dwarf puffer and lfs broad question...

[drm315]

My tank is probably a week away from finishing it's fishless cycle. I went to my only good local fish store today and talked with one of the more knowledgable employees. They can order dwarf puffers for me, but price wise, it would be cheaper for me to get three than to get only one. My problem or question is this - there is no way to sex them when they are super young. If I have to get three from them I have no idea if there are going to be more than one male in the batch...more than one female would be fine, but.....what is your advice on ordering? He said I *could* just order one, but it's usually price prohibitive to do that. Any advice appreciated.

 

[Nils]

What's your LFS? I'm in NC too
Is this your first tank?
What's your set up? Lights, filter etc?
If it's your first tank I wouldn't recommend dwarf puffs, they are a fish that are very specialized in their feeding and general care.
If you're getting them anyway, I suggest you just get 3-4 and let it play out. Not very easy to sex them and they'll figure out boundaries in the tank on their own.

 

[drm315]

Hi Nils -
I'm in Greensboro, NC. The only petstore worth a darn where I live is Pet Supermarket. The other ones have staff that would rather do anything than help customers.

I have had dwarf puffers in the past - two females that did fine together, but everything I've read say that more than one male is not a good idea, so I was trying to avert disaster. I wouldn't mind having a male and two females, but there's no way of knowing what I'm going to get.

My tank is a 28 gallon Euro Marineland (not sure they sell them anymore). It is a well planted tank, etc.

 

[Toad]

Three dwarves in that size tank should be fine, sounds like plenty of boundaries and space for each.

 

[Nils]

Hi Nils -
I'm in Greensboro, NC. The only petstore worth a darn where I live is Pet Supermarket. The other ones have staff that would rather do anything than help customers.

I have had dwarf puffers in the past - two females that did fine together, but everything I've read say that more than one male is not a good idea, so I was trying to avert disaster. I wouldn't mind having a male and two females, but there's no way of knowing what I'm going to get.

My tank is a 28 gallon Euro Marineland (not sure they sell them anymore). It is a well planted tank, etc.

I'm closer to Charlotte. We've got a couple good LFS down here, Upscale Aquatics especially.
You should be fine with the puffers, even if all 3 are male or all female or some combination in between. When keeping puffers, there's always going to be some kind of aggression towards each other but nothing serious. And btw, if they're the only fish in that 28 you could easily do 5-6

 

[TeenyFish]

Definitely echoing above.

You have a plenty big enough tank that even if you ended up with three males, they'll figure out a pecking order, figure out their own spaces, and you shouldn't have too much issue at all.

 

[drm315]

Thanks so much for all your replies! You're making me really excited for my cycling process to finish so I can get them! They were always my favorite fish to have and I can't wait to see their cute little faces!

 

[TeenyFish]

Here's one of my lil puffs. They really are just the most comical little things.

 

[drm315]

Love, love, love!!! <3

 

[confusedfishmom]

I agree with Nils above, in a 28g you could have several. Assuming they will be the only fish in the tank.

 

[drm315]

I agree with Nils above, in a 28g you could have several. Assuming they will be the only fish in the tank.

Yes - they will be the only species in the tank.

 

[dartzy2]

What about diet? Don't they require a special diet? Love them, too!

 

[TeenyFish]

Live food.
Mine eat bloodworm, daphnia, brine shrimp.

They need snails every now and then so they can grind their teeth down on the shells. Most lfs will give you some pest snails for free if you ask nicely, and once you've got a few, it's not hard to end up with tons if you chuck a few in a tub with a bit of plant, a water change every few days, and the odd algae tab.

 

[dartzy2]

Thanks for the quick reply! I had heard live foods as well. All I have ever seen is the freeze dried varieties. Where does one get live bloodworms, etc? A Bait shop?

 

[TeenyFish]

That would largely depend on where you live.

Two of my lfs sell little bags of live food.
Online???

I also had a brain fart and was thinking about another fish, puffs will also accept frozen.

 

[dartzy2]

That would largely depend on where you live.

Two of my lfs sell little bags of live food.
Online???

I also had a brain fart and was thinking about another fish, puffs will also accept frozen.

Good to know they will eat the frozen kind. Only local pet shop for me is Petco. [emoji20] No private LFS in my area. I guess, you could order online. Seems like you can order anything online. Lol.

Well. One day I hope to have a puffer or two. Will prob order them from online as well.

 

[drm315]

That would largely depend on where you live.

Two of my lfs sell little bags of live food.
Online???

I also had a brain fart and was thinking about another fish, puffs will also accept frozen.

Yes, when I had my dwarf puffers in the past the greedily ate frozen blood worms.