Freshwater Small Puffers

[chibi]

Okay, I've decided to change my 6-gallon aquarium. Right now, it's got 6 pygmy cories and a betta. It's very bare. I was wondering if anyone knew of any freshwater, small puffers that I could put in it. I'm going to rehome my betta and, if neccessary because of puffers not getting along with little cories, moving them into my 29 gallon. Can you help?

 

[karmagl]

I don't think I would put a gourami in a 6gal tank even if there were other fish in it. Too small and aren't kissing gouramis aggresive?

 

[celaeno]

let me get this straight... you know you shouldn't do it, yet you have pretty made up your mind to do it.

i don't think you need us...

 

[chibi]

I've changed my mind and have decided it's just not fair for me to buy a kissing gourami and keep it in an abusively-small tank. I've changed the first post and now need some more advice. Help please?

 

[faithless1294]

What do you need help on know you have kinda lost me??? sorry you changed just as i posted

 

[timmystood]

In short.. no!

Dwarf puffers are your only choice but even then it's a little on the small size.

 

[fishboy619]

i think 6 gallons is fine for 1 dwarf puffer. it probally wouldnt get on with the cories though.

 

[faithless1294]

dwarf puffer deffinetley they would be fine i think if you want to find more out about them here is scientific name monotetrus travancoricus they grow max 1.5in maybe 2in max but very doubtful i reckon 1in in good conditions.
Good Luck.

 

[helsekia]

i have dwarf puffers,they are freshwater but in a 6 galon i would only have 1.Puffers are great little fish with lots of character but are very territorial!

 

[Maximus]

You could only have 1 DP in there so,
the tank would look even more bare then it is already

 

[DarkEntity]

What a lot of people forget is that the tank maybe 6 Gallons empty....but by the time you add substrate, plants, heater, and other stuff ou can knock another few gallons off that. Wich tbh isnt large enough to maintain a pristene tank for a dwarf puffer. Your best bet would be a shrimp tank

 

[mikster]

I have a dward puffer in a 5.5 uk gallon tank and its doing well so far, had it about a month or so, they do need good water quality, my tank is heavily planted though and is over filtered with a nano external filter and i do x2 25% water changes per week. So in short it is perfectly possible to keep one in that tank but personall i would only keep one in there so its gunna be even more bare which is not what you want i believe and also it will require more maintainence, they are great pets though, depends how commited you are and you have to be aware theres less margin for error.

 

[timmystood]

What a lot of people forget is that the tank maybe 6 Gallons empty....but by the time you add substrate, plants, heater, and other stuff ou can knock another few gallons off that. Wich tbh isnt large enough to maintain a pristene tank for a dwarf puffer. Your best bet would be a shrimp tank

Exactly! Finally somebody else who knows what their talking about when it comes to Puffers!

 

[andywg]

Oh please.

6 gallons is more than enough for a Dwarf Puffer. just make sure the tank is cycled and that you do weekly water changes.

They aren't an effluent plant, a single DP is not going to give out a huge amount of waste, no more than a betta is likely to, and we don't say no bettas in a 6 gallon, do we? (think of the relative bodymass of each fish).

Most places recommend 3 gallons per puffer, on this forum it is generally more conservative at 5 gallons per puffer.

If you clear out the tank of current inhabitnts, then I say go for the DP.

My personal preference would be to go pico-reef, but that is just me.

 

[timmystood]

They aren't an effluent plant, a single DP is not going to give out a huge amount of waste, no more than a betta is likely to, and we don't say no bettas in a 6 gallon, do we?

That's because in the wild bettas live in small, confined spaces.