Dwarf puffers???

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screaminbuckeye

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
78
Location
Ohio
I just saw dwarf puffers at my lfs. I am thinking about setting up a small tank for one or two of them (they're kinda expensive). How big of a tank would I need for one or two puffers? Are these guys brackish or completely fw? My lfs isn't to competent so I decided to ask here. What kind of temperment to they have?
 
Depends on the puffer. If it's like a Figure 8 puffer (common), then they come from an area of SE Asia that the salt and freshwater mix making it brackish. This being said, many of them solely live in the freshwater, some in the brackish and few in full saltwater. So you can go freshwater.

You need a tank with ample swimming room and places to hide. 20 gallon would be fine for 1 or 2, with no other inhabitants, but larger would be better.

temperament - Aggressive. Period.

The hardest part is feeding them. Frozen or live foods only, they won't eat flake, and some won't eat frozen.
 
What other types of puffers are there? I have a fw eel who has to be fed frozen blood worms with tweezers (the worms float otherwise) so I am getting used to picky eaters. What about pea puffers or dwarf puffers? I have heard people talk about them?
 
If they are true Dwarf Puffers then most likely they are full freshwater fish. Do a search under google for fresh water drawf puffers or Indian Puffers. See if that is what they look like.

Look closely at these little guys before you buy them. If they have a huge head and tiny body then don't get them. Often they are starved before they are sold as these guys will not eat anything but live food when they are young. Also don't get them if their spots are too dark, almost black. They should eb a greenish brown colour.

When young they will pretty much eat only live food, with small snails being the most important. You can also try raising brine shrimp. Later as they age they might start taking frozen food as well, but pretty much never flakes. In the summer you can also raise mosquito larva which they love.

You could put 2 in a 5 gallon, though 10 is better. Heavily plant it so they have lots of hidey spots. They get really good at come out with those big eyes and begging for food. I would suggest getting started right now on raising snails and they will eat them like crazy and have to be fed everyday for the first 6 months or so.
 
If they are the true dwarf (Malabar) puffers, they are completely FW and will only get about 1.5 inches, tops. I have kept 4 of them in a 12gal, but, like Bearfan mentioned, they are aggressive. The ones you saw might not be them, though, because usually they cost about $1.99 (at least around here).

See if they can give you a scientific name and then google it, or post back here. It is very important to try to find out exactly what kind you are getting, because all puffers are not created equal! :wink:

Kudos to you for researching before you buy!
 
I just did some google work. What they are calling dwarf puffers are actually figure 8 puffers and their pea puffers are actually dwarf puffers. I can handle live food. I am thinking a 10 gallon tank. What kind of temps do I need for these guys? My dorm runs cold so will I need a heater?
 
Yeah, you'll need a heater, upper 70's to 80 or so for the malabars. Mine will still eat nothing but snails, but I have a permanent supply, so its simple enough. I must admit, I've never even tried to wean them to other food.
 
Mine would eat live adult brine shrimp, snails and frozen bloodworms, or any live worm. They need the snails to keep their teeth trimmed.
 
Get some.

(yuk, yuk)
Actually, I am not sure if the eel would mind them or not, but if you get some mystery snails at the LFS before long you will wind up with more snails than you know what to do with, which is a very good thing with puffers. It might take them a while to actually get the population going, but once it starts, you just can't stop it! :wink: It is a better idea to breed them in a tank where you don't have plants and you don't have fish that eat them. Then harvest the babies as needed.
 
NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Not Mystery snails! their to kyooot!!!! :?


Just get some of those common snails that you get if you don't rinse live plants real well.

They multiple far faster and far greater and grow faster than Mystery/Apple snails. :)
 
What? No mystery snails? Your'e not kidding! My kids named our two mystery snails "Gary" after the Spongebob character, and they did not even reproduce!

Actually you are right, go to the LFS and ask them to give you their unwanted, nuisance snails (they will probably be eager to dispose of theirs) and then the larger ones will propagate and multiply.

Thanks, William, that was CLOSE!
 
I've always been interested in puffers, this is very fascinating....and, hmmmm...i have a 10 gallon tank that's going to be needing some fish in it soon.... :wink: How many dwarf (pea) puffers would be recommended for a 10 gallon. I like to stay on the slightly understocked levels, as it seems to be healthier.
 
Ok I'll get a snail tank started. I had no intention of keeping puffers and my eel together. The eel is a bit shy and likes his tank the way it is. I don't think he could handle little fin nippers in the tank. So how many can I put in a 10 gal (with proper heating, filtration, adn cycling)?
 
In a 10 gallon you could keep maybe 4 dwarf freshwater puffers. They are small but quite territorial. The more plants the better as this will help create territories and also give snails that survive the onslaught a place to breed and make more puffer food.

Rams horn snails are agreat choice. They multiply quite fast and get to a decent size easily enough.

You might be able to keep a bristlenose pleco in the tank as well but you will be hard pressed to keep anything else like cories or SAE (yummy fins). And most schooling fish willbe picked off as well.

You might be able to feed them guppies. Get some cheap feeder guppies (usually 50 cents or so) and breed them yourself, putting the young into the puffer tank when they are first born.
 
I had no intention of keeping puffers and my eel together.
Good idea. I meant keeping your snails and your eel together, to keep your snail population separate from your puffers.

I kept 4 in a 12-gal with a rubberlip pleco. They did not bother him. Definitely create lots of territories with rocks and decoration, and they do love to hide in plants. They actually "sleep" on the broad leaves at night! I had java fern and some dense silk plants as well.
 
Do these guys rearrange stuff? I am wondering whether to go sand or gravel. Lol my eel moves and digs constantly in his sand so he has plastic plants floating near the surface which has made it way easier to feed him (he hides in the plants near the surface and pokes his head out at me when i open the lid). Can I used fake plants and make puffers happy?
 
Oh yes, fake is fine for them, but if you wanted to have plants they don't bother them, as far as I know, but I just had some hardy, low-light types. I prefer sand for them because with their meaty diet it is easier to clean up debris, and their food will not lodge in the gravel.
 
I liked the gravel actually, in my tank. But this was due to the fact that the snails could seek cover and I knew they were breeding down there, which I thought was a good thing.

The funny thing is if you have a gravel vacuum with a clear tube the puffer will freak out and try to get at anything being sucked up. Very funny to watch as old snail shells becoem the object of desire.
 
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