Pea puffer question - Temporary home

[connorlindeman]

So the other day, my pea puffer went missing after I added a filter to its tank. I began taking apart the tank, trying to find it. Once the entire tank was empty of plants, I figured it must have died.
I decided to remove the sand(it's pretty dirty) and start from scratch.
After nearly emptying the entire tank, I decided to empty the filter.
I saw a shadowy form at the bottom of the filter box; you guessed it, it was the puffer. Somehow he got sucked up by the filter intake and managed to avoid getting chopped up by the impeller.
So now I'm stuck with a tank with no plants, just sand, a heater, and a filter.
I still want to start this tank over; however, I need to put this pea puffer somewhere during the process.
I have four other tanks.
Heavily planted 10 gallon with 4 female clown killis and orange shrimp
Heavily planted 10 gallon with 5 Sparking Gourami and shrimp
Heavily planted 20g with 8 neons, 3 red eye tetras, and 5 cherry barbs.
Planted 40g breeder with 5 neolamprologus similis.

Which of these tanks would make the best temporary home?
I know that none of them are ideal, but could one be fine temporarily?

 

[Magnum Man]

I've never had pea puffers before... I get they are smaller, but they would nip fins on other tank mates??? or plants

if so, I might be hesitant to add it to any of the existing tanks... think I would leave him home & try to decorate around him, or drop him into a smaller temporary home ( even a canning jar??? ) while you get his home in shape... I think he was already stressed enough going through the filter, that home during some rearranging shouldn't be much more stress... that & if he was already stressed & or slightly injured, you would hate to have him get sick, in one of your other established tanks

 

[Wills]

hmmmm tough one, I'm tempted to say the shell dweller tank is possibly a good option - dwarf puffers do well in hard water, the cichlids will stand up to an equally intelligent fish and have the shells to hide in if things get rough. Its also the biggest tank with the least amount of fish in, probably one to think about?

Wills

 

[Rocky998]

hmmmm tough one, I'm tempted to say the shell dweller tank is possibly a good option - dwarf puffers do well in hard water, the cichlids will stand up to an equally intelligent fish and have the shells to hide in if things get rough. Its also the biggest tank with the least amount of fish in, probably one to think about?

Wills

Exactly my thought as well...

 

[Endlersendlers]

hmmmm tough one, I'm tempted to say the shell dweller tank is possibly a good option - dwarf puffers do well in hard water, the cichlids will stand up to an equally intelligent fish and have the shells to hide in if things get rough. Its also the biggest tank with the least amount of fish in, probably one to think about?

Wills

While I agree with the choice from available options, I feel inclined to ask if a shell would be a safe place to hide from a pea puffer, since this is where they usually find dinner? Might a temporary container alone be better for a few hours until enough is replaced in the tank to put him back?

 

[Endlersendlers]

Do you have a breeder box you can put in the shell dweller tank to hold him?

 

[Rocky998]

While I agree with the choice from available options, I feel inclined to ask if a shell would be a safe place to hide from a pea puffer, since this is where they usually find dinner? Might a temporary container alone be better for a few hours until enough is replaced in the tank to put him back?

"Ooo, these shells have a different dinner than most, yum"

 

[Wills]

While I agree with the choice from available options, I feel inclined to ask if a shell would be a safe place to hide from a pea puffer, since this is where they usually find dinner? Might a temporary container alone be better for a few hours until enough is replaced in the tank to put him back?

Its a good point I hadn't thought of but the snails the dwarf puffers eat are tiny - a little bigger than their eye so a shell that big would just be like a cave to them.

 

[Back in the fold]

Stick him in with the Killies . They are a surface fish and from what I know of puffers they’re not . The plants hide everybody from each other and if the puffer does decide to chase the Killies they can outrun him .

 

[connorlindeman]

hmmmm tough one, I'm tempted to say the shell dweller tank is possibly a good option - dwarf puffers do well in hard water, the cichlids will stand up to an equally intelligent fish and have the shells to hide in if things get rough. Its also the biggest tank with the least amount of fish in, probably one to think about?

Wills

That is likely the best option. There are plenty of little snails in there, so it should be happy enough to leave the cichlids alone.

While I agree with the choice from available options, I feel inclined to ask if a shell would be a safe place to hide from a pea puffer, since this is where they usually find dinner? Might a temporary container alone be better for a few hours until enough is replaced in the tank to put him back?

Do you have a breeder box you can put in the shell dweller tank to hold him?

The cichlids are a bit larger than the puffer, so I think they should be ok...

I was planning on trying out the dry start method with the tank. That would take about a month and a half.

Stick him in with the Killies . They are a surface fish and from what I know of puffers they’re not . The plants hide everybody from each other and if the puffer does decide to chase the Killies they can outrun him .

That's a possibility, but I would hate for it to go after all the little baby shrimp I've got in there...