Dwarf Puffers

[wildechild_01]

So I saw Dwarf Puffers at the LFS the other day and thought, wow 1 of those would look awesome in my 30Gal Tank So............

After searching the Web i have come accross these Oppinions.

1. Dwarf unlike most Puffers Will be fine with any tank mate. <---- This I Highly Doubt
2. Dwarf WILL Nip Fins and so should be kept with fish its size or larger who are fast and Hiding places should be Provided. <----- This seems a little more believeable.
3. Dwarf will do Fine with mostl Algae Eaters and some of the larger more agressibe Barbs <------- This i really really want to belive.
4. Dwarf Like all Puffers MUST BE kept in a SPECIES only set up. <---- This seems possible, but i know i have seen small puffers in Cichlid Tanks.

So what i know is that they are a fairly agressive Fish, that they are a fresh water Puffer, not brackish like others, that there is a Definite risk of Fin Nipping and stressed fish. They will probably eat the snails in the Tank... Whoo Hoooo!

Also At this point it looks like the Puffer is not a good Idea, but was curious as to peoples experience with them here... i am a member on a few Forums and this one definitley seems to have the most informed Members.. so yeah.. figured i would ask

 

[Cossie333]

i asked the same thing and they said that they would eat anything when the fish are resting it wil come up behinde and eat them if they are smaller than it but it will also eat any types of plant but larger species of fish it should be ok but not with the plants

 

[kiriyama]

Freshwater not brackish as you stated.
Need or will appreciate a heavily planted tank, = Security + gets bored so loves to eplore.
Have heard of them being kept successfully with Ottos or BN Plec. has been suggested Khuli loach or Banjo catfish but not read anything
Will enjoy meaty snacks and will appreciated lots of pest snails and baby apple snails, apparently not so good on MTS, think shells to tough and can break teeth.
Hope this helps a bit until someone more experienced comes along, very cute fish, can see the apeal,,,,,

 

[Wills]

There are a lot of experience dwarf puffer keeper on this site including some that have actually bred them a few times now I believe. And the general advice is 1 puffer per 5 gallons lots of planting and filtration and a good supply of snails to eat. They can occasionally get along with ottos but most other things have ended badly.

The most community friendly is the south ammerican puffer but this should be the feature of the tank and have the tank mates planned around them rather than it be added to an existing community. But these need in the region of about 250 liters and a well set up tank with lots of places to explore otherwise they get bored and start pacing the tank.

 

[hamfist]

Mine liked to bite ALL other fish, even Oto's. And they can take a good lump out with their sharp beaks too !
I would really recommend a species-only tank for these.

 

[england]

Alot if not most people reccomend keeping these in a specie's tank, not because there always aggressive, my two are actually quite placid indeed, and for the first 8 or so month's i kept mine with a halfbanded eel/reed fish/bn plec and another small plec which i have yet to find a correct id....I DONT RECCOMEND KEEPING THESE WITH HALFBANDS OR REEDS BUT IM QUITE LUCKY AS THE HALFBANDS A FUSSY FISH AND WILL ONLY EAT LIVE BLOODWORM AND THE REED FISH IS SOOO DOCILE, Only last night did i move them into there own little tank, which i have been maturing, only because they always seemed lost in the big tank finding it hard to see them,wizzing about all day long, granted as soon as you walk in a room they are there wiggling at the glass,but now i can find them easier in there new tank, however mine never damaged a fin on any of my fish,but they were all bottom dwellers which seemed fine...post pic if i get a chance in new home

Then keeping with things like cichlids they might well try to eat these nail sized critters and other fish with fancy tails iam sure they will nibble, basically because there so inquizative,always on the go, theres not much else that small you could keep them with safely

 

[england]

link i promised....click click

pin n prick my dwarf's

 

[Hunterprey]

I would suggest them in a species tank, my DP is by herself now. I tried Oto Cats N Tiger Barbs, she damaged the Tiger Barbs fins pretty good, Oto cats escape her more but she constantly try to bite my Oto, I think it will be too stressful for the Oto Cat in long run.

I put her in my aggressive CT Betta, my betta just cornered her and kept biting her. Its the other way around tho when I had the puffer in the tank 1st then added the Betta. I had better luck with female Bettas, my puffer bit them once, then whenever they see my puffer trying to get near to bite them they chase her all over the tank right away. She pretty much attacked everyone else in my 35 gallon. I think its better if u put them in a defensive with pretty aggressive fish, but I don`t really want to do that to my puffer, its just her nature to be nippy.

 

[wildechild_01]

Yeah the Tank i was looking at adding it to is Currently Home to Tiger barbs, a Rainbow Shark and now a Clown Pleco... My barbs and shark are all a little agressive, chase each other around... essentially the Barbs seem to have addopted the shark as everyone chases everyone but there is no visible damage or stressing on the fish. I am looking at maybe doing another smaller tank.. 20USG ish for a few DP's but not sure yet. It really is a shame they are hard to have in communities they are beautiful fish.

 

[TheChards]

I am hoping to keep some DPs at some point and would like to use a spare 16USG tank for this purpose.

I found a great website dedicated to DPs (not sure if I'm allowed to link to it here) and basically read everything I could find about them and came to the conclusion that it would be acceptable to try 3 DPs (1 m: 2f) and 3 Ottos in this tank as long as it's well-planted and had plenty of hiding places etc.

It sounds as though people have had some success keeping DPs with other tankmates but personally I wouldn't want to risk it.