[scarlett4410]

2 of my 6 dwarf puffers have been fighting recently. They have puffed up 2 times. There have been no serious bites so far except a bite out of a tail. Some of the baby puffers are getting quite upset by the fighting and one of the dominant puffers stop some of the others eating.
Any ideas weather i should put the most dominant puffer in my spare 5 gallon or wait it out and see how it goes?

 

[amcoffeegirl]

What size tank do you have them in now? you have 6 puffers and how many baby puffers? How planted is the tank? they will and can kill each other. i would divide them.

 

[scarlett4410]

No sorry i have 6 but 4 of them are younger so i call them babys.
I have -
4 - 5 months olds
1 - 7 month old
1 - 10 month old
= 6!
Its densly planted but with some free space to swim.
Any ideas how i can prevent their fighting

 

[Elppan]

Yes, to stop the fighting separate them! They can and will kill each other. Some puffers can live pretty peacefully with others, others well, are super territorial. Figure out which one starts the fights, then put him in his own tank.

Sent from my phone, in the land of magical unicorns and rainbows!

 

[MABJ]

What size tank? All too often people try to keep them in tanks too small.


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[scarlett4410]

I was told 2 gallons per puffer so went for a 16 gallon , i will cheak to make sure of the size later but i think its that size... may be larger though :icon_surp I was getting 5 but one snuck in!
All's been calmer tonight but im hoping they will stay this way. Is there anything i can do to help them??

 

[MABJ]

That should be ok. I know a lot of people who recommend 20 gallons for 6.

Even better if it is a 20 long.

Edit- yes you can heavily plant it.

Heavily planting keeps them happy as heck.


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[Lil' Swimz$]

Most people give them 5gallons per puffer.

 

[tex627]

How long have you had them? If they are new, they are establishing territories. If this is occurring after like a month in having them, I would remove one of the instigators.

 

[scarlett4410]

Well i have had Cifa for 4 months who lived with Samba for 2 months with there siblings but sadly they died. Cifa bullied his brother constantly but he died due to other reasons.
I have had the babys about 1 month. But they have only been fighting for about 1 week tough. Before this Cifa was the boss and always has been because he was here first i guess.
Im not sure why they would be establishing terratorys .. Cifa was in this tank with Samba for a week before the others came.

 

[MABJ]

Giving names made that a jumble of confusion.

If you added a new adult into the tank, obviously there would be fighting.

When adding a new adult, you should change the scape a little, net the established one out then reintroduce them together.


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[scarlett4410]

Haha sorry it makes sense to me but probally sounds like garble to you.
Well i had a 9 month old male ( Cifa-now 10M ) with his 2 siblings i brought another baby puffer to join them and they had no problems.
Sadly though the 2 siblings died unrelatedly leaving The male ( Cifa ) & the baby who had been living together for 1 month. So I moved them to a different tank.
I brought these 4 babys into the tank about 1 week later and all was fine , Cifa was still boss. Until the tank had a nitrite spike ; about 2 week ago , and i moved all the fish to the quarantine for a few days once it stabalized i put cifa & one of the baby puffers back in to the tank for 8-9 hours to let put less pressure on the bio-load then added to others and thats when this all started.
I think i really messed this up :icon_frow

 

[scarlett4410]

I also figured as i am trying to not separate my puffers i was wondering if anyone had any advice on how to keep 5 males & 1 female ( shes possibly a male) together happily. I am wondering if it can be done and how.
I should of just stuck with my 2 ! Aha fish are so tricky!

 

[Lil' Swimz$]

5 males and 1 female is asking for lots of trouble, I really see no way to make it work perfectly without taking some males back.......... Could you set up some small tanks to keep the males individuals?

 

[Delexboarfoot]

I kept Dwarf Puffers for a bit. Had 15 of them in a 240 Ltr. tank. One of the males killed every other male in the tank. Gave it up for a bad job in the end and gave away the females. Put down the male as he had received so many battle scares, including the loss of one eye, that nobody wanted him. My experience of these fish is that, despite there small size, the males are very, very, aggressive. If you want to keep them then only one male per tank no matter what size it is.

 

[amcoffeegirl]

How are you sexing them at such a young age? the belly stripe is the best indicator. i just didnt think it would show up this soon. i would divide the older ones and leave the babies together. you dont wanna end up with more dead puffers. i would bet that is the reason for the other deaths. they are tough little fish. also you said they are puffing up. these fish dont usually puff unless they are scared for their life.

 

[scarlett4410]

Ugh sounds not pleasant I actually prefer the fish with no - eyes i have rescued some and there so sweet !
Doesn't sound good for me then but im gonna go with it and see how it goes. I met someone who had 12 in a 8 gallon for months with no issues :/

 

[scarlett4410]

Sorry i didnt see your post.
Alot of them have there wrinkles even tough there really small, some are getting their lines as well.

 

[somewhatshocked]

In my opinion and experience, it's not a good idea to keep more than a couple puffers in a tank - even 20 gallons. It's just plain irresponsible for any retailer to sell six puffers like that.

Since you already have them, though, go with the advice you've been given and make sure your tank is heavily, heavily planted. To go further… is it possible for you to return some of them? Or to find a friend who could take some of them from you?

You're likely to have nothing but problems unless you get a much larger tank and thin the herd out a bit.

 

[laqu]

i REALLY wanted dwarf puffers (why i love puffers i don't know) but their personality scared me off. now i'm glad i didn't ... i have a hard enough time with my betta... they are all cute and lovey and stuff but they are always jumping at my hands when i try to work on their tank and feed them (freaks me out and i scream and jump like the girl i am)
--
they look sooo sweet.. but this makes me realize they are not the fish for me... now if i find the 'wimpy fish' i'll be fine... my shrimp are pretty wimpy and they fight like a 'scared girl' so it's funny (though we do try to break up fights .. as it's just not nice)...