Pea puffer help please!

[john_franzwa]

Hi I've done all my research on this fish and this is my last stop to help decide if I'm getting it. I have a complete cycled tank. Very heavily planted tank completely infested with snails and one octinus catfish. I really want one but I need to ask you guys and girls first if I should and would they be able to eat the snails or should I just feed them live bloodworms to start with. Should I get one.


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[Barbz99]

Size of tank. They love snails. Frozen blood worms will also do just fine. Live is even better

 

[J.Mcpeak]

You want a shoal! Definitely keep in a group.
Carinotetraodon travancoricus, I hope!

Will eat bloodworm, mussel and occasionally mosquito larvae, also smaller snails. Large snails just have bites taken but the snail is not killed every time.

 

[Barbz99]

If you give us tank size we can suggest how many etc.

 

[john_franzwa]

If you give us tank size we can suggest how many etc.

It's only a ten but I heard I could at least keep one in a ten



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[Pseudomugil]

I had a big group of these before the tank had ich . They loved pest snails and frozen bloodworms.

 

[john_franzwa]

You want a shoal! Definitely keep in a group.
Carinotetraodon travancoricus, I hope!

Will eat bloodworm, mussel and occasionally mosquito larvae, also smaller snails. Large snails just have bites taken but the snail is not killed every time.

It's only a ten but I can keep one in a ten right


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[john_franzwa]

I had a big group of these before the tank had ich . They loved pest snails and frozen bloodworms.

Ok thanks for the help


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[Barbz99]

You can keep one in a ten but no more

 

[john_franzwa]

Ok thanks every one says something difrent


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[Brookster123]

You can keep one in a ten but no more

You're everything but correct..

Ok thanks every one says something difrent


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Trick to all these different reccomendations you read.. some are well researched/practiced.. some are nothing more than words on a screen.. re read J.Mcpeak's post.. I'd say he's definitely the one to heed on this one...

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[Barbz99]

You can't just tell this person to throw 3 into the tank. What if he gets 3 males by chance? He'll end up with one. If you want to have more then on you can only have one male in the tank.

 

[Brookster123]

You can't just tell this person to throw 3 into the tank. What if he gets 3 males by chance? He'll end up with one. If you want to have more then on you can only have one male in the tank.

I don't know anything about them really.. just voicing my opinion on the matter..

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[john_franzwa]

Thank you both I think I will start out with one male and latter on add 2 more females


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[john_franzwa]

I don't know anything about them really.. just voicing my opinion on the matter..

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?


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[john_franzwa]

You can't just tell this person to throw 3 into the tank. What if he gets 3 males by chance? He'll end up with one. If you want to have more then on you can only have one male in the tank.

?


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[Nils]

Well, in a 10, I'd say you could do 2-3, depending on hiding spots and what sex they are. I have one in a 2.5, he loves pest snails, in fact that's the only thing he'll touch besides live blackworms. You could easily do 2 males in a 10, the general rule of thumb is 5 gallons per puffer. You could try and determine sex, but it's extremely hard and I don't think you'll want to stand at the LFS display tank trying to figure out their gender for an hour. Males have small wrinkles behind their eyes, but this only shows when they're older. The other signs of a male is when you can see that their "spots" along the body are in a row, ending at the tail. Females, there is no certain way to tell except if they don't show the signs of a male, and they are generally a little wider. As for Oto's, I'm sure that you could do at least 4-5 in there with the puffers. These are among some of the only fish that won't be killed and ripped apart by these puffers, and everyone thinks it's because of how they barely move and just aren't that noticeable. They love rock work, live plants and a current to play in, and I'm sure you'll be fine with 2-3 puffs in there.

Nils

 

[john_franzwa]

Well, in a 10, I'd say you could do 2-3, depending on hiding spots and what sex they are. I have one in a 2.5, he loves pest snails, in fact that's the only thing he'll touch besides live blackworms. You could easily do 2 males in a 10, the general rule of thumb is 5 gallons per puffer. You could try and determine sex, but it's extremely hard and I don't think you'll want to stand at the LFS display tank trying to figure out their gender for an hour. Males have small wrinkles behind their eyes, but this only shows when they're older. The other signs of a male is when you can see that their "spots" along the body are in a row, ending at the tail. Females, there is no certain way to tell except if they don't show the signs of a male, and they are generally a little wider. As for Oto's, I'm sure that you could do at least 4-5 in there with the puffers. These are among some of the only fish that won't be killed and ripped apart by these puffers, and everyone thinks it's because of how they barely move and just aren't that noticeable. They love rock work, live plants and a current to play in, and I'm sure you'll be fine with 2-3 puffs in there.

Nils

Thank you so much ? this was very helpful!


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[Nils]

Oh, and for keeping a constant supply of snails, I go to PetCo, and mine has a plant only tank, and ask them if I can net a few out and they'll give me a bag for them. I keep them in a jar and they'll reproduce and I'll go back as often as possible and just keep getting snails! Sometimes I manage to net in a small clipping of plant, and I'm sure that's the least amount of payment they can give me for getting rid of their snails

Nils

 

[lindenthaler.9]

If you go by the rule of 1 to every 5 gallons, you could definitely keep 2 in there, probably 3 since it's heavily planted.
Personally for that tank I'd go with either 1 or 3. Keeping only 2 of them leaves the possibility that they're either going to be fighting constantly for dominance, or one is going to be the bully. That's my opinion with them though. It's already planted so that's great because they love to explore. Mine enjoyed playing in the current as well.. I tried to rearrange things every few weeks to prevent boredom. If you could incorporate rock work in there as well it'd be great.