Stocking Ideas?

[jennybugs]

Overfiltering is a must with puffer tanks, along with big weekly water changes. They are meaty eaters and poop for medals...even these little guys! they are scaleless so are susceptible to ammonia and nitrites so much more than scaled fish.
They also need lots of plants in to break up the line of sight and stop aggression as they grow and reach sexual maturity. You need jungle like conditions really as they grow into feisty little torpedos

 

[puffer duffer]

Overfiltering is a must with puffer tanks, along with big weekly water changes. They are meaty eaters and poop for medals...even these little guys! they are scaleless so are susceptible to ammonia and nitrites so much more than scaled fish.
They also need lots of plants in to break up the line of sight and stop aggression as they grow and reach sexual maturity. You need jungle like conditions really as they grow into feisty little torpedos

i have ordered another small filter i hope its not to loud,ive also got some ramshorn snails coming soon from a friend i dont think sunken belly is going to make it shes just floating round the tank and drifting in the flow when i got her a couple of days ago she was doing the same in the bag before i put her in the tank i thought it was because she was stressed but i think she may of had worms for awhile once i know there eating properly im going to plant the tank alot more but at the moment i need to be able to see them eat and check on sunken belly.

 

[jennybugs]

Wormer plus acts fast so I'd give it a go. it's worth trying to save the unhappy one!

 

[puffer duffer]

Wormer plus acts fast so I'd give it a go. it's worth trying to save the unhappy one!

ok i will get someone to get it 2morrow,lfs has sold out so need someone who drives argh its so frustrating when you cant drive

 

[puffer duffer]

disaster!heater has broken,woke up last night and saw light was on heater flashing red (fluval e series)looked at temp and yeah the heater had stuck on,water very hot sadly sunken belly didnt make it other two seem ok but without heater half the night temp has gone right down i have to go to hospital today and it could take all day (good old nhs)so im going to put them in community tank with dwarf neons,neon tetra,white clouds,hatchetts,corys,bristlenose pl a very small angel and a female fighter.........am i going to come home to dead puffs or dead anything? anyone with advice??? i have to go in about an hour,help please

 

[jennybugs]

You will be taking a chance putting the DPs in the community tank unless you can section an area off for them. Do you have a breeding net they can go in? Tat would be kinder all round really. I've had aheater go on me like that and it is so annoying. I had a spare heater (always a very good idea to have) so was ok.

Sorry the little sunken bellied one didn't make it.
I guess I haven't caught you before you had to go

PS afaik you can't buy wormer plus at any old shop. It's manufactured by Plymouth Discus. I buy mine online.

 

[puffer duffer]

hi got 5 mins before taxi here,no i dont have breeding trap or partition,getting wormer plus from devotedly discus at weekend,is it puffs or other fish i need to worry about?? thanks for all your help.

 

[jennybugs]

Both tbh. Mainly the puffs though. You have to remember you won't be able to acclimatise them properly either!!

Maybe wrap their tank in a duvet/bubble wrap/blankets to preserve the heat loss is the better idea, still allowing for air cirulation at the top.

 

[puffer duffer]

Both tbh. Mainly the puffs though. You have to remember you won't be able to acclimatise them properly either!!

Maybe wrap their tank in a duvet/bubble wrap/blankets to preserve the heat loss is the better idea, still allowing for air cirulation at the top.

i have had them in a bag in com since this morning and have added water slowly over about half an hour there now in and taxi should be here any minute......oh the joys lol hope i dont come back to dead fish

 

[jennybugs]

Good luck

When you buy a new heater, buy yourself a spare too!

 

[puffer duffer]

well got to hospital just to be told the consultant was of sick! very annoying!anyway got taxi man to wait while i went to get heaters (took your advice and got 2)came back took all fake coral out and added wood ornament with lots of nooks and crannys for java fern (its probably only plant that will survive,the light is only 11watt)looked in community tank for puffs and couldnt see them for awhile...until male puff comes wizzing by closely followed by female and then female fighter who was trying to eat them they are both safely back in there tank they practically jumped into the glass i used to move them so if anybody is reading this and thinking of putting dwarf puffers in a community tank,i really wouldnt recommend it thanks for help jenny bugs ive got a small filter on the way and lots of plants and snails (yeah i had to resort to buying snails lol)im going to soak and rinse plants well, as ive learnt from experiance what happens if you add plants straight away to a shrimp tank (shrimp go nuts,50,000000000 water changes until they calmed down)

 

[puffer duffer]

jenny bugs i have a pic of puffer tank in pic section called my tanks,puffer tank with coral and last pic is as it is now,let me know what you think

 

[jennybugs]

I'm only too happy to pass on my experiences to you

Glad you've got them back in the tank and the heater sorted!

The tank is great. I like the wood there and the dark substrate. Try some anubias tied to bogwood too. that's a low light plant. Get as many plants as you can tied to the bogwood ornament so you can hardly see the branches.
Another great plant to break up the floorspace is moss balls. Chuck as many as you dare in the tank as they are great for soaking up those nitrates
You're on the right track now...just need to jungalise it

Your other tanks look really nice too

 

[puffer duffer]

thanks jenny,the puffs still dont seem to be eating!saw one try to get a trumpet snail out of its shell but failed (i must of missed a few )i have tried the pippette idea but no joy,im getting live blood worm and wormer plus tommorrow and snails should come soon,im getting really worried as they just seem to be getting skinny,one is def a male he has lots of wrinkles and lovely blue spots but the more i look im starting to think the other one might be a late bloomer seems to have a wrinkle but it could be the gill im getting too obsessed with these little guys...as for planting you read my mind!ive ordered anubis to tie and anubis on a stone,java moss and java fern on a terricota stick,java fern to tie and have 1 moss ball already and getting more tommorrow . they follow eachother everywhere and no signs of aggresion yet where the one i know is male attacked poor sunken belly when he/she was alive,is this a good sign that i might be lucky enough to have a male and female?

 

[jennybugs]

Fish tend to attack weaker ones from what I can gather so that may have been a dominance thing.

Have you tried soaking the frozen foodin garlic juice before feeding?

It's not unusual for puffs to take a while to settle in to a new tank and start eating. I am hopeful you'll see a difference with the live worms