pictures that i have saw of puffers feeding they have had a goldfish.

[tropfish]

that would be really cool. Right now they're leaving the guppies alone, but thye have been searching the bottom (its silica sand like the 10g) for food. So next tiem i go i'll buy some crickets, frozen bloodworms, and a couple smallish snails (i'll buy some big ones and just breed them, i've read they can breed in a gallon jar of water.) Also i want to buy the striped rapheal catfish for the 29g, awesome fish.

[squirt_12]

good choice about breeding the snails. Will save you alot of money in the long wrong. Well i would but about 4 bi snails to breed just so that you will have a better chance of them to breed. Good choice on the food and they should eat it.

Excellent choice on the Striped Raphael. You will have to post some pics of the puffers and of the Raphael.

[tropfish]

thanks squirt, and thank you and cocoa for all your help with this. i really appreciate it.

Also the lfs sells a couple different types. Would apple snails be a good choice? or mystery snails? I know apple snails don't change sex, but do mystrery snails?

[squirt_12]

Well apple snails can get to the size of a soft ball and mstery snails don't so....your best choice would be the mystery snail. If you ar looking for one with colour you could get the blue mystery snail. They are a little more pricier but they are nice to look at. But like i just have 2 brown mystery snails right now and they look great. lol

But yeah i would get around 4 if you def. want them to breed. Also they will lay the eggs above the water line so you will need to have a lid on the tank so that the sides of the tank wil stay humid. And the snils will eat veggie rounds. Thats what i feed them.
Hope all of this helps!!!!

[tropfish]

ok thanks! Can i get large ones and let them breed in the puffer tank and have the puffers eat them as they hatch, or will they go after the big ones?

[Dave66]

UM, folks, puffers eat snails, regardless of size. They'l pick a big one apart.

Dave

[tropfish]

Thats what i thought, i was just checking. Then where owuld ibreed them? i couldn't do it in the 5g because its my betta tank and it has a DIY filter for noow so i don't want to put anything else i nthere, and i don't want the 29g cichlid tank overrun with snails. First i'll bye some for the puffers to eat, then i'll worry about breeding them later, my main concern is for them to get food.

[squirt_12]

Well i knew that if you put the snails in the tank with the puffers (no matter the size) that they would get eaten but i thought that tropfish was going to put them into another container to breed them. YOuc ould put them in your 5g if just want them to breed becasue the betta wont bother the big ones and don't foget that the snils will lay the eggs above the water line and it will take sometime for the eggs to hatch and the eggs always have to be humid or they will dry out and die.

[tropfish]

Ok the 5g it is. I will do that, in the fututre. Right now my main focus is to get them to eat. So i'll pick up a couple snails and see how they like them, along with the frozen bloodworms.

[squirt_12]

yeah well i am just going to say this.......if your snails breed (which they should with 4 in the 5g) that when the eggs hatch....some of the little snails may...MAY get eaten by the betta but if anything he or she will only eat a few because their shells are small and vanurable. So u may loose a couple from the bettas eating them (the newly born ones). Just to make that clear to you. lol.

[gm72]

I think it is Rue who keeps a basic 10 gallon setup to let her snails multiply then once they get a decent size she transfers them into the puffer tank for food.

[tropfish]

Thanks squirt. i'm fine with him eating a couple. GM i was gonna PM rue about her puffers but her box is full.

[squirt_12]

so how are your puffers doing???? are they eating???? when are you going to get the others?????

Could you post some pics??? i am anxious to see what they look like....well yours. lol.

[tropfish]

they're picking small food peices off the sand, so thats a good sign. I'm goign to the petstore on tuesday to get snails, frozen bloodworms, and 3 more puffers (they get their livestock every tuesday.) I'll post pics tom as it's kinda late here.

[squirt_12]

ok thanks for the update!!!!!!! :c10:

[tropfish]

yup. getting thme tom lol, i always get excited when i know i'm getting fish. And they'll definalty eat snails right?

[gm72]

Absolutely will.

[tropfish]

ok good. thanks gm

[Rue]

Well, breeding snails isn't hard - they've got that figured out all on their own...

But keeping the tank with millions of snails in it clean IS hard work!

Make sure you're adding calcium to the water...both the adults and the babies will need it.

[tropfish]

ok. thanks for the tip rue!

[jeffs99dime]

let's see some pics

[tropfish]

ugh! i just found oen of the puffers dead. I haven't gotten to the lfs yet (i can;t go till tom and its KILLING me) but i think the other puffer ate some of him (ino that sounds horrible but at least theo thero ne ate) so tom i'll pick up the snails and now 4 puffers. i'm having a bad fish week. :help:

[squirt_12]

Yeah i think that the reason that he died was because he wasn't eating. Like you said before...that they wern't eating. But they might eat some pellets and or flakes but the web sites i went on said that they might not eat them so don't get mad if they don't. So you will have to try lots of stuff.

Ok here is a good link to go to about your puffers.
[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

Go there ^^^^ and it has some good information on your puffers. Also it said that you should have 1 puffer per 2-3 gallons so i would get around 5 max.

[tropfish]

thanks for the link squirt! Today i'm getting the snails, bloodworms, and 4 more puffers. i did alot of reading and that should be good food to get them to eat.

[squirt_12]

yeah i go to alot of these little simple pages to see what all of my fish like to eat (i spoil my fish) lol.

If you have any more questions....just ask.

[tropfish]

well gues what! they're weren't anymore pufers b/c the store isn;t gonna carry them anymore. So i got a snail for him (i'll get more a little later i was in a hurry.) SO i decided i'll put the puffer in the 5g by himself with the snail. So i decided hmmm i can get some fish i've always wanted. so for the 10g i bought an african spotted leaf fish and a rubberlib pleco (as a growout till he gets big enough for the 29g.) i also put firethorn in the 10g. perfect situation! although the puffer's had the snail for almost two hours and hasn't touched it. its actually kinda cute crawling all over the 5g.

[squirt_12]

Well how big is the snail??? The snail should only be about the size of his eye for him to eat it. So he might not fuklly eat it but he might poke at it. So you only have 1 puffer?

[tropfish]

well the guy at the petstore said it was better to get a larger one b/c the snails really get in there and eat it. the puffer is TINY.. noowhere near me sells them that small. and this is the only palce near me that sold them and they're not gonna anymore. keeping these guys is hard!

[squirt_12]

yeah it takes alot of reasearch. Like i am thinking of getting some red eys puffers but right now i don't have the room for them. But i might be getting a 20g here soon so maybe. Fingers crossed. lol.
Yeah well how many snails did u get???? And i find that weird...at my LFS they have TONS of snails and like the snails are always breeding in the tank so they are making extra money. lol. But yeah if you have about 2-4 then you should get some litle ones soon. lol. But the eggs mihg take about 3 weeks to hatch. lol.
Hope this helps. (not really but still) as in a didn't give you much information

[kimmers318]

An easy way to start up a snail breeding tank is to buy some cheap live plants from your LFS.....they always seem to bring snails to peoples tanks who don't want them!!!:c12:
Rest assured, eventually your puffer will kill the snail....they always do! And if it is too big to fit in his mouth he will just bite chunks out of it. Frozen bloodworms never seem to fail with feeding dp's. People seldom have luck with them eating flake or dried food.....even when mine are hungry after a weekend at camp they won't touch freeze dried bloodworms! Picky little goomers.

[squirt_12]

ok well i know that this is an OLD thread but i just wanted to ask tropfish how his puffers were doing????
so...how are they doing?? lol.