Misterpenguin4s 4 gallon dwarf puffer tank

[misterpenguin4]

That much of water changes will throw your tank off balance. And I think they are.

How will it throw off my balance? The water doesnt carry much if any BB.

 

[dragonfisher33]

Okay thanks. I think I will try to go to toysRus or a pool supply company soon and get some. As to the puffers providing alot of waste, I think I will do atleast 2 50% water changes a week, which wont be hard in a 4 gallon tank. I just checked and the tank should get here Thursday. I also called my LFS and they said they had figure 8 puffers which I know are not full freshwater and pea puffers. Are pea puffers and dwarf puffers the same?

pea puffers=dwarf puffers=indian dwarf puffers=Malabar pufferfish=Carinotetraodon travancoricus

 

[dragonfisher33]

How will it throw off my balance? The water doesnt carry much if any BB.

the natural bacteria in the water of a 4gal tank isn't much. if you do 50% partial water change and do it twice a week , the chemical and bacteria balance will be impacted significantly. you would see swing in the water parameters, something that these puffers are very picky about.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

i don't know who give you the advice about dwarf puffers jumping out but that's not true as well. the dwarf puffers are too small to jump anywhere. other bigger puffers might jump but as far as dwarf puffers go, IME i have not had any jumpers because they're just that small, not even the a segment of my pinky finger

I didn't pull this information out of thin air. I've been keeping dwarf puffers for 2+ years. About 6 months in my rimless (topless) aquarium. I found them in several occasions on the floor. I even watched one jump and hit the acrylic cover i created when it got startled as i was performing tank maintenance. It might not be true for "you" but I've seen it firsthand.

Here's my rimless 6g with dwarf puffers.

 

[The CodFather]

I didn't pull this information out of thin air. I've been keeping dwarf puffers for 2+ years. About 6 months in my rimless (topless) aquarium. I found them in several occasions on the floor. I even watched one jump and hit the acrylic cover i created when it got startled as i was performing tank maintenance. It might not be true for "you" but I've seen it firsthand.

+1 AGREED! I agree with this that they jump out. First hand experience here also as just this past weekend witnessed it at my LFS. Please listen to Brian as he is pretty experienced with these lil guys and just trying to help steer you away from possible heartache in the future.

 

[dragonfisher33]

I didn't pull this information out of thin air. I've been keeping dwarf puffers for 2+ years. About 6 months in my rimless (topless) aquarium. I found them in several occasions on the floor. I even watched one jump and hit the acrylic cover i created when it got startled as i was performing tank maintenance. It might not be true for "you" but I've seen it firsthand.

OK, i will take my comment back. I've kept these little critters for a while now and have yet to witness such jumping feat. I even tried to bait them by hovering the live worms over the top of the water without them successfully jumping out of the water. but i suppose each puffer, as matter of fact each fish, is different. I've read the experience of other puffer keepers before i got mine and they've reported no jumping, which is the reason why i don't have a hood over my fish tank. I guess the OP maybe need to invest in a hood to avoid this potential, better safer than sorry.

 

[misterpenguin4]

They make brackets for the tank, but not a lid. I would have to get one custom made. Until I can get one made I will just put a piece of cardboard or something on top. Might not look nice but it would work.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Penguin... You can get a piece of glass cut to size at Lowes.. Or a cheap piece of acrylic or plexiglass at Home Depot.

Yeah each situation is different.. I kept these same puffers in a 10g Halfmoon which was like 20" tall with no problems.. But in my shallower rimless, all bets were off.

 

[misterpenguin4]

Penguin... You can get a piece of glass cut to size at Lowes.. Or a cheap piece of acrylic or plexiglass at Home Depot.

Yeah each situation is different.. I kept these same puffers in a 10g Halfmoon which was like 20" tall with no problems.. But in my shallower rimless, all bets were off.

How tall was your shallow rimless? This tank is 9.8" tall, do you think that is deep enough?

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Well its not really shallow like our ADA 60F, but its shallow in comparison to my Halfmoon tank i had the puffers in prior. My 6g is 11" tall.

Here's my tank build thread if you care to check it out. Its old already but has been just a joy and learning experience to say the least. I might do a rescape in the near future.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...st-iwagumi-inspired-scape-journal-223559.html

Anyway.. Good luck. A lot of hobbyist have different experiences with fish, plants, and their tanks in general. I just threw out my experience and advice. It's obviously up to you (or anyone for that matter) to take it or leave it. I didn't think dwarf puffers were jumpers either based on research and having them problem free in my Halfmoon for 2 years...that was until i found two different puffers, out of my three, on the floor and behind my stand on different instances when they were transferred to my rimless. It could be they got used to being in taller tank? I don't know... But these guys can really fly out of a cover-less tank if they wanted to or from being startled.

 

[misterpenguin4]

Will they also eat MTS? If so I have some I can add to the breeding bowl.

 

[dragonfisher33]

Will they also eat MTS? If so I have some I can add to the breeding bowl.

yes and no. the dwarf puffers usually don't touch big snails but will eat smaller ones with relish. also MTS have really hard shells, i would recommend pond snails. they're easier to breed and have softer shells. although dwarf puffers usually eat by sucking out the meat rather than crushing the shells, i find my puffers prefer pond snails over MTS. it all depends on the personality of the puffer but definitely no big snails.

 

[misterpenguin4]

yes and no. the dwarf puffers usually don't touch big snails but will eat smaller ones with relish. also MTS have really hard shells, i would recommend pond snails. they're easier to breed and have softer shells. although dwarf puffers usually eat by sucking out the meat rather than crushing the shells, i find my puffers prefer pond snails over MTS. it all depends on the personality of the puffer but definitely no big snails.

Okay so I wont put any MTS in the breeding bowl. Are dwarf puffers from blackwater? I want to make this a biotope. I was thinking maybe a piece or two of manzanita branches upside down like roots. Im not sure where they live. Like in lakes or rivers.

 

[dragonfisher33]

Okay so I wont put any MTS in the breeding bowl. Are dwarf puffers from blackwater? I want to make this a biotope. I was thinking maybe a piece or two of manzanita branches upside down like roots. Im not sure where they live. Like in lakes or rivers.

they're from rivers in India. so use your best judgement when it comes to decorating. in terms of feeding, some puffers need some conditioning before they would accept snails. i would have some backup food just in case, such as live blackworms or live daphnia. frozen food is good but there's report that some puffers won't take frozen bloodworms.

 

[misterpenguin4]

Do you guys think the filter that comes with the tank will be good enough for a single dwarf puffer?

 

[misterpenguin4]

Ooh, thats a big box!

Peanuts!!!

Its a tank!

Regular 50/50 light.

Moon light

 

[Billbug68]

Exciting!

 

[misterpenguin4]

I think I will have to get a new light to grow some medium light plants. How does this one look?

http://m.lowes.com/product?langId=-...10051&productId=3220087&store=595&view=detail

Also just a heads-up, this tank is not going to be a very quick set-up. Due to lack of money I will slowly get everything I need. Thanks for following!

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Congrats on the new tank. Definitely swap out the 50/50 bulb as plants don't use actinic lighting. So what are your thoughts on the bevel on the front glass? Will you leave that as the front or reverse it to the back? How's the silicone work?

 

[misterpenguin4]

Congrats on the new tank. Definitely swap out the 50/50 bulb as plants don't use actinic lighting. So what are your thoughts on the bevel on the front glass? Will you leave that as the front or reverse it to the back? How's the silicone work?

Silicone work is great. I did put the bevel glass on the back side. I tried to put some of the CFL spiral bulbs I had in the fixture but the base was too big.