kk, good info on the guppies! So it's okay to let them eat a few of the fry on a monthly basis, or should I skip this? I thought this would be a good method of population control for the promiscuous guppies, but if it's potentially harmful to the puffers then I will stay away. I haven't noticed them chasing the 4-5 2 week old guppies that were already in the tank, but I'm sure they probably will eventually.
Even though the M:F ratio isn't needed, I'm thinking about adding another female anyways. The tank is pretty empty with just 2 tiny puffers and a couple shrimp and fry.
You only need that ratio if you have multiple males; it's to keep male from fighting over too few females.
Make sure the puffers aren't eating the guppies. Tiny amounts of fins and scales are part of their natural diets, but entire fish, or more than a tiny bit, isn't good for them. They thrive on invertebrate protein.
It sounds like they're really enjoying the new digs. They're so curious!
Yep! My high tech tank (which housed 8 tiger barbs, a cory, 2 kuhli loaches and the 2 puffers) tested high for Nitrites last night (0.2 ppm) which I think was due to overstocking... The tiger barbs have grown so much! I moved the puffers (making sure they were never exposed to air) to my new 20g long NPT. I then drip acclimated them. This tank has been cycling, and I added RCS and guppy fry a few days ago. All parameters looked good and the guppies and shrimp seemed happy, so I figured this would be best for the puffers. They are happily exploring and having a blast watching themselves in the mirror behind the tank. Do you think it would be a good idea to add another female? I've heard they do better with a 2:1 female to male ratio.
I was told it definitely does not contain copper. I did a 50% water change the next day and put carbon in the filter. I saw no signs of stress in the fish.
Woah - that's an external medication containing copper, right? Change the water now! Even small amounts of copper can be deadly or cause permanent damage to puffers.
So I treated the whole tank with Clout and the next day the female was expelling some nasty stuff, but now she seems much happier! I talked to the LFS owner and he mentioned that all his Otos are wild caught. These guys were likely the cause.
