10G - Halfmoon Dwarf Puffer Tank - Update

[Brian_Nano12g]

Well I've had my new Marineland 10G Halfmoon up for a couple of months. I'm loving the Fluval C2 power filter as well.

I have 3 dwarf puffers and 1 bumblebee goby now.

Here's a pic when I first started it up (doing a mini cycle):

Updated as of today with new Crypt plant I found at the LFS:

Close up of the stars of the show:

 

[SiameseCat]

Nice tank and cool puffs. Please watch and make sure they are all eating with 3 in a 10 gal. I broke the 5 gal per dwarf rule myself with 3 in a 10 gal (against advice here) and unfortunately one of them became the weak one and never got snails. I fed him in isolation and really took care of him until it seems like he just gave up on life. It was tough for me to feel so helpless but i really tried. Just my 2 cents sorry... In memory of "pebbles".

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

I'm sorry to hear about pebbles. I'll keep an eye on them. They are all eating the bloodworms and snails I feed them. There also doesn't seem to be any territorial issues and no fighting. I accidentally got 2 males to 1 female.. Despite me asking for the opposite. They were hard to sex at the LFS but my larger male was pretty easy because of the wriggles behind his eyes.

Anyway, my 2nd male is quite scrawny and looks like the runt of a litter. Now that you mention it, he started to develop sides that appear sucked in. I just hope he doesn't have a stomach parasite or like you said, hates life because of me breaking the rule. I don't get it though because he does eat. Maybe he's not feeling well because he's not alpha and there's only one chick? LOL

 

[SiameseCat]

It could be the one chic thing. Thats how pebbles looked to start, towards the end he was nothing more than a head and long tail. If it ever happens to me again Im going to isolate immediately in a different tank.

 

[Terrance]

Thanks for sharing. If there is any signs of a skinny puffer, then treat for internal parasite even if eating well.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Thanks for sharing. If there is any signs of a skinny puffer, then treat for internal parasite even if eating well.

What's the treatment you recommend?

 

[Terrance]

Prazipro or Jungle Med. If you can't get them to eat the med directly, then use the medicine as instructed on the bottle via dosing the water. I've also dosed my water with Tetra's Paragaurd (sp?). Not sure if that worked or not.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Can I treat the whole tank or do I need a QT tank (which I don't have)? Also are those some pretty harsh meds that it might risk the health of everything else?

 

[Terrance]

Prazipro is pretty light because it just concentrates on internal parasite. Tetra's product does both internal and external, so its a heavier dose. Not sure about Jungle. You could just treat the whole tank, but its not as effective as feeding them the med directly. You will have to treat the whole tank for ~2 weeks. Keep following the instructions on the bottle throughout the treatment period. I'd recommend precautionary treatments for all new puffers.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Update Time!

Everything is going well... Except the scrawny male dwarf puffer died a few weeks back. Now there's just the male and female dwarf puffer. I also added a couple of otos... The crypts are starting to take off in the back shooting out new leaves surprisingly fast.

Here are some new pics

 

[Samzter]

Loving the tank !

 

[gman42]

Thats a great looking tank. I love the driftwood!