66l Dwarf Puffer Tank

[LellowFish]

Right, so I've decided I'm going to try my hand at keeping DP's after watching a vid on YouTube of them hunting snails and falling in love. I would like to house three in my 66L and, of course, rehome the plec. I need to find a shop that sells them, that might help...

So does anyone have any tips regarding DP's? Would it be a good idea to buy another filter and have two running? I currently have a Fluvial 2+ and was wondering if another one could help with the waste. I'll post a pic of my tank and you can fling suggestions regarding keeping the wee things entertained etc.

Oh, and seeing as there would be three in my tank, would it be better to have all one gender? Two females and a male?

Thanks in advance for any help!

PS I've since topped up the water, cos I found out during a water change that I'd run out of dechlor. More plants will be added and I'll probably remove either one or both of the ornaments and put wood in. Wood is going in anyway, but I don't know if I want to keep the ornaments.

 

[jennybugs]

Hello More females to males is the ideal ratio but won't be possible to tell until they are older normally.

A fluval 2+ in your tank will be fine if incorporated by 50% water changes.
Dense planting will be necessary and some caves for the puffs to hide in will also go down well.

Substrate can be sand or small gravel, ph 7 or there abouts is perfect too.

Fods are meaty...live bloodworm, brineshrimp (not nutritious enough to be fed solely) and other types of small worms and chopped mussels with small snails to keep the beaks trimmed. If you can get snails as small as their eyes they will crush them whole. Failing that they'll suck the meat out.

The only tankmates I'd try with DPs are otocinlus. They need to be in the tank first with maybe an amano shrimp or two. Mine ignore the otos and the amanos (when I had them). Bear in mind that puffers will think nothing of biting something to see if it tastes nice, hence it being best for a species only tank. They also get more aggressive as they reach sexual maturity.

Males tend to sport silvery eye wrinkles and the females will be rounder. The dominant puffer will develop a dark belly stripe and males can tend to have more of a yellowy tail and belly but the colouring isn't gospel, so expect to be surprised.

They are hard to sex when they are babies so don't worry about it til they are about 5-6 months old.

I highly recommend getting some Wormer Plus prior to getting your DPs as many of them arrive with internal parasites (IPs) and will be best to be wormed straight away...just google Wormer Plus to find it

 

[divegirl]

Congratulations on your decision!!!!

I have 3 DP's in a 60l...it's an Elite 60 and I run the filter that came with it plus an old mini filter that I had hanging around.... I still gravel vac twice a week though [25% water change] 'cos they are messy lil buggers!!!! [and I have a black substrate ] Snail shells everwhere!!!!
The tank needs to be quite heavily planted and mine have two small pieces of bogwood, a home made pebble cave and a terracotta house to hide in. They can be a bit nippy at feeding time so I tend to 'feed' all four sides of the tank so that they have to chase the food and not each other....though they still prefer to chase each other
As for gender, most LFS sell babies so it's a bit hit and miss as you can't tell until they're older, mine are about 5 months old and I still can't tell, although I suspect I have two females and one male....or maybe that's just wishful thinking.....lol.

They are an absolute joy to keep and watch and even my doubting kids who were so un-impressed with them [Soooooooooo small] love to watch them feed and play.

Lisa x

lol.....she beat me to it .....But Jennybugs is the expert here

 

[LellowFish]

Wow, thank you to you both!

I would like to keep the black gravel that I have and add a black background as I've never had sand before and only bought the gravel a few weeks ago!

So, with the filter I have, if I gravel vac once a week and do a 50% water change, I won't need another filter?

I just realised I need to find somewhere that sells snails...I really wish there were better fish stores around here. I'll end up having to travel all the way into Glasgow to get what I want! /random rant thing.

 

[divegirl]

There's bound to be someone Local to you who can send you some snails. You just need the small pond/pest snails that most tank owners need to get rid of. That said, the rate the Puffs eat them it maybe worth while setting up a little breeding tank for them.....I'm lucky, my daughters Betta tank is over run with the bluddy things and she takes great pleasure in dumping them in my DP tank. Just ask at your local LFS for pest snails.

Lisa x

 

[LellowFish]

I'll ask at the store I get the Puffers at, wherever that may be! Lol. I can't wait, so excited!

 

[jennybugs]

So, with the filter I have, if I gravel vac once a week and do a 50% water change, I won't need another filter?

The black gravel will show them off to their good colourings and your filter will be fine I think

At one of my LFS they let me go in and harvest baby ramshorns and bladder snails (pond snails) from their plant tanks as it does them and me a favour Most of the snails I have live in my big goldie tanks and I just grab them every now and then and throw a handful in the puffers tanks so they can have a good hunt fr them

PS I dunno about me being an 'expert'

 

[LellowFish]

So, with the filter I have, if I gravel vac once a week and do a 50% water change, I won't need another filter?

The black gravel will show them off to their good colourings and your filter will be fine I think

At one of my LFS they let me go in and harvest baby ramshorns and bladder snails (pond snails) from their plant tanks as it does them and me a favour Most of the snails I have live in my big goldie tanks and I just grab them every now and then and throw a handful in the puffers tanks so they can have a good hunt fr them

PS I dunno about me being an 'expert'

Hehe, I'll ask around when I'm shopping for the wee beasties. Hopefully they will be as nice as your LFS and let me take them. I would set up another smaller tank for snails so that I have a constant supply but I don't have the room or the money right now.

 

[lilacamy931]

Aww come on Jennybugs you are the bomb on DPs!

Just to reassure you Lellowfish, I have a Fluval 2plus in my DP tank, do 40-50% water changes a week with no problems or ammonia/nitrite spikes.

Is the tank fully cycled as these little guys are sensitive. As to snails, Ebay can be good or someone may take pity (post in wanted section of this site, may get help!).

I would try to go with 2 females to 1 male, though as Jennybugs said it is hard to tell. When I got my four, one was a definate male one definate female, the other two juveniles and ended up with two males (had to move one in the end) so just be wary!

You will absolutely love these guys, I am completely smitten

(Also on snails if you get some live plants may get lucky and have some travellers)

p.s. here is a good example of a male:

Also it may be me imagining it but both my females are much spottier and patterned than the males (may just be my two)

 

[jennybugs]

Hehe, I'll ask around when I'm shopping for the wee beasties. Hopefully they will be as nice as your LFS and let me take them. I would set up another smaller tank for snails so that I have a constant supply but I don't have the room or the money right now.

Have you not got room for an ice cream tub or such that is transparent or slightly opaque? You can put it on a sunny windowsill with a bit of plant matter in it and just add snails. A water change every other day and a bit of fish food or greens and you're away

Aww come on Jennybugs you are the bomb on DPs!

thankyou i-Snail is more experienced than me...breeding experience there too! Mine just aren't that frisky (probably a good thing really )

Now I am home I can see the tank photo. Looks great but get a background on it and LOADS more plants and caves

 

[LellowFish]

Aww come on Jennybugs you are the bomb on DPs!

Just to reassure you Lellowfish, I have a Fluval 2plus in my DP tank, do 40-50% water changes a week with no problems or ammonia/nitrite spikes.

Is the tank fully cycled as these little guys are sensitive. As to snails, Ebay can be good or someone may take pity (post in wanted section of this site, may get help!).

I would try to go with 2 females to 1 male, though as Jennybugs said it is hard to tell. When I got my four, one was a definate male one definate female, the other two juveniles and ended up with two males (had to move one in the end) so just be wary!

You will absolutely love these guys, I am completely smitten

(Also on snails if you get some live plants may get lucky and have some travellers)

p.s. here is a good example of a male:

Also it may be me imagining it but both my females are much spottier and patterned than the males (may just be my two)

Regarding the tank being cycled, as I got it second hand and judging by the state it was in, I very much doubt it had been. Though it should be now what with the plec being in the tank. Once my dad sends me over a testing kit I'll be able to get it all sorted.

Hehe, I'll ask around when I'm shopping for the wee beasties. Hopefully they will be as nice as your LFS and let me take them. I would set up another smaller tank for snails so that I have a constant supply but I don't have the room or the money right now.

Have you not got room for an ice cream tub or such that is transparent or slightly opaque? You can put it on a sunny windowsill with a bit of plant matter in it and just add snails. A water change every other day and a bit of fish food or greens and you're away

Aww come on Jennybugs you are the bomb on DPs!

thankyou i-Snail is more experienced than me...breeding experience there too! Mine just aren't that frisky (probably a good thing really )

Now I am home I can see the tank photo. Looks great but get a background on it and LOADS more plants and caves

I'll have a look for one, jennybugs! Thanks for the tip!

 

[jennybugs]

Backgrounds are easily available at fish shops or on evilbay. I like to stick to plain black or blue (it comes double sided with blue and black on the same sheet), but you can get ones that are like planted tanks or rockwork

 

[LellowFish]

I like the black backgrounds you can get from the pet stores, but would rather a 3D one. Even though my tank is too small, I can dream! I don't know if the black background and black gravel will make the tank really dark though?

Oh, I thought of another question while looking at bogwood. Do DP's like the tannins?

 

[jennybugs]

I think dark background and gravel will look great

The DPs will stand out well against it.

I have bogwood in my DP tank and the puffs don't mind it at all I really like the tanin look in tanks and both my goldie tanks have that look to them as well as my 60L community tank. My F8 tank used to as well

 

[LellowFish]

Ahh okay, just thought I would ask!

Now to gather up the little money I have and seek out more plants and bogwood, I can't wait for this to be finished!