Dwarf Puffer Fish

[lwhite281]

I have 2 dwarf puffer fish in a 2.5 gallon tank. I did some research to figure out how to tell the sex of the puffers and what I found was that if there is a black line on the stomach, then it's a male. One of my puffers has that black line. The other one does not. The one without the line, I belive, is a young fish. He/She was pretty small when I bought it. However, I've had it a couple of months now and it has gotten a little bit bigger, but no black line on it's stomach. I am wondering if there is another way to tell the sex of the puffer or if maybe it isn't old enough to have developed that line yet. Also, the puffer is a different color. The male is a yellowish color the other one is a lighter color. I have included a picture of the puffer fish that I am questioning the sex of. If anyone has any information they can give me on determining the sex of my dwarf puffer fish, it would be greatly appreciated!

 

[theotheragentm]

Hard to tell from the picture.

"Dwarf puffers are difficult to sex at an early age, but when mature, they are much easier to distinguish. Dominant males will typically have a dark stripe running all the way from under their mouths, across the belly, to the tail. It looks a little like a goatee beard when viewed from the front. All males, dominant or not, will have wrinkles behind their eyes, although these can be difficult to see. Female puffers lack both of these marks and all dwarf puffers have a mottled green skin with light brown patches. Their colours will fade when under threat from other puffers or when stressed, and their colours will darken drastically when they are very ill, highly stressed or in the middle of a fight."

 

[WaterPond]

www.dwarfpuffers.com

everything you need to know can be found there

 

[Corey]

FYI that tank is too small for even 1 DP (or any fish IMO). They should have ~ 5 gallons per puffer.

 

[lwhite281]

Thanks for the advice. I plan on moving the DP's into a bigger tank as soon as I am able to buy another one. They seem to be doing fine right now, so I am not that worried about it.

 

[confusion]

the dwarfpuffers.com site is quite nice. I'm confused, though. I swear that I repeatedly read that DPs are brackish or at least need some salt, yet the site points out that they are freshwater.

 

[melissa1977]

I had dwarf puffers in the past... They are strictly freshwater.
: )
I did a lot of research on them.

 

[lwhite281]

I think the larger puffer fish, such as the Green Spotted Puffer and Figure 8 Puffer are more of a brackish water type fish. The Dwarf Puffers are fine in freshwater. At least the two that I have are. They are doing great. Getting nice and fat.

 

[zao]

Yeah my friends wife had a dwarf puffer and she keep it in freshwater and at the lfs I see them in freshwater too. The bigger ones from what i have read and see at lfs, do require a brackish water setup.

 

[melissa1977]

Except the South american puffer.... They are a littre bigger and are freshwater.