Curious Drawf Puffers

[kaiofcanada]

I wanted to share some pictures of the new dwarf puffers that recently escaped my QT tank. They now live with their other mini friends the bumblebee gobies.
The puffers are very curious and extremely interested in the camera. They are probably the first fish to ever pose for a picture for me .

I had two girls and a boy, but their trip to america was a long one and I lost one of the girls. They were all a big cisk when they arrived, but the two I have are doing well, eating alot and playing in the current. I am waiting to get another little girl in the next month.

The female has more random spots and a white/yellow belly while the male has more elongated spots, a dark line running the length of his yellow belly and wrinkles around his eyes.

[match55]

OoO nice that u r know what sex they r
can't find out what my porcupine and green spotted r. ToT
and my porcupine like to pose , actually like to eat the camera LOL
its interested in any black circle LOL (probably cuz the similar look of the snails that I feed it XD)

[kaiofcanada]

yea...I am lucky they are just old enough to tell. Too bad about your puffers,...but I guess if you get a pair you can always tell by who is guarding the eggs :d That would be the male. Have you posted any pictures of your puffers? I would love to see them.

[bobothefish]

Cool pics

[Flake]

Those are adorable! I want some now xD

[kaiofcanada]

Originally Posted by Flake

Those are adorable! I want some now xD

I am totally in love with my "Tiny Tank". Everytyhing in it is less than an inch big. As you can see from the pictures the bees are a little bigger than a small ramshorn snail. The puffers are less than an inch with their tails. They are very curious little guys. They actually come to the front of the tank and watch me work. They have even started to recognize the cup I feed them worms from.

They have so much personality.

I am gathering cool ideas for aquascaping this tank to be able to see them better and give them more paths to swim through.
It looks like this right now...and although I love that piece of driftwood and so do the bees, as they like lounging on it...it blocks the view of these tiny little guys.

I think I might do rocks instead

[Etunes]

Ha, thats so cool. Now i should set up a tiny little 10g brackish puffer tank. But my problem i want a large like 20g or something to get several different puffers. Nice aquascaping by the way.

[kaiofcanada]

Originally Posted by Etunes

Ha, thats so cool. Now i should set up a tiny little 10g brackish puffer tank. But my problem i want a large like 20g or something to get several different puffers. Nice aquascaping by the way.

The problem with puffers is that they tend to be really aggressive and not very neighborly. 20g won't actually get you many puffers to be honest, at least not when it comes to variety. Dwarf puffers, who are only 1 in long require 3-5g of space despite their tiny size. The larger puffers get very large (6 inches) and require even more space 55+g and brackish conditions.

Another fun fact about puffers is that despite their very messy eating habits, they require pristine water conditions on top off everything else. Since they don't have scales or gill covers they are extra sensitive to ammonia and nitrite and nitrates. Nitrates should always stay under 20ppm. I do twice weekly water changes of 50% for my dwarf puffers and luckily they don't eat the ghost shrimp living in the tank who clean up after them, otherwise I would really have my hands full. O.o

In a 20 gallon you could get up to 4 females and 1-2 males. I think you would have a ton of fun with them. They are very smart and really cute fish.

[Etunes]

I actually want some of these:
AquaBid.com - Your Aquatic Auction Website
Or 1 of these:
AquaBid.com - Your Aquatic Auction Website
Or these:
AquaBid.com - Your Aquatic Auction Website

I know that they should really be in a species dedicated tank. I would have done that anyways. I have always wanted to keep puffers but i have kept fish as delicate as them before. The hairy puffer i want and i have no clue why, he is so ugly but so cool. I would probably end up putting him in a 40g breeder tank.

[kaiofcanada]

Originally Posted by Etunes

I actually want some of these:
AquaBid.com - Your Aquatic Auction Website
Or 1 of these:
AquaBid.com - Your Aquatic Auction Website
Or these:
AquaBid.com - Your Aquatic Auction Website

I know that they should really be in a species dedicated tank. I would have done that anyways. I have always wanted to keep puffers but i have kept fish as delicate as them before. The hairy puffer i want and i have no clue why, he is so ugly but so cool. I would probably end up putting him in a 40g breeder tank.

Oh nice! I have never actually seen or heard of a hairy puffer before. I agree with you that despite their ugliness they are very appealing. Very cool looking indeed. I have always wanted avocado puffers myself as well. Never seen them in any local fish stores any place I ever lived though. I saw them in an aquarium once. They are really interesting fish to watch. They are also good tank mates with my dwarf puffers. Maybe I could get a bigger tank and one day keep both together!

[bobothefish]

Would it be cool if you could shrink yourself and have gills to be able to swim through your aquarium? Just a thought.

[Generalx5]

Hahaha, will dwarf puffers go brackish? I have success acclimating a spotted green like the one in my avatar. And not all puffers are mean and aggressive. It is said that the spotted green are most aggressive, then the figure 8 puffers. But thats just freshwater, however, figure 8 are found wild in full marine areas around Australia.

I've gotten so attached to mine, what he is now is soooo different from when I got him. Hes always moving its fins checking up on neighbors when they go missing for too long.

And best thing is...he swims right at me or my hand when ever he sees movement. =) Puffers are so curious in general. My fav fish ever!

[kaiofcanada]

Originally Posted by Generalx5

Hahaha, will dwarf puffers go brackish? I have success acclimating a spotted green like the one in my avatar. And not all puffers are mean and aggressive. It is said that the spotted green are most aggressive, then the figure 8 puffers. But thats just freshwater, however, figure 8 are found wild in full marine areas around Australia.

I've gotten so attached to mine, what he is now is soooo different from when I got him. Hes always moving its fins checking up on neighbors when they go missing for too long.

And best thing is...he swims right at me or my hand when ever he sees movement. =) Puffers are so curious in general. My fav fish ever!

Dwarf will go brackish...but like the bees it isn't the best for them. I am striking a compromise. Not going to go all the way brackish I decided. Either way will shorten the lifespan of the other. However, even though this sounds a bit cruel...bumble bee gobies have an estimate lifespan of about 2 years while dwarf puffers have one of about 6 years. I feel it would be cruel to make a long lives animal suffer its whole long life. So I am choosing to foster the puffers over the bees a bit. The puffers will be fine with some salt in the water and not be harmed by it while the bees will benefit from it.

I agree that puffers will win your heart. They are also one of my favourite fish. If only I could get them to be a bit easier to feed. O.o...they are picky little guys all except for the snail snacks hehehe

[Generalx5]

Puffers I find love meaty foods, frozen or live will do. Pellets they wont like but will eat if starved, and flake foods they will spit back out.

Then again, some odd puffers will have different taste buds, they have been reported to have been killed by an anemone while going after a flake food.