Dwarf Puffers

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JTAM963

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Jul 21, 2003
Messages
130
Location
Illinois USA
I've seen the dwarf puffers at Petsmart recently and was thinking of buying a 10 gallon hex or something to put them in...make it with lots of plants and what not..what kind of environment do they like and what size tank and tankmates?
 
a 10 will work great for two-three puffers... they need lots of plants and wood/rocks/decorations.

tanks mates are very limited....MAYBE otos and Kuli Loaches that is about it.
 
What other kind of FW puffers are there to buy in local pet stores? I think they are cool..I'm just kind of getting MTS right now...Just set up my 60 gallon..soon setting up my 30 hex and then want MORE haha..whats best way to find tanks cheap?? Ebay or Aqua bid tops??
 
JTAM963 said:
What other kind of FW puffers are there to buy in local pet stores? I think they are cool..I'm just kind of getting MTS right now...Just set up my 60 gallon..soon setting up my 30 hex and then want MORE haha..whats best way to find tanks cheap?? Ebay or Aqua bid tops??

I'd definately look on Craigslist (www.craigslist.com) and in your classifieds in your newspaper. Ebay might be a good place to look, but unless you find someone close to you to pick it up, it might be difficult. I just got a 55 gallon with a stand and hood for 50 dollars on Craigslist. It came with a filter and media as well. that was lucky, I caught it at the right time, so I'd check back on Craigslist often so you can reply quickly when someone posts something. Also, in the spring, once it gets warmer, garage sales might be a good place to find cheap aquariums as well. Good luck!
 
Hi JTAM, if you're looking for DPs then your 25G hex tank you mentioned in another thread would be a great home for them IMO :) There'd be plenty of room for a group of 3, plus some other suitable tankmates (which isn't many with DPs).

Most puffers are best kept alone; the only real social puffer is the South American (colomessus, I think, spelling probably off though). You need a group of 5+ though to keep aggression down and your 25G hex wouldn't be big enough for that.

DPs would be great though! You could plant it up too, it'd look great :)

In a 10G hex I would keep only one to two max.
Read the profile here for why: http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/ug.php/v/PufferPedia/Freshwater/C_Travancoricus/

The Puffer Forum is a great place to pick up tips from people who have been keeping puffers for in excess of 15 years (i.e. they've had a single puffer for that long!). They are very rewarding, but highly challenging fish to keep!
 
I just cleaned that 25 hex and looking for a stand..I have one now but its crappy condition..I got the tank free from someone a while back so tank good condition because its acrylic but stand not so good...I also have a whisper 40 on it to use...just deciding on fish is the hard part...I like out of the ordinary like puffers...what kind of plants are suitable to grow into gravel?? Or what kind of plants and tank setup do DWarfs like??
 
I think you could house prolly 3 in a 10 hex. some live plants would be really cool, not sure what kinda substrate they prefer, but I am certain they are brackish and will require some aquarium salt
 
but I am certain they are brackish and will require some aquarium salt

1. They are freshwater.
2. Brackish water requires marine salt not aquarium salt. Aquarium salt is a tonic salt used for things like relieving stress from transport or in the treatment plan for whitespot/ich.

In terms of plants, DPs love just about anything. The key with puffers is to make their environment as complex as you can: rock formations, plants, etc.
It breaks up the eye line which minimises aggression (speaking of which, I strongly recommend a max. of one in a 10G if this is the first time you've ever kept puffers). Complex environments also stop them from getting bored: this is an intelligent fish.

An alternative, if you can obtain one, is the irrubesco. This is a larger fish, at around 2-3" or so. Tank size minimum is 20G, so it could go in your 25G hex I would have thought.
Here's a link to the profile: http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/ug.php/v/PufferPedia/Freshwater/C_Irrubesco/
 
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