Dwarf puffer tank, a few questions...

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GrantA94

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 12, 2011
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cumbria
Ok, so I have never really ventured into puffers, other than when I was sold a GSP as a freshwater (was returned on the same, once I did my homework - I was new to the hobby...).

Anyway, I would really like to start with something small and slowly work my way up. After seeing some of these at my lfs I decided to bite the bullet. I disregarded them because of their size - I didn't see them having personality - but boy was I wrong!

So, I have ordered a tank which is 27litres, a 30cm cube. I am under the impression this is okay for one puffer? I only want the one as a solo wet pet kinda thing. My plan is to keep it alone with some shrimp possibly? If so, it'll either be cherry or amano? Which is best? The tank will be planted, with some driftwood and rocks, and a sand substrate.

Foods: do these guys accept blood and blackworms? Small amounts of fresh fish as a treat? Along with the snails for their teeth?

I plan on heavily filtering the tank, but with the size w/c's should be no problem. As I read all puffers are messy eaters.

Also, which in your opinion is the better gender? Both to look at and for personality? Or isn't there really a noticable difference?

So to summarise:
Is 27litres okay for one puffer?
Are they okay to be kept alone?
Which shrimps if any are good?
What foods are best?
Which gender is better?

I know I'm asking a lot of Q's. But I would rather not go into this blind and have another GSP incedent...

And you all know how unreliable the web is.

Thankyou in advance :)
 
Hi, so your tank is about a 7gallon one this will be perfect for a solo dp tank. Since its solo either male or female will work, you don't need snails for their teeth because they dont seem to have the same problem as other puffers. You also don't need live fish, black worm and blood worms are fine. Any shrimp will work but just be prepared to lose a few to the puffer as a snack, they may or may not be aggressive toward them depending on the individual puffer.

50% wc's a week minimum and over filtration of 10x the gallon per hour of turn over rate, so for example if you had a 30g tank you would want enough filters on there to turn over 300gallons of water per hour.


They also appreciate an over planted tank, but don't mind if its plastic or real.
 
puffykid said:
Hi, so your tank is about a 7gallon one this will be perfect for a solo dp tank. Since its solo either male or female will work, you don't need snails for their teeth because they dont seem to have the same problem as other puffers. You also don't need live fish, black worm and blood worms are fine. Any shrimp will work but just be prepared to lose a few to the puffer as a snack, they may or may not be aggressive toward them depending on the individual puffer.

50% wc's a week minimum and over filtration of 10x the gallon per hour of turn over rate, so for example if you had a 30g tank you would want enough filters on there to turn over 300gallons of water per hour.


They also appreciate an over planted tank, but don't mind if its plastic or real.
Click to expand...

So you're saying I need an fx5 for this tank? Im just kidding, over filtration is a must.

Would you advise adding the puffer after shrimp? Allowing them to get established prior to percy going in?

Decker504 said:
My girlfriend keeps dwarf puffers in her fluval chi. They seems to love frozen bloodworms and brine. Some have been picky eaters though. They do tend to nip fins of tankmates.

From DJ/MC Decker
Click to expand...

How many does she have? What size is the chi?

They kinda seem like a girlfriend fish, my girlfriend loves them. I was told no more tanks, but a puffer tank is okay...
 
I love the look of galaxy rasboras, could I add a few to the setup? or would that be too much?
 
How about 2-3 puffers? yes, no? I have seen/heard they are quite sociable (provided there is only one male), which stops them from becoming bored...
 
2 in a 5g may work for a while, but dwarfs like most puffers do better long term in species only tank, and also appreciate 5g each. Add the dwarfs after the shrimp, if you add the puffers first they will probably think the shrimp are food and attempt to eat.
 
So a male and a female in a 7g should/could be okay? With lots of deco to break the lines of sight...
 
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