kj fishy-finn;2176739; said:
What do you mean by: "it's really not even close"?
1) All-Glass Aquarium 5 -> Good shape for a small aquarium, but the filtration system leaves a bit to be desired IMO. The filter that comes with it does mechanical and chemical, but doesn't even make an attempt at biological. Also, it uses suction cups to mount to the side of the aquarium. Maybe your experiences are better than mine with suction cups and plexi, but they're more trouble than they're worth (especially in a small aquarium - with a decent amount of evaporation going on, they'll be out of the water as much as they are in it and that just makes things worse).
2) Marineland Eclipse Hex 5 --> Poor shape for any aquarium (unless they're huge, then the problem can be lessened). In an aquarium this size and shape, there's a severe lack of surface area to volume of water. A short, wide aquarium (with the same volume as a tall, narrow aquarium) will have a larger carrying capacity due to its greater gas exchange ability (toxins leaving, oxygen entering). In a single fish set-up, you're not as worried about carrying capacity as you are about water-quality, and with a larger surface-to-air ratio you'll be set up better to succeed with a fish that requires excellent water quality.
3) Marineland Eclipse System 6 --> If you've read the above summaries, you can probably guess why I like this one the best. Good shape and better filtration set-up top the list. Plus, with only six gallons of water volume to work with, the more room inside the aquarium that I can get, the happier I'll be. All of the filtration is up and out of the water and inside of the hood. Personally, I also like the looks of this one more - seems less like a "toy aquarium" than most marketed at this size.
The general rule with aquariums is to buy the largest set-up you can afford (no need to tell anyone on this site that!) and then go from there. It's even more important when you're considering aquariums of this small nature.
kj fishy-finn;2176739; said:
Is it true that when you are transferring a Dwarf Puffer that you need to keep them in water so that they don't get stressed and inflate themselves?
That's true when you're transferring ANY puffer. It's not the inflation in and of itself that you're worried about though - it's the inflation with AIR that's the problem. The puffer will have difficulty expelling the ingested air, which is usually lethal (or at the VERY least can cause buoyancy problems).
My friend's 12" fahaka recently died this way during a move. He had done everything right - didn't pull him entirely out of the water at any point in time or anything. Unfortunately, the transfer container he used was larger than necessary and he didn't fill up high enough before putting the lid on. From what his girlfriend told me, when their car went over some tracks, the water sloshed. This scared the puffer enough to inflate and it ingested air as the water was splashing around. He didn't make it through the night...
That's not to say that this kind of thing happens often, but it happens. Just take extra care when transferring your puffer.
