Dwarf Puffers in Planted tanks

[PhishNeslo]

i did something i dont normally do today. i bought some fish i knew nothing about. mostly because they were 1.75 a piece. i got 5 "dwarf puffers." they look like a marine boxfish or puffer, they are about an inch long, and really fun to watch. they go up to leaves, and stare really closely, apparently looking for some critter moving around to eat. they arent eating algae, arent chasing the baby guppies around, and dont care much about flake food. i am not sure what to feed them. brine shrimp or some other live food is not really a possibility, because the gupies and baloon bellied molies would eat it all first anyway.

the one thing they really like are snails. they can suck really hard through their mouths, and they really are terrorizing the snail population of my tank. two or three will gather around a snail and wait for it to move, then as soon as it does, peck at its antenna and head till it hides. this goes on untill the snail dies.

right now, i think they are getting enough to eat, but what happens when they run out of snail antanne and heads and eyeballs? ( i dont think tthey can get the guts out)

[PhishNeslo]

dwarf puffers?? anyone? well, 4 of the five are still alive. one got ich a little bit, and was looking a little narrow around the middle, so i excommunicated him. i dont know what they eat. can someone please help me?

phil

[PhreelancR]

Shame on your for buying a fish you knew nothing about! heh

Moving on, from what little I know about freshwater puffers, I know they prefer a brackish aquarium, but just recently I've seen a couple in my LFS's planted setup. I also know they are pretty picky eaters, as you have experienced. Not sure what else they might eat, you could try getting them to eat some frozen foods (use a turkey baster and squirt towards the puffers and away from the rest of the tank population). Not sure on size issues though, as all the FW Puffers I've seen have been the sixe of guppies.

[GDominy]

Dwarf Puffers need meat (brine shrimp or bloodworm), and shelled foods (shrimp, snails, etc) to keep their "beak" healthy.

[PhishNeslo]

Hmmm
i think they might get their own tank. i dont feel like basting my fish.

[Pooky125]

actually, they do not need brackish waters.. I have 6 in one of my planted tanks as we speak. Sorry I didn't see this sooner, or I would have spoken up. They eat primarly snails, and live foods, but can be weaned onto frozen or even freeze dried, if your patient.. There curious little buggers, with tons of personality. Little camera shy tho.. hehe.. They like soft water and may pick on your other fish, watch them for a while to make sure. There intersting little fish, that I'm quite glad I found when I did...

[PhishNeslo]

they are stalking my beta and nipping his fins. little buggers.

[Skysong]

Contrary to populat belief, DP's are not brackish fish, and tolerate freshwater quite well. Here is some info for you, if you do not know it yet.
Name: Carinotetraodon travancoricus
Origim: India, Sri Lanka
3 cm 7.0 GH 8 25°C
These fish have a reputation of being fin nippers when hungry, so I would watch out. They are too small to be fed krill, so stick to brine shrimp, blood worms, baby snails and the like. Flakes are rejected quickly.
DP's do best in eavily planted tanks, for each can have his/her own territory. Semi aggressive, males have a brown vertical line on their belly, which can darken and fade. Females do not have this line.

[PhishNeslo]

i see four of them swimming. they all look relatively well fed, but i have no idea what they are eating. i think they are just ridding my tank of snails. i cant really put any live food in for them, because all the other fish will eat it first. are there any types of live food, like worms or something, that i can cultivate in the tank? i am lazy. i am not sure if the snails are reproducing fast enough for them to keep making good meals for the puffers.

[qbal18]

so one question can i put a small puffer in with 4-6 guppies in a 10gal planted or not will they get along and wil i have to do anything specil i really like them but have always stayed away from them due to being told they were very agresive.

[tyler]

i think you might find ocasional bits missing out of your guppies tail. all puffers are notorious fin nippers. my green spotted never got along to well with any sort of tank mates, but i believe the temperment of dwarfs is much more mild.

if you have any sort of bite sized snail in your tank, you can consider them snacks.

i wish i could find some dwarf puffers around these parts. i'm a very avid puffer fan, and they would have been perfect in my 5.5 before i picked up my ram.

[PhishNeslo]

i have the four in there with about 20 adult guppies (about 12 males and 8 females or so). i am pretty sure that they are eating the guppy babies, which is fine with me. i just noticed i dont see any really small guppies anymore, just the ones that are about three months old, and another generation that is about two months old, but the newborns get eaten, i think.

the puffers dont seem to bother my guppies tails, or even chase around the small ones, and i have never actually seen them eat a baby guppy, but i think they are.

[madpiano]

You have to provide snails though, as their beaks grow together otherwise and they need frozen or life food. If you have guppies your best bet is probably to get life bloodworms and brine shrimp from the LFS. The puffers will get their share, don't worry, there is normally enough in a pack to feed the tank. If not, get 2 packs. The puffers wil clear your tank of snails pretty quickly, so you may have to ask your LFS to get you a regular supply of small ramshorns. Don't feed MTS,as they can break the puffers beaks, and they are a bit big for dwarf puffers anyway. Most puffers cannot be weaned onto flake food, as they are normally wild caught. Dwarf puffers are actualy more aggressive then some of their bigger cousins, but if you have a heavily planted tank, they should be ok. They are notorious fin nippers though and as far as I know need hard water (should be ok with guppies). NO SALT. They are strictly fresh water.
When they get bigger, they will eat the snails whole (that's how they keep their beak in shape).

Check out some links here about puffers (they are not for the lazy fishkeeper....):

http://puffernet.tripod.com/links.html
http://home.earthlink.net/~snebluemoon/plethora.htm

Have fun, they are cute little buggers

Sabine

[IUnknown]

here are my puffer fish links,
http://www.rr.iij4u.or.jp/~kohda/en-index.htm
http://www.pufferfish.co.uk/
I really like these fish.

[molahs4]

I have been wanting to get a freshwater puffer for my 90 gallon planted community tank, but I don't really want a fin nipper. Other than keeping them constantly fed, is there a way to keep them from eating my cardinal tetras, rummy nose tetras, cherry barbs, ottos, dwarf gouramis, harlequin raspboras, and little shrimpy dudes?