20g tank

[blackfinshark_3]

Dp's are freshwater so i guess here is where to post,

i ahve learned the water parameters, food, everythign about dp's there is and now plan to buy a 20g tank to house some.

What would u do with a 20g dp tank?

i just want to know before i put in 2 much money.

i was thinking of putting in a trio of ottos a week or 2 before the puffers come in.

But im thinking of taking a risk and getting some other fish.

ive been told my chances are better if i put in the non dp's before hand sp they hAVE A BETTER CHAnce.

I also plan to set up the tank with a sort of rock montain in the middle with many holes and caves, then i will add little caves for as many dp's i get.

Im not a plant fan, so i will be putting alot of fake plants and maybe a java moss since they seem easy to take care of.

i know by making it heavily planted there will be less agression which is what im hoping for.

So does anyone have any suggestions,past experience, ideas, some fish suggestions?

thank you

 

[Teelie]

Everything I've read on dwarf puffers is to not put anything else in there with them. You can try, it might work for a few weeks or even months but eventually it comes falling down on your head.

 

[Puffer_freak]

You can try, some people even say it has worked for a bout a year. And then they soon post about how theur tank has all gone wrong and oly the DPs are left etc.

If I was you, I'd go for 3, maybe 4 DPs and one BN plec.

Sounds good to me, make sure you have broken up and lines of vision.

 

[chris_1127]

that'd be a nice size tank for a south american puffer, maybe two, and a bristlenose wouldnt it? as long as you can provide a good supply of crunchy food, or are prepared to trim their teeth. you could also fit a pair of lortetis in it, beautiful to look at but theyre not the most active/interesting fish to watch; you'd think my lorteti tank was empty some times other peoples experience with these has been that theyre pretty aggressive too, think i must have faulty ones

 

[blackfinshark_3]

what kind of puffer or puffers would you recommend for a 20g freshwater?

 

[fishwatcher]

I think DPs are the only fully freshwater puffers, but I may be forgetting one other one.
You could do 3-4 of them. I keep thinking there is one other fw puffer, that is a little larger, but I can't think of it. Hopefully someone else will???

 

[Teelie]

There are a few freshwater species. I know Mbu's are fresh but they get massive and are highly aggressive. Here's a list of different types, sizes and water needs.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

the Colomesus Asellus aka Peru Puffer aka S. American Puffer aka Asell's Puffer? they need 10g per each and often have to have their teeth trimmed. other than that, they're pretty much angels (as puffers go). mine is in with a bristlenose pleco and nothing else.

there are other species in the Carinotetradon genus besides the dwarf puffers, but they're about 100x more aggressive. Lortets are the most commonly available of those groups, but even mated pairs have been known to shred each other. in a 20g, you could keep 2 Lortets and pretty much ONLY 2 Lortets, provided you have extremely heavy plantings and lots of places to hide. from what I've read, Lortets won't just kill each other, they'll kill anything else they can catch too. the males are GORGEOUS however.

 

[chris_1127]

may just be a one off with my experience, but the only aggression i've ever seen with my lortetis is between the male and female. they swim alongside my dp's as if they arent even there, and if anything try to keep out of the way of my rubbernose plec. totally disinterested in my oto's too. but on the other hand someone on another forum said their dwarf puffers lasted a matter of hours with their red eyes

and yes the males do look amazing, especially when they are displaying their crests/ridges. that is when they arent hiding...

 

[Puffer_freak]

There is actually quite a few species of truly freshwater puffers. Although I hve personally only seen the species which are meant to be harder to find ( )Dwarf Puffers are meant to be the easiest ones to find. However, with the amount of mis-information around about puffers, make sure you always check multiple sources before buying, or even better, ask here first!

 

[blackfinshark_3]

i always wanted dwarf puffers sicne there easier to find, but i wouldnt mind just keeping one sort of puffer freshwater species in a 20g.

just one that keeps a decent size would be fine.

itd be cool have just 1 6" puffer roaming a 20g, maybe a few feeders to munch on

something completly irrelevant: when do puffers puff up? has it ever happened to yours?

 

[Puffer_freak]

When they're completely and utterly streesed scared or sometimes if you'vw just got a puffer with attitude!

Never happened to mine!

 

[Teelie]

We had a saltwater puffer in my marine class when I was in high school and instead of puffing up at you, he'd go to the surface and spit water at you if you tried to make him puff up. What's funny was this was one they had caught out in the ocean that semester and not from an shop. He did it without "training."