Freshwater 10 Gallon

[Floop123]

I'm looking into a ten gallon dwarf pea puffer tank. I need ideas, so tell us your theme, and the inhabitants!

 

[mimiheart]

They need to be fed frozen or live foods. These aren't flake-fed fish, so they aren't cheap to own. They're also very messy. They can be somewhat shy, so you need to provide them with hiding places. In a 10 gallon, either a sorority or a harem is what you'll want. More than one male will cause aggression.

 

[Floop123]

What's a harem? Can't I just buy a few pond snails and just let them breed in there? Or have a five gallon bucket for the snails?

 

[mimiheart]

What's a harem? Can't I just buy a few pond snails and just let them breed in there? Or have a five gallon bucket for the snails?

One male with multiple females. They'll eat the snails faster than you can breed them, most likely. And you'll be left with a lot of shells. Pea puffers don't eat the shells like other puffer species. And you'd have to explain the breeding program you're thinking of for this bucket, because I'm just picturing snail escapees all over a house or apartment looking for a source of water and sludge.

 

[Floop123]

Oh, I didn't know they would escape! That would be bad! I'm on a budget, so what would be the cheapest way to feed them?

 

[mimiheart]

Put the betta you have in the 2 gallon in the ten and set up a divider so you can get another betta if you wanted to.

 

[Floop123]

I don't have the ten gallon yet. This is for future information. As you can see, I plan way too much.

 

[mimiheart]

Well, if you wanted to get one, now's the time. $ per gallon at petco.

 

[Floop123]

I don't have enough room right now. In a few months I will go to Walmart

 

[Floop123]

Would they breed in the harem? How much do puffers cost?

 

[Fresh2o]

Not sure about the breeding part.
I saw them listed for $5 each at Wet Spot Tropicals. You will need to factor in shipping. It can start as low as $15 with USPS and next day rates start at $35.
If you can secure them locally that might be best. Contact your LFS and see if they can be ordered if that is something they usually keep in stock.

 

[Floop123]

What are all the supplies I would need?

 

[mimiheart]

$30 or so in plants
$10 or so in substrate
$10-15 or so in decorations

You may be able to find deals on these on craigslist/ebay/here.

You want places the puffers can hide, and substrate the plants can actually root in. If you choose fake plants, you might be able to get away with a bare bottom tank, but keep in mind with messy eaters it'll look bad fast if you don't keep it clean.

A heater and a filter. $10 for a sponge filter, $5 for tubing, $15 for the air pump. Alternatively, a HOB plus media is what? $30? I'd go with a 20-40 gallon HOB for puffers. Gravel vacs are $20 or so. You'll want one whether or not you're using substrate. Heaters are $15?

Hood plus light, $34. I just got one yesterday.

This isn't including food, conditioner, medicines -- pea puffers are largely wild-caught and come in with parasites much of the time.

All in all for a ten gallon, I'd say $100-200 just on set up. I spent $107 yesterday getting stuff to set up a 20 gallon. And we had about half the stuff we're using already -- we're not using live plants, and we have substrate and some decor.

 

[Floop123]

Woah, that's a lot of money for a ten gallon!

 

[mimiheart]

Woah, that's a lot of money for a ten gallon!

Well, it's more than just the tank. You can grab things here and there in preparation so it's not all at once. That's why I mention the dollar per gallon sale right now. You may not have space to set up a ten gallon tank right now, but you might be able to grab it and store it. Also, keep an eye out for good decorations for cheap prices.

 

[Floop123]

I don't have the space to buy stuff yet.Petco has accessories for good prices.