[smellslikefish]

I am teetering on the decision wether or not should i get a couple of pea puffers in my 2 gallon heavily planted tank.

Concerns:
1, I live in a college dorm with no freezer of my own (no frozen food)
2, I have read online that a 2 gallon tank won't fit a single puffer.

Why I need puffers:
1, snails in my tank are blooming out of control
2, there seems to be leeches in my tank (2 of my amano shrimps died)

My questions are:
1, Since there are at least 100+ snails in my 2 gallon, will they sustain a couple of puffers (i.e. no extra snail-breeding tank, no frequent visits to LFS, and no frozen food)

2, do the puffers eat leeches and other gross wrigglers in my tank?
3, will they disturb substrate that is covered in HC?

 

[Geminiluna]

It sounds like you already know your tank is too small for a puffer. So my recommendation for you would be to get two assassin snails to control your pest snail population. And also recommend for you to verify whether or not you have leeches and how to control them if you do. (Have you "seen" any leeches, or did you just guess that to be the cause of the Amano shrimp deaths?)

Also, if your snails are blooming out of control, you're probably over feeding your tank.

 

[allaboutfish]

you could have alot of snails bc of an excess of algae

 

[smellslikefish]

Thanks for the reply!
Yes, I have seen a few brown/grey worms, about 1/4 inch long that stretch and contract as they move on surfaces, so their length can vary greatly. I wish I could post some pictures but they actually move quite fast and sometimes burrow themselves into the substrate. Will assassin snails eat them too?

 

[Geminiluna]

I don't know if an assassin snail will eat a leech or not. Just wondering - is it possible you have planaria worms instead of leeches?

 

[amcoffeegirl]

What is in your tank cuurently besides snails and creatures? do you have any fish or snails in it? a 2 gallon is just big enough for some shrimp but if they all died then you could nuke the tank with copper or had- a- snail. 2 pea puffers would kill each other in a tank that small. even in a 5 gallon its not enough room.

 

[astrosag]

Assassin snails are hardier and much more likely to be compatible with any tankmates than a dwarf puffer.

Also dwarf puffers are inquisitive fish with distinct personalities - a small tank like that is inappropriate in my opinion.

I also don't like the idea of getting fish to solve a particular problem. Taking this path (and especially with small tanks), more often than not, you're just trading one problem for another.

Assassin snails and figure out why you have so many snails. As other posters suggested, you may be overfeeding with far too much debri on the floor which is promoting your snail population explosion. GL.

 

[wetworks]

I put pea puffers in a tank earlier this year to get rid of snails, and they certainly took care of my snail problem- in less than a week. BUT, once the snails were gone my two puffers ate two cherry barbs and the tail off of a dojo loach. I agree with astrosag- you are only trading one problem for another. The only way that puffers are a good idea is if they are the only fish in your tank and you have enough space for them, because they seem to need more space than other fish of their size, and they can become aggressive toward each other if they are cramped.

 

[smellslikefish]

Thank guys, I'll give assassin snails a try. I still need to figure out if there is leech in my tank though.