Pea Puffers

[SherLar]

I posted about these fun little fish before, and due to a couple positive responses (and the fact that a friend was getting rid of hers), I got 6 of them. I have them in a standard 29g tank heavily decorated with artificial plants, shells, stones, and driftwood. However, online info on them seems sparse, so I have a couple questions for those of you who have, or have had them.
Is a 29g a large enough tank, or should I move them to a 40g?
I believe they're omnivores, but mine only seem interested in blood worms, brine shrimp, and black worms. They ignore all flake, pellet, and omnivore frozen food. What else can I feed them to meet their dietary requirements?
They seem to hover often with their tales bent to the side, but swim normally. Is this normal behavior, or indicative of a problem?

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[nirbhao]

We recently acquired six pea puffers as well! Aren't they great?

Online information is not only sparse, but also inconsistent.

29 gallons should be fine.

Pea puffers are not omnivores. Ours won't eat food that isn't moving. I can get the water to push thawed frozen bloodworms and daphnia around in a satisfying way, but otherwise they are not interested. You can also feed them ramshorn and pond snails, although I have heard huge differences in opinion on how often is appropriate.

The tail curl is a sign of stress, like having just been moved to a new tank. My guess is that they are coptering around within a few hours.

Enjoy them!

 

[SherLar]

Thanks, nirbhao.
I've had them for only a couple of days. The tail curl seems to have lessened considerably. The be-bop all over the tank one minute, the next they're all buried in the plants and I have to look hard for them. But, yes, they're a lot of fun. Much different behavior than the cichlids I'm used to dealing with.

 

[Nils]

You're tank size is fine. I've kept them in tanks as small as 2.5 gallons.
Tail curl is normal, that's just how they chill.
They should be the only fish in the tank, besides any other small fish like plecos or something.
They will ONLY eat frozen/live food. They are wild caught, so they need a meaty diet. I suggest live black worms, you can probably get them at your LFS.
They are super cool little fish though.

 

[SherLar]

Thanks, Nils.
I have a few black worms that I got from the same friend from whom I bought the puffers. She tried to sell me her black worm breeding setup, but I refused. Maybe I should reconsider. They seem to do fine with frozen blood worms and brine shrimp also; probably because, as nirbhao says, the water motion adds motion and makes them seem alive.
I was thinking about adding a few kuhli loaches to clean up any sunken food. Would this be advisable at all with the puffers?

 

[Brookster123]

They'll go after live snails, Mine prefer frozen good worms over all but they'll take glassworms and brine shrimp, reluctantly but they eat it.

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[Nils]

You should be fine with Kuhli loaches, maybe 5-6.

 

[SherLar]

Thank you all for your help.

 

[kashif314]

Are these pea puffers have different characteristics than figure eight or spotted pufferss?

Green Spotted need a fairly large aquarium as I was told. I also read that pea pufferss are freshwater. Please let me know are they good community fish or aggressive like brackish puffers?

 

[Brookster123]

Are these pea puffers have different characteristics than figure eight or spotted pufferss?

Green Spotted need a fairly large aquarium as I was told. I also read that pea pufferss are freshwater. Please let me know are they good community fish or aggressive like brackish puffers?

Yes,.theyre fw and one inch

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[kashif314]

Yes,.theyre fw and one inch

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How about there aggressiveness? Same like brackish puffers? Can u keep them with peaceful fish?

 

[Brookster123]

They're little monsters, not a community fish

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[nirbhao]

Small but mighty!

 

[kashif314]

They're little monsters, not a community fish

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Small but mighty!

Thanks. So all puffers are the same.

 

[SherLar]

Thus far, I haven't seen any aggressive behaviors from them at all. Sometimes they're all together in a group, other times they're spread out around the tank. They seem to like exploring the tank, and I decorated it heavily to give them plenty to explore. Mine haven't reached a full inch yet; they're about .75" at the moment.

 

[nemesisil]

Yes the tail curl is normal with most puffers. Due to the shape of their body they use it to hover like a helicopter. The small pea puffers can be poisonous to other fish that are big enough to eat them and will get ballsy and go after other fishes fins in a tank that they have dominance in.