Puffer fish

[Caliban07]

My girlfriend has just inherited my 15 (uk) gallon fish tank. She is hellbent in getting a freshwater pufferfish. As it is going to be me that does the general maintenance I have a few questions.

1) what type of pufferfish can we have?
2) can a 15 gallon support a solitary puffer?
3) what temp and ph is preferable?
4) what do they eat?
5) preferred substrate?
6) decor requirements?
7) filtration requirements?

And anything I have missed.

Thanks

 

[Luananeko]

I don't believe there are any puffers you could keep in that size tank beyond a dwarf puffer... Since dwarf puffers are so tiny you could actually keep a decent sized colony. Here's a good article about their care to get you started: How to keep dwarf puffers | Features | Practical Fishkeeping

 

[Caliban07]

Thanks for that. It says to allow 15litre per fish do that means she could have 5 dwarf puffer. Keeping 1 male and 4 females would be best. They need a variety of foods including crunchy food to keep their teeth or beak under control.

Gonna have to think hard about this. Thanks again

 

[Terrance]

I did not understand your first post. Do you have 15 gallons or 15 liters?

 

[flitabout]

dwarf puffers will work in a 15g tank. Is it liters or Imperial gallons or US gallons?

 

[Caliban07]

It's 15 uk gallon. 64 litre. The link I was given mentioned to allow 15 litres per dwarf puffer so I gathered 4-5 would be ok?

 

[pip walters]

Figure 8 puffers grow to around 3", so one or two of those would be fine in a well filtered 15 gallon tank

 

[Caliban07]

Do they need salt?

 

[pip walters]

They tend to do better with some salt in the long term. 10 -15g per litre is what I keep them in at work

 

[HN1]

Yes. Figure 8s are brackish fish.

Dwarf puffers (Carinotetraodon travancoricus) would be your only real option in that sized tank IMO.

 

[wildroseofky]

Here is a great site all about puffers. The Puffer Forum • The PufferPedia

There are a lot of freshwater puffers. Dwarf puffers are the easiest to find as pets though. You need at lest 5 gallons of water for each puffer. Dwarf puffers get very aggressive when mature and will fight and kill each other. To keep more than one, you need lots of plants and stuff to help keep them from seeing each other. Even females prefer to be alone. They eat snails and blood worms. Frozen blood worms preferably. Most will not eat freeze dried food. Their beaks are soft and do not need to be worn down like other puffers. They suck snails out of their shells instead of crushing the shell. They are very sensitive to water conditions. They need a well cycled tank to start out. They need to be wormed because most come with parasites. The site I linked has all the info on doing that. They are cute and interactive and well worth the trouble.

 

[Caliban07]

Wow thank you very much ^.^