Dwarf Puffer?

[Exigenn]

So to start this i have a 3.5 gallon tank with 4 cardinal tetras and like 2 RCS in it. With the new 60 gallon being setup im going to move the cardinals to the 60 gallon and get probably 6 more, possible 11 not sure yet. The RCS will be moving back to the original tank.

I see people post on here talking about these puffers they keep in these small tanks. So im wondering if i could keep one in this 3.5 gallon tank. It has a filter and heater ect and a decent amount of plants, Sand substrate. Not the best lighting but works for low light plants. i have mts and tons of frozen foods so feeding him would be no problem. I really just don't know much about this fish and from what i am seeing on google i see a lot of conflicting statement.

Anything you can tell me would be appreciated.

 

[Nils]

Hey there! Glad to see more people getting into puffs. Really cool fish. So what tank do you want to put the puffs in? The 3.5 would be perfect for a single puffer. I have 2 in my 5.5 and they get along just fine, with the occasional territorial dispute. I also keep them with a lot of RCS, but I don't expect to see lots of shrimplets. They do leave the adult and juvenile shrimp alone though. There's 1 Amano shrimp in there as well and she's 2 times the size of the puffs so she gets left alone of course The only fish that they always get along with and many have reported successful with are oto cats. They stay small and eat lots of algae. For some reason the puffs leave them alone. Maybe because of their dull colors and they don't move a lot?

DP's really do appreciate a planted tank. My 5.5 is very heavily planted, and they are constantly exploring and checking things out. One way to know if the puffs are bored is if they are "glass surfing". This is when they swim up and down or against the glass. My puffs do this whenever I enter the room because they are begging for food of course lol. They are highly inquisitive fish, very intelligent and very interactive as well. They peck at my hand during maintenance, beg for food, and know the difference between me and my siblings, mom and dad, probably because they know that I give them food, which brings me to the next subject of discussion

Dwarf puffers are listed as an intermediate fish for a reason. For me, that main reason is feeding. Most will need live food at some point. Some will accept frozen food that is waved in front of them for a while. Never, ever ever ever have I seen a puff accept flake or pellet food and I don't think I ever will. You can keep all kinds of live food cultures for them, like black worms (what I have right now), pest snails that grow and reproduce quickly, like pond, ramshorn and MTS snails, shrimp (RCS shrimplets) this may not be the best option because I would rather have shrimp in the tank to enjoy, and they cost money, which means you can make money off your live food

My blackworm culture is really simple. Just a small plastic container (just a small tupperware tub) and some plastic mesh for them to hold onto. Got a big sheet of the mesh at hobby lobby for 99 cents. Add your worms and just change the water every couple days. Don’t feed or nothing. Works perfectly for me.

Overall, they’re great fish. Pretty easy to keep IMO. Only the feeding is a problem. If you’re willing to go the extra mile for that, go ahead and try them!

 

[Exigenn]

If anything i would probably just buy an amano shrimp. Of just put all these pesky pond snails that somehow got in my tanks even after dips, can never seem to get rid of them lol. MTS are no problem either. My dads friend owns a Fishing store with all kinds of live bait, he gives us free bait all of the time, im sure i could get some different kinds to start a few cultures if need be. Im going to my LFS sometime this week/weekend and getting some fish for my 60 and stocking up on plants so ill be looking for the puffs and some more plants will end up in their anyways.

I have other tanks he could go in but i think the 3.5 would be the best bet.

 

[ReefGuy77]

Nils gave some great information to go by. I've kept dwarf puffers in the past, as well as some other puffer species. Puffers are some of the most interesting fish in my opinion. They seem more intelligent than other fish. I have had luck with feeding dwarf puffers frozen bloodworms, the have always accepted that for me; however I have heard of people only getting them to eat live. Probably in a 3.5 you should stick with one puffer. If down the line you move it to a bigger tank, just make sure you don't get two males, they will fight. Lots of plants, driftwood or rocks will make the tank more interesting for the puffer. The pest snails are great to feed them and easy to breed. Other puffer species require snails in their diet to keep their teeth trim, however dwarf puffers don't have that problem I have heard. It's still fun to watch them hunt the snails though.

 

[GallonsOfFun]

I'm going to go ahead and disagree with the above. A 3.5 gallon, even for a dwarf puffer, is way too small. The absolute minimum for 1 DP is 5 gallons (many would argue it's 10 gallons).

Firstly, puffers are live-wires and incredibly active, 3.5 gallons is not near enough swimming room. Secondly, puffers are very intelligent fish and it would get extremely bored in there. Lastly, puffers produce an extraordinary amount of waste for their size (I have 1 juvenile GSP in a 55 gallon and if I go 7 days without a water change the entire surface area of the substrate is covered with waste) and maintaining livable water parameters for a scaleless, sensitive fish in that small of water volume would be a nightmare.

But I'm just one person on the internet, I recommend taking your question over to thepufferforum.com - you'll get plenty of opinions from very experienced puffer keepers.

EDIT: Also, please don't feed your puffers MTS snails. Their shells are much to hard for them and you run the risk of them breaking their beaks on it. Against advice, I've tired feeding juvenile MTS to my GSPs and they seriously struggled to crack the shells open, never mind a DP.