Dwarf Puffers

[fish-r-fancy]

Hi my uncle just gave me a 10 gallon tank with an aquaclear 300(70) filter. I already have catridges for the filter as I've had one before. I was wondering if once I cycled the tank I could get some dwarf puffers? The substrate will be large pebbles that are about the size of a quarter in diameter. As I've already stated the tank will be filtered by an aquaclear 300(70) which is plenty for a 10 gallon tank. The tank will also have a lot of fake plants and rocks for hiding spots and to keep agression down. They will be feed snails that I will breed in another tank and vegetables. Is this setup ideal? And how many puffers will I be able to have in a tank this size? Thank you

 

[Castellop123]

Cheers...

 

[fish-r-fancy]

OK 2 it is then. I was thinking maybe 3 because of all the hiding spots and the filtration that I will have.

 

[mlawson]

I would keep 2 in there with perhaps 3 otos. What do you mean by vegetables? DP's are carnivirous and will only accept live and frozen meaty foods. My DP has a staple diet of frozen bloodworm and brineshrimp as well as snails. You should also feed them some other live foods time to time.

Everything else seems fine, overfilter with a DP tank and provide lots of plants and places to hide, which you already are.

 

[fish-r-fancy]

Thanks for the reply. I will look into getting my hands on some ottos but I've never seen them in any lfs. I said vegetables because thats what the guy at the lfs recommended I will feed snails,bloodworms and daphnia.

 

[mlawson]

Ask you LFS if they can order some in for you.

 

[fishboy619]

dwarf puffers need excellent water quality
the dont eat vegs (why the hell did the lfs tell you that )meaty foods such as bloodworms, brineshrimp, daphina, little bits of household meats like beef heart and chicken.
put 2 in 10g, i have 3 in 15 with lots of real plants and caves and they are the least aggressive of all my puffers.
added ottos arent nessary, mainy to keep algea down, some puffers take to them, others will kill them.
snails are nessary all the time either, dwarf puffers beaks arent that bad and dont need wearing down that often, feed a few snails every few days, is its well planted, some snails will hide and be eaten later.
in my 15g, i have 3 dwarf puffers, 3 ottos, 1 apple snails and 1 ghost shrimp.
shrimps arent recomended to have with puffers, but mine wasnt eaten.the bigger snails such as apples usally do fine.plenty of plants and caves really help.
the gravel doesnt really matter too much, some puffers rest on floor at night, i use sand and it works fine.
the filtering will be great as puffers are messy fish.

 

[bymauldin]

What are some other foods that DP like?

 

[mlawson]

What are some other foods that DP like?

Bloodworm, daphnia, brineshrimp, blackworms, white worms, mosquito larvae, tubifex (although I would not recommend it), cyclops, hydra, mussel, shrimp, prawns, snails, beef heart, fry. They are the ones that come to mind, remarkably I have somehow weaned my DP on to flake, although it will only eat a tiny amount. I did this by mixing in the flake into the bloodworm.

 

[fishboy619]

What are some other foods that DP like?

Bloodworm, daphnia, brineshrimp, blackworms, white worms, mosquito larvae, tubifex (although I would not recommend it), cyclops, hydra, mussel, shrimp, prawns, snails, beef heart, fry. They are the ones that come to mind, remarkably I have somehow weaned my DP on to flake, although it will only eat a tiny amount. I did this by mixing in the flake into the bloodworm.

yeah what i was going to say lol
just out of intrest, would a puffer eat bugs and insects such as spiders anf flies?
i have never tried flakes with my puffers, they only eat live or frozen,
and they dont eat live shrimps either.or apple snails,lol mine dont anyway

 

[DarkEntity]

Dont feed your fish bugs and spiders! you have no idea whats on them or in them that could harm your fish.

 

[bymauldin]

Suprisingly I haven't been able to find any bloodworms...not even frozen. Can you cultivate your own? I've read somewhere that they'll even accept plain pieces of chicken (boiled or the like). Is this true? Would they accept things like canned clams or crab meat? I know some will eat ghost shrimp, but would they eat frozen shrimp from the grocery store? Things like that?

 

[fishboy619]

Dont feed your fish bugs and spiders! you have no idea whats on them or in them that could harm your fish.

cheers, i havent fed my fish any bugs, just wanted to check first.
i dont think you Can cultivate your own bloodworms, arent they the young of mosquitos?or someting simular
as for the other foods, look at the post above by mlawson,they do accept meats such as chicken, and crab and clam i think would be fine.
not sure about the shrimp meat, but mine dont eat live shrimps

 

[bymauldin]

Dont feed your fish bugs and spiders! you have no idea whats on them or in them that could harm your fish.

cheers, i havent fed my fish any bugs, just wanted to check first.
i dont think you Can cultivate your own bloodworms, arent they the young of mosquitos?or someting simular
as for the other foods, look at the post above by mlawson,they do accept meats such as chicken, and crab and clam i think would be fine.
not sure about the shrimp meat, but mine dont eat live shrimps

Yeah, I believe bloodworm is mosquito larvae. It seems that I've read somewhere before that you can just leave a shallow plate filled with water outside and mosquitos will breed in it (or whatever it is that they do that's yucky!). Then you are supposed to be able to take the larvae and feed it to your fish. I didn't know if that was truth or not. Even if it was-don't know if I'd want to try it. I'd have mad crazy mosquitos flying around outside my house-and we grow them big.

Anyway, I was just looking for a cheaper alternative to frozen food all the time. My LFS charges an arm and leg for a small blister pack!!

 

[mlawson]

Dont feed your fish bugs and spiders! you have no idea whats on them or in them that could harm your fish.

Feeding bugs and spiders to your fish is fine, the likeliness of them being comtaminated is virtually nil. The problem is, most fish despise insects and wont touch them and IME nor will dwarf puffers.