Pea Puffer

[jan4scuba]

Hi again,
So far the advice has been great. I have a 9 gallon very heavily planted nano with 3 Harlequin Rasboras, 5 CPD's, 2 SAE, 15 RCS and 1 Pea Puffer that I just got.

Over the last 2 days I have found 1 dead shrimp semi eaten and saw another one run around the tank on its side and finally die. My water is PH-7,2, Ammonia, Nitrates and Nitrites-0 KH-123and GH 15 drops so it's off the chart.

I just purchase 15 expensive shrimp and I'm worried that the Pea Puffer is the cause of the recent shrimp deaths.

Does anyone have experience with PP and shrimp?
Thanks for any advise.
Jan


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Fishperson]

The Siamese algae eaters will grow far too large for that tank.

I would be worried about the harlequin rasboras needing more swimming room. What are the dimensions?

Puffers are not meant for community tanks, certainly not small ones. Either remove the puffer or remove everything else.

I would stick with just CPDs and RCS. I'd say 10 CPDs and a normal sized colony of shrimp.

 

[jan4scuba]

Thanks Fishperson. I think you're right. I hate it when the LFS people give you the wrong advice. Don't they know it will come back to bite them in the rear.
Why would I ever go there again?

Does anyone know where I can buy supplies to ship fish and do I need oxygen to ship them as well?


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

I've kept pea puffers for years and the only fish they get along with, IME, and won't nip at are otos and bumblebee gobies.

They should be in a species only tank. Plants are fine with them. I had a tank with 3 pea puffers and I put some ghost shrimp to experiment, they literally attacked them shrimp like a pack of wolves.

 

[Brookster123]

I've kept pea puffers for years and the only fish they get along with, IME, and won't nip at are otos and bumblebee gobies.

They should be in a species only tank. Plants are fine with them. I had a tank with 3 pea puffers and I put some ghost shrimp to experiment, they literally attacked them shrimp like a pack of wolves.

Awesome! !!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[hroom88]

Puffers and shrimp- bad idea any day.
Puffers and other fish- again, not a very good idea.

9 gallon very heavily planted nano with 3 Harlequin Rasboras, 5 CPD's, 2 SAE, 15 RCS and 1 Pea Puffer

Tank is overstocked. At least will be in a few months.

I would opt for 2-3 otos and nano shrimp, maybe a couple of amanos and concentrate more on a scape.

P.S. Yes O2 is an absolute must if you want to ship fish[unless you have those breather bags]. Avoid overfeeding prior to shipping to avoid toxin build up.

 

[jan4scuba]

Thanks for all the advice. Going to give my LFS the puffer, harlequins and SAE and concentrate on scape shrimp and CPD's. The LFS will take them for free. Not even store credit.
Oh well. A lesson learned


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Fishperson]

Thanks for all the advice. Going to give my LFS the puffer, harlequins and SAE and concentrate on scape shrimp and CPD's. The LFS will take them for free. Not even store credit.
Oh well. A lesson learned


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

Yup. At this point I don't (and I recommend you don't) trust any fish store or ask them questions. If I need to know something I post/comment/PM somebody on here about it first. CPD's and shrimp should be great though. Keep in mind the CPDs are very shy and need some shaded/well planted areas to hide. You might think that they will hide because of this but actually they will be out more because they know that if a predator comes they have a place to run.

 

[hroom88]

Yup. At this point I don't (and I recommend you don't) trust any fish store or ask them questions. If I need to know something I post/comment/PM somebody on here about it first. CPD's and shrimp should be great though. Keep in mind the CPDs are very shy and need some shaded/well planted areas to hide. You might think that they will hide because of this but actually they will be out more because they know that if a predator comes they have a place to run.

Is CPD really [nano]shrimp safe? After watching a gang of Boraras brigittae attack juv shrimps, I am somewhat skeptical.

 

[Fishperson]

Is CPD really [nano]shrimp safe? After watching a gang of Boraras brigittae attack juv shrimps, I am somewhat skeptical.

Come to think of it I'm really not completely sure. I've never kept them but I wrote a 4 page essay on them for school so I know a bit about them.

I believe they are one of those fish that will attack its own species a bit, not horribly so though, but won't venture outside of that.

Some of them are barely larger then the shrimps anyway so I think it should be fine.