Dwarf Puffer Help?

[corylover]

Hi there i have a 5g tank already cycled, it has sand gravel a filter and heater, what plants are good? I was thinking of a moss ball and afew others only having 1 puffer can i have bog wood? Also can i get a snail to breed that gives birth ALOT that the puffer can just eat from? What snail would this be? Thanks for any help

 

[ech0o]

Hello corylover!  I keep a pair of dwarf puffers so I will try to answer your questions based on the experience I have.  Firstly, what kind of lighting does your 5g tank have?
 
I would suggest a lot of low-tech plants as I imagine you probably only have a lowly lit 5g setup.  These plants include Hygrophilia (water sprite, water wisteria), Crypts, Java Ferns, Anubias, Staurogynes.  There are many others but these types I have had great luck with.
 
Bog wood is a big plus, these guys are very used to having wood in their environments, and although yours is probably tank bred, I am a firm believer that the conditions created by having wood in the tank go way further than just making the fish comfortable.  These guys respond very well to light tannins released by wood, it seems to keep mine very healthy.  With the java ferns and anubias, you can attach them to the wood and create a leafy piece of wood that looks WONDERFUL!
 
I have been unsuccessful at keeping a snail population breeding with my puffers.  I put a bunch in hoping they would populate and I just ended up with piles of rotting snail shells on the substrate and no babies.  I did find that at my local pet store they are always trying to get rid of pest snails and will bag me up a bunch of them for free, so i just feed them a few here and there, they get switched off from those, frozen bloodworms, and live brine shrimp(their absolute favorite).
 
Hope I could help a bit!

 

[corylover]

Wow you have been a great help! And i got given a uv light that is npw with the tank, also i will deffo get some java fern!

 

[BelldandyShanny]

if you really want a population of snails, go for trumpet snails breed like rabbits! and they have live babies which are tiny, my loaches love them.

 

[Blondielovesfish]

If you really want a good snail population, it would be best to set up a small snail tank. Before I took it down, I used a 3G plastic tank with an air pump and a little bit of sand. I filled it with mountain trumpet snails and ramshorn snails. 
A little bit of goldfish flake (got it with the tank) everyday and the algae that grew (had the tank on the windowsill) were what the snails ate.
They bred like crazy.
I got the snails from my LFS that wanted to get rid of a few, so got them for free
 
What I have found from research, is that a lot of DPs will kill snails for fun, often not eating them. This was what made me decide to have a snail tank.
 
Bog wood and plants are all great things to have, your puffer will appreciate them
Crypts, Java moss, Java fern, Anubias, Vallis and Hygrophilia are all great, low light plants.
 
Good luck!
 
Make sure you do a journal, I'd love to follow your progress

 

[corylover]

Thanks everyone! And next time i go to my lfs i will get some trumpet snails! Thanks for the advice

 

[betta fish]

Tadpole snails are great dwarf puffer food, and breed like crazy in warm or cold water, I put some in my water butt outside they survived the winter too but reproduced quicker in the summer and I got hundreds that I used to fish out every now and then for my puffers 

they seem to stay just the right size for dwarfs and are easily eaten as they have a soft shell so they can be crushed too.