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Nano Dwaf Puffer Tank: Restart

18K views 40 replies 19 participants last post by  Raihana 
#1 · (Edited)
Just wanted to share my dwarf puffer tank. It is a Marineland Eclipse 5 Gallon. A month ago this tank was dead and I had to restart the whole thing. I reused the drift wood and a small fern that some how survived. I set up the tank to cycle and went out and got some plants. Once the tank cycled I added two dwarf puffers. Don't worry they are male and female and get along real well. I am currently dealing with some brown algae on the sand. I don't know if its diatoms or not because this tank was set up for 2 years before the fish in it died and it sat filled with water. Don't mind the plant floating randomly in the middle of the tank. I was trying to plant it in the back but light does not really reach back there so I have to figure out how to plant it so it will get light.

I know I really suck at aquascaping but its hard with the light. Nothing grows in the background.

 
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#3 ·
Nope. Dwarf puffers (carinotetraodon travancoricus if I do remember off the top of my head) are entirely freshwater and max out at about 1". They are feisty though and should have 5 gallons each to themselves. I'd suggest, dubels, much much much more plant mass otherwise they will be in constant fighting.
 
#4 ·
I previously had dwarf puffers in a 29 gallon and yes they are notorious fin nippers and really shouldn't be housed in a community tank. I haven't noticed them fighting even during feeding. They actually just swim around together. I have seen them sleep near each other under the anubias (that is why there is now two anubias plants in the tank). I will keep an eye on them but as you can see from the picture their tank was where my temporary computer desk was set up. So I was looking or near the tank a lot. In fact the 5 ghost shrimp I added two weeks ago are still in the tank.

The blur in the picture is one of the puffers. I can get them both to follow my finger along the side of the tank to slow down for a picture but I thought my finger would ruin the picture. I'll try and get a picture of them together. Love puffers though, most character I have seen in a fish.
 
#6 · (Edited)
The puffers at walmart are Green Spotted Puffers. I wouldn't get them there anyways because those are usually sick. Not a hard mistake to make. When I went out to get my first dwarf puffer a LFS in LA sold me a GSP and it promptly died. [STRIKE]There are two "true" freshwater species, but I can only find dwarf puffers locally.[/STRIKE] See below for a link to the species of freshwater puffers
 
#7 ·
I like that you have sand in your tank. That's perfect for the dwarf puffers.

I've had my 2 dwarf puffers for 2.5 yrs now in a 12 gallon (they're so awesome) and they still manage to fight over the food. Not fight fight but they like their space. They fought a lot more when they didn't have enough hiding spaces so I had to add some. I'd probably add some taller plants to the tank and try to make some hiding spots in case they need to get away from each other. These guys will definitely grow on you :)
 
#8 ·
I plan on adding a small stack of pvc pipes behind the drift wood to allow them to hideout. It would be out of sight. I wanted to add taller plants in the background but the stupid filter blocks out most of the light so nothing grows in the back of the tank.

I actually got my first dwarf puffer in 2008. Sadly, the puffer didn't lost long after being moved after I graduated from undergrad. Mr. Peabody was a lot of fun to watch hunt snails. I find it interesting and a bit disappointing that one of my current puffers does not like snails. Cutting back on allowing the snails to grow in my 10g because of that.
 
#12 ·
Really hard to get close ups because they cruise around the front of the tank endlessly when I approach the tank. Absent placing my finger against the tank its hard to get them to sit still because they think its feeding time. I miss having them next to my desk as they would keep my company as I worked. I tried to get them both in one picture but one always ended up blurry or blocked out by my finger.


 
#13 ·
I'm sorry to say but there are many many more than two species of freshwater puffer fish...

I wish the PufferPedia was working right now... but I know that there are atleast 12 species if not many more.

Some of the top of my head would be.. t. travancoricus (dwarf puffer) c. loreti, c. irrubesco, c. salvator (sp), mbu, fahaka,
 
#14 ·
That is fine. I am wrong. I thought most needed brackish water to survive long. Here is a list of freshwater puffers btw: http://www.pufferlist.com/freshwater-puffers/ I have wanted to try out the South American Puffer but I cannot find any locally and I got sucked into shrimps.
 
#16 · (Edited)
I really like them. So far they have no problems together in the 5 gallon tank. I will try to get a video of them swimming together and even eating together (think lady and the tramp pasta scene). I just need to clean up some brown algae first. I still don't know what I am having an outbreak now.

I am really starting to hate this tank because of its useless light.


Edit here is the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwqRPJci9h0&feature=g-upl
 
#20 ·
They are soo cool, so maneuverable! Like little attack helicopters.

I am thinking about putting 1 or 2 in my Ebi 7g. They will feast on the massive MTS population, but what do you feed those guys once the mts are all eaten up??
 
#23 ·
I have had one puff before. Friend stuck her finger into the tank and poked it. It puffed up for a quick second and then went back to normal.

You can feed them bloodworms once the snail population is done. But with MTS I doubt they would go through them too fast. With pond snails I never see them without a bluge in their stomach.

They are the only fish I really like keeping because they have so much personality. They keep swimming around trying to look at me. When I sit on the couch to the right of the tank I always see them checking me out. That is why my puffer tank is in my living room and my rili and OEBT tank is in my office. They are so fun to interact with all the time.
 
#28 ·
Honestly I got lucky that with my selection of puffers. The two I have tolerate each other so well. They swim together all the time. But because puffers are messy eaters and the possibility of fighting I would suggest only one. I might change out this entire tank because it is almost impossible to grow plants in it. I need to change the light around a bit.

I feed mine frozen blood worms now only because one of the puffer does not eat snails.
 
#26 ·
indian dwarf puffers love worms and snails, really hard to get them to eat frozen foods. I wouldn't go past 3 puffers in a 5 gallon tank I currently have 6 in a 20H with 3 otocinclus and 4 amano shrimp ( they have been this way for 3 years now) extremely fun fish to keep with great personality and are one of the few fish that pay attention to what you are doing outside the tank, they also begin to recognize they owner or whoever feeds them.
 
#32 ·
indian dwarf puffers love worms and snails, really hard to get them to eat frozen foods...
I haven't found this to be true at all, so it must vary from puffer to puffer. Mine loves frozen brine shrimp. He prefers them over bloodworms, but his favorite is definitely live snails. When I drop a snail in his tank it barely hits the bottom before he's on it. I think the trick to the frozen foods might be to let the current in the tank move it so they can "hunt." I don't use a dish or turkey baster or anything, I just drop a couple at a time in with a plastic spoon and they swirl around until he chases them down.
 
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