Dwarf puffer compatability

[jamesfoad]

What fish or shrimp would be safe with a dwarf puffer in a medium planted tank?

 

[calfishguy]

What fish or shrimp would be safe with a dwarf puffer in a medium planted tank?

Dwarf puffers are better off being in a species only tank. There is no fish or shrimp that it will definitely get along with. You could try otos or something, but the is no guarantee that they will get along.

 

[bettaowner]

Otocinclus would be your best and possibly only option

 

[wildroseofky]

+1 on the ottos. You might be able to keep ghost shrimp if you have enough hiding spots. Most puffers are sold as juveniles. When they are little they will usually tolerate tank mates but when they mature they will try to kill everything. They are very territorial. Ottos spend their time on the bottom so dwarf puffers will sometimes ignore them. Same for larger shrimp. Grown mystery snails may be able to survive in a puffer tank too. Just watch to make sure the puffer doesn't keep attacking the snail. Dwarf puffers suck the snail out of it's shell and will sometimes not bother with large snails.

 

[absolutangel04]

I agree with the above posters. Dp can be pretty nippy, so many times tankmates are not a good idea. but, you can always plant up up the tank and get a few dp. They can get along when given enough coverage.

 

[jamesfoad]

What about feeding snails. I was thinking of buying real plants and letting the snails reproduce so the dp has a source of food

 

[wildroseofky]

That is what I did. I just started a colony of ramshorns in the tank months before I got the puffer. Unfortunately mine didn't make it long.

 

[absolutangel04]

Many people seem to have a similar experience as wildrose. Dp often seem to be rather fragile, and finding healthy ones can be tough. Amazing little fish though!
If you want the snails, that might work. Just keep an eye on it in case you also need to do supplemental feedings.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Luananeko]

+1 to the no tankmates other than ottos or feeder snails. Shrimp seem to inevitably end up as expensive snacks.

One thing that can help a lot for keeping a snail population going as a source of food is to give the snails somewhere that the puffers can't get to. Whether you do this through a proper refugium or whether you just put a divider at one end, that's up to personal preference. Either way, it seems like no matter how many hidey holes you put in the tank, the puffers will eventually eat all the snails if they have no decently sized puffer-proof place to go

 

[jamesfoad]

Can you buy Refugio's for freshwater?

Also I have three danios and two live shrimp. Should thy produce enough ammonia to start my cycle

 

[Luananeko]

Can you buy Refugio's for freshwater?

Also I have three danios and two live shrimp. Should thy produce enough ammonia to start my cycle

Of course All refugiums sold are just acrylic boxes with built in spots for receiving water from the display tank and returning water back. You'd want a HOB or above tank one so the snails don't have to brave the return pump to migrate into the display tank. There's absolutely no reason you can't fill it with freshwater instead of saltwater. Just make sure there's some food in there for the snails so they don't have to leave the refugium unless they're feeling brave. As the snails breed they'll naturally start to leave the refugium and wander through the puffer territory.

The danios and shrimp should be enough to start your cycle, but shrimp normally don't do well with fish-in cycling. They're too sensitive to the parameter spikes and would require a pretty heavy water change schedule to keep them from getting ammonia/nitrite/nitrate poisoning. You'd be better off doing a fishless cycle using pure ammonia before adding the danios and shrimp.

 

[Pezzep]

I had three dwarf puffers, kept an Otto in the tank they didn't bother him I have rcs as well that don't seem to be bothered, one of the RCS is carrying eggs so I'll see how well the puffer does with baby shrimp, hopefully he leaves them alone. Two of my puffers passed I believe they had internal parasites because their stomachs were caved in, which is common for a dwarf puffer to have when purchasing them some people treat them for parasites right after purchasing them just to be safe. The one that's left is nice and round and eats a lot. You may want to do a separate tank for the snails, I had a ton of snails in my tank before I added the puffers and they all dissappeared in no time. If you plan on feeding the puffer food other than snails this may take a while to get him used to it, mine only ate snails for the first month of owning him than he eventually got used to eating frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp. He loves the brine shrimp.

 

[jamesfoad]

Ya the refugium sounds nice. It would also act as a filter too right?
I have had my Amano shrimp I there for around two weeks and he is as healthy as ever. My RCS seems to love it too

 

[jamesfoad]

I want a refugium that replaces my filter and helps overall

 

[Luananeko]

No refugium (in the normal sense) will 100% replace your filter, especially not with puffers being relatively messy.

 

[GodFan]

With a refugim you dont need a filter. It is a filter just make sure there is filter media in it. If you wnated you could use regular biomedia but use java moss as your mechanical media. Then the shrimp and snails would eat off it.
Puffera are pretty messy but a refugium will add water volume and reduce nitrates because of the live plants.
Ottos are usually compatable with dps. Rcs its shaky but sometimes works. I think cories would be fine to. The reason they leave ottos alone I think is because they are not open water swimmers. I also wonder sometimes if they realize the ottos are cleaning the tank up. Idk about that.

 

[jamesfoad]

I am looking for one of those DIY freshwater refugium like I'm I take the back off of my filter and then add the refugium in to there

 

[Luananeko]

With a refugim you dont need a filter. It is a filter just make sure there is filter media in it. If you wnated you could use regular biomedia but use java moss as your mechanical media. Then the shrimp and snails would eat off it.
Puffera are pretty messy but a refugium will add water volume and reduce nitrates because of the live plants.
Ottos are usually compatable with dps. Rcs its shaky but sometimes works. I think cories would be fine to. The reason they leave ottos alone I think is because they are not open water swimmers. I also wonder sometimes if they realize the ottos are cleaning the tank up. Idk about that.

I think you're thinking of a sump filter rather than a normal refugium Refugium are supposed to be places of refuge for critters or plants that wouldn't survive in the main tank. Combining the sump and refugium into one place is doable, but you have to be careful that the snails have some way to get back into the display tank without going through a pump. Most sumps are done below the tank due to the space required, so they're not suitable as true refugiums. Usually it's recommended to have the sump hold 20-50% of the water volume of the main tank for proper filtration if it's being used as the sole method of filtration.

 

[wildroseofky]

The reason dwarf puffers are so hard to keep alive is that almost all are wild caught. They are evidently hard to get to breed in captivity. Being wild, they do not understand dead food being given to them. They are also babies and have not had the life experience to learn to find their own food. My research says there are captive breed ones out there for sale just not many. They are intelligent fish and can learn to take food from a caretaker. Unfortunately most have internal parasites. It is a good idea to worm them right away. Unfortunately the best way to worm is to soak the food in the med and feed it to the puffer. Since most will take a while to learn to take food handed to them, they die from malnutrition before the worms are taken care of. They are also very sensitive to water quality. I live in an area that has questionable municipal water. I am looking at collecting rain water or spring water and filtering it to use in my tanks before getting another puffer.

 

[GodFan]

I think you're thinking of a sump filter rather than a normal refugium Refugium are supposed to be places of refuge for critters or plants that wouldn't survive in the main tank. Combining the sump and refugium into one place is doable, but you have to be careful that the snails have some way to get back into the display tank without going through a pump. Most sumps are done below the tank due to the space required, so they're not suitable as true refugiums. Usually it's recommended to have the sump hold 20-50% of the water volume of the main tank for proper filtration if it's being used as the sole method of filtration.

Yes my bad. I would combine the 2 though still lol