Dwarf Puffer Profile

[janky]

This was a picture we took when we first got him

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v648/jankyjay/Aquarium/photo45.jpg

He still has noticeable spots and marking but less of that yellowish color and more pale whitish

 

[Deep Seven]

Dwarf Puffers : Home is a website dedicated to dwarf puffers.

I'd recommend checking out youtube vids and photos. Dwarf puffers are not very colourful, but if yours looks abnormal then I'd investigate further. Posting photos or video would help to determine how your puffer is doing. Video would be most useful as puffers sometimes exhibit abnormal swimming behavior when sick.

 

[ZHiTcH41]

I would not advise black worms. People who sell the could not have taken care of them right and once fed to fish they could die. I lost all my fish and dwarf puffers after a few hrs of feeding.

That was my experience so.. You make your mind up from there. But frozen blood worms would be the best. They are like a steak dinner for fish. They will bring his color back!!!

 

[Terrance]

Live black worms needs to be carefully purchased. Many LFS do not take the proper care of the worms. I know many people who purchase straight from the breeder farms or buy the worms from the LFS on the same day they are shipped in.

Updated picture or video does help.

 

[Deep Seven]

I would not advise black worms. People who sell the could not have taken care of them right and once fed to fish they could die. I lost all my fish and dwarf puffers after a few hrs of feeding.

That was my experience so.. You make your mind up from there. But frozen blood worms would be the best. They are like a steak dinner for fish. They will bring his color back!!!

I don't have experience myself with blackworms, but I've read a few articles and blogs and watched a few videos on how to breed them, and see lots of videos and posts about people feeding them to their fish with no problems.


I'm curious for more details on these blackworms that killed your fish. Were they live? Did you rinse them? You said after a few hours of feeding, sounds like a lot of feeding.

I'm still planning on using them myself, but I plan to breed them first in clean stable aquarium water.

 

[ZHiTcH41]

Yes I washed them everyday I only had the worms for two days though. I fed them the worms. Then the fish started gasping on the top of water and died the next morning. I checked the water and did a partial water change and even added more oxygen to the water.

But it's it puffers tho. I lost almost 100$ in rainbow fish to my first bought batch.

 

[janky]

We think it may just be the crappy light we have in that tank. It's a really awkward gold/yellow spectrum that's probably draining his color. The initial pic we had was taken when he was in a different tank under a coralife t5 bulb in a planted tank.

He seems really happy and active, swims around, recognizes us, rushes to the top of the water by the little door to his tank when we get close with food...


What kind of weird swimming behavior should I watch for (just so I know for the future) ?

I'll try to get a pic or video when my gf gets home with her iPhone. My old school phone will not help anything, trust me

 

[Deep Seven]

I've read that the puffer will spend a lot of time swimming around or maybe sitting stationary with his tail bent. Now they do that naturally, but when they're sick they will sometimes do that excessively. I spent a few minutes hunting for it but I didn't find the article that explained it. If I find it again I'll link it.

 

[janky]

Gotcha. My gf seems to think he's fine... which may be true. I could be paranoid because I know very little about puffers

He only seems to curl his tail right before he strikes at snails or if he doesnt see one of us by the tank... its like we startle him

I think this generic light is making the colors look dull, that's all. all his water tests great and he's pretty active

 

[FreshwaterTropical]

Does anyone know why pea puffers will not eat MTS but eat pond snails???
Would they eat nerite snails or freshwater clams? I want something that's cool but won't get eaten in my puffer tank?

 

[00youknowit00]

Does anyone know why pea puffers will not eat MTS but eat pond snails???
Would they eat nerite snails or freshwater clams? I want something that's cool but won't get eaten in my puffer tank?

I believe the shells of MTS are too hard for them to eat.

 

[bettaowner]

Best dwarf puffer profile ever.

 

[Terrance]

DP can eat MTS. They just won't bite at the shell. It might take them a while to figure it out though because the snails bury themselves. DP would absolutely eat the clam if one could figure out how tasty the meat is. Both are good tankmates, but will not do well in a small DP tank.

I do not like MTS since the can easily multiply and cause poor water quality in a small tank. The clam is very difficult to keep in a nano tank.

 

[bkiggy]

Loki the God of Mischief

 

[brennae]

Great profile thread!

 

[CoryCuddler]

I saw one of these guys a couple weeks ago, and fell in love and started doing research right away! I have one question though, how small of a snail do you feed the little guys?

 

[Terrance]

Any size snail is fine. They dont really bite the snail shell, only the meat. If the DP is biting the shell, then she/he will learn to only go for the meat. Take out the shell if there is meat leftover. The meat will sit and rot.

 

[Twoie]

After owning one of these and discussing things in various LFS, I've realized that a lot if people are misinformed....... Why are so many of these fish kept in a Brackish tank? And if I adopt 4 from a brackish tank how hard of a time will I have getting them in my 100% freshwater 55g with my other DP?

 

[Terrance]

Many fish stores are not informed and might not even know many freshwater puffers exist.

If buy some dwarf/pea puffers in brackish water, then drip acclimate them to freshwater. Also be very observant to each puffer. Look for signs of sunken belly or skinny body (indicating internal parasites) or white spots (ich).

 

[Tetra1990]

Reading through here, one thing isn't mentioned much. Substrate, what's best, sand or gravel?