Dwarf Puffers

[BluesKat]

Greetings!

I made the mistake of going into my local PetsMart yesterday and looked at the fish. They had some Dwarf Puffers, which I'd never heard of, and I absolutely fell in LOVE!

I haven't had an aquarium in 20+ years and would definitely be classified as a newbie to this "addiction"! I'm wondering if anyone can give me any advice on keeping this darling little fish before I rush out and buy the tank, fish, etc...

The gal at the store told me not to get the type of filter with a tube as it's possible the puffers will swim down the tube and become trapped, which makes sense to me. I've done some net research (which is how I found this message board!) but would like to hear from others who have these fish.

Any and all help, advice, and tips you can give me would be GREATLY appreciated! Please respond directly to [email protected] - and again, thank you SO much for your help!

Lisa B (aka BluesKat)

 

[wetwetwet]

Firstly HiYa and welcome Lisa B

I don't keep them myself but agree they are fascinating fish.

Depending on the species they may require brackish water and also require a mature tank.

Renound for being fusy eaters and notorious fin nippers of other tankmates.

A great fish but do your reaearch as to what you're going to keep with them/set-up.


hth

 

[Pufferpack]

Hi BluesKat.

I sent you an E-Mail as a reply, but I thought I would re-post a couple of my previous replies incase anyone else was interested.

I have a pack of 6 Indian Dwarf Puffers (Tetraodon travancoricus) and so far the only tankmate I've discovered that they will live peacefully with are my 4 Bumblebee Gobies, unfortunately I will have to move the BBG's to a brackish water tank soon, leaving the Puffers alone in their 25 Gal Hex tank.
You may want to try Peacock Gudgeons (FW Gobies). From what I've been able to find on out they are similar to the BBG's in temperment, so they should make good roomies for the Dwarfs (my little pack will gang up on any aggressive fish that tries to harrass one of them, and give him a right good thumpin')
I also have 3 Golden Ramshorn snails in the tank as a cleanup crew. The puffers like to try and eat them, but the snails are just too large for them. The snails usually suffer a few nips, and rarely get any peace, but they seem to have a system worked out. Each day there will be a different snail out front being stalked by a couple of the puffers, while the other 2 are busy cleaning up the tank. ( in the lfs around here the "Mystery snails" seem to be a mix of ramshorns & smaller apple snails)
IMO you could house 1 male & 3 females comfortably in your 10 gal, just make sure you have lots of plants/caves/logs etc for them to sleep in, mine seem to choose 2 or 3 different sleeping spots to call their own (see what happens when someone asks about Dwarf puffers...I cant shut up...Luv my babies ), and break up the lines of sight (the puffers sight not yours) as much as possible to cut down on the chasing a bit.
In my tank I placed plants in a semi circle around the back and sides and put 4 caves (I used shot glasses for caves and covered them with sand) in the open space at the front. I also contoured the sand in the open space so that there are hills and valleys, this seems to have cut down on the chasing and nipping quite a bit.
I also removed some of the plant parts from their base and let them float freely on the surface, the pack loves to play hide and seek in the floaters and will ride the plants as they spiral through the current from my filter.....looks like great fun.

HTH
Don.

...........................................................

Now don't get me wrong, I Luv my babies , they are the reason I'm a fish keeper with MTS (1-90 gal, 2-35 gal, 2-25 gal, 1-10 gal, started Dec 25th 2002 ), but they are little Demons when they want to be (long story, I'll post it here if you want to read it). I find they are more intelligent than (FORGIVE ME CM et al) any of our Cichlids, and also have more personality. I have even watched them sulk for 3 days anytime my wife walked into the room because they were mad at her. (look what you've done...he's off on a rant now...groan )
Now that I've frightened you, and possibly intrigued you, I would recomend the Dwarf Puffer for your 15 gal whole heartedly. You could get probably 3 females & 1 male. Just be sure to have lots of caves/plants/holes for them to hide and sleep.
If you want to contact a few Puffer experts (people with 20 & 40 years as puffer caretakers) try Aquaria Central and look for "Pufferpunk", "rjl420", "andruboz" or "RTR" these four probably have close to 100 years of personal experiance owning puffers off all kinds.

QUOTE
I would like to know if these are the type of fish that will just keep eating and eating if there is food available


Yes, some puffers will literally eat themselves to death (Dwarfs incl.), they will eat so much that their bowels will become obstructed and result in death


http/www.pufferfish.co.uk/aquaria/specie...types/index.htm