[azazan]

So, i have a densely planted tank with school of panda cories, cpd's and recently added a puffer(got it to get rid of snail infestation in my parentd tank but now snails are gone its a bit high maintenance for them with all the live food required). Now i expected my puffer to harass the cpds a bit, but its more the other way around.. The cpds dart all over the tank playing With eachother, its a 55g corner tank, with loads of hiding space in the plants, yet they dont use it at all.. Whenever the puffer floats by, they all dash after it.

They leave the cories alone, but even cories are occasionally dashing after the puffer.

Any idea why?

I have a large amount of tubifex in my sand and all of thz fish seem to love those.

I have never seen my cpds act like this before, ib the old tank they where rather shy

 

[Straight shooter]

Puffers should nearly always be kept in species only tanks. They don't get along well with others.....

CPDs know that it's a predator and are trying to tell it to get lost. That's what you're seeing.

 

[Betta132]

Either they're trying to chase away a potential predator, they're trying to taste the little buzzyfins, or they're trying to taste the spots.

 

[newbieshrimpkeeper]

maybe they want to shoal with it-my pygmy cories try to shoal with shrimps. Or they're curious. not really sure if CPDs chase away predators-dont they just swim for their lives?

 

[evil nick]

Odd that its not the other way around. Usually puffers chase everything else. Give him some time to find his spot, they are sturdy little fish and some of my favs in my tank.
My puffers are super passive and share a tank with a betta and dwarf frog with ZERO issues. I never understood how people say they are so vicious until saw the one my buddy bought. Its a monster and chases EVERYTHING even things 5 times its size.
MY betta seems to bully them more than the other way around and they just tend to hide and pick at things I cant see. Ive always wanted to move them to my bigger tank but Im Afraid it would freak them out.
My guess is they just want it out of their area because theyre jerks. In time he will find his spot and avoid them. They are good hiders.

 

[AquaAurora]

African dwarf frogs should be kept in groups of 3 or more as they are social creatures and really should be in a 10g or larger. I'd be wary about a puffer and betta, I've read a few accounts of one killing the other (some cases betta is killed, others the puffer is).

As for the dwarf puffer eating only live food, my husband's was like that, but I finally fasted him for 2-3 days and got him to eat (thawed) frozen blood worms. If they're hungry enough they'll eat what you give them.
Another easy live food culture besides snails is black worms-aquatic worms just need cool place with shallow bin. Slap in some floaters and a light on a timer and you have instant ammonia control! You can also keep them in the tank the puffer is in 9sand is better than gravel for substrate) and they'll hunt 'em.

 

[evil nick]

African dwarf frogs should be kept in groups of 3 or more as they are social creatures and really should be in a 10g or larger. I'd be wary about a puffer and betta, I've read a few accounts of one killing the other (some cases betta is killed, others the puffer is).

As for the dwarf puffer eating only live food, my husband's was like that, but I finally fasted him for 2-3 days and got him to eat (thawed) frozen blood worms. If they're hungry enough they'll eat what you give them.
Another easy live food culture besides snails is black worms-aquatic worms just need cool place with shallow bin. Slap in some floaters and a light on a timer and you have instant ammonia control! You can also keep them in the tank the puffer is in 9sand is better than gravel for substrate) and they'll hunt 'em.

ive wondered about that with the frogs. Hmmmmnot getting more in there. He seems to hang out, hide and eat. Id be wary of putting him in my 30 gallon just to get more. Any other tips besides giving him back as the GF loves it.

As for the betta, theyve been together for a while and the puffers were full grown already. I had them in there originally with a guppy and 2 BB gobies and they never touched each other but then something got in the tank and killed off everything but the puffers. Def was a sickness of some sort but never pin pointed it. After some time I decided since they were fine with the guppies to try the betta. They never bother each other until worms go into the tank then he can be a bully but mostly they stay apart.