Puffers

myenigmaself · Mar 30, 2004

I just added some apple snails to the tank (rather large compared to the puffers) to see if the puffers would eat them. The puffers are trying. The snails can't even poke out of their shells without being stalked! Here's some of the battle damage on the outside of one of the shells - them puffers have got quite a bite :flex:

myenigmaself · Mar 30, 2004

Free water swimming!

myenigmaself · Mar 30, 2004

Hmmmm... what do we have here?

myenigmaself · Mar 30, 2004

Looks like lunch!!

myenigmaself · Mar 30, 2004

Mmmm.... escargot!

myenigmaself · Mar 30, 2004

Moving in for the kill

myenigmaself · Mar 30, 2004

And I'm spent...

-Chewy- · Mar 30, 2004

oh man, dwarf puffers are SO cute. i think i m gonna buy a few... are they brackish?
oh yea, i got another question, at the lfs, their dwarf puffers's tail is always clamped up - exactly like the 4th picture. does it mean that are signs of stress or is it just characteristics?

-Chewy-

myenigmaself · Mar 30, 2004

These dwarf puffers are 100% fresh water, not brackish. Check out www.dwarf puffers.com for more information. As for your question about their tails, I've read that it can be a sign of stress but I think it might just be a general characteristic as well. My puffers tails are almost always not fanning and are almost always curled in which ever direction they are turning. Mine tend fan their tails when they get in little arguments or when they're darting after some food. Sometimes they fan them when they're resting. I can't really get any patterns down, but I think probably about 70% of the time the tails are not fanned. Maybe I'm just a bad poppa with bad water conditions, but I don't think so. Does anyone else have any experience with this?

Sang72 · Mar 31, 2004

Dyam, that puffer is like 1/4 the size of the snail.

My roommate had a puffer, and when it got sick, it's tail stayed curled. He has a new one now and it normally swims tail straight unless it's turning. However I did notice that when I do things like open the lid to feed or bump the tank, his tail will curl for a second, then straighten out again. Sooo, I think that a little tail curling is normal, but if the tail stays curled all the time it is stress.

I want a puffer sooooooooooo bad, but I can't keep one in my tank with the corys, and especially my gouramis.

Can I keep a dwarf puffer in a 3 gallon tank, like this one??

http

/www.petco.com/product_info.asp?fami...2D+Acrylic&ct3=

I already have a spare 25W heater....please please please say yes.

myenigmaself · Mar 31, 2004

Sure, but just note that that's about as small as you would want to go. If you keep the tank very heavily planted you might get away with two in there, but I would stick with one. Good luck!

bulldog188 · Mar 31, 2004

yep would really stick with one in a tank that small

fozzy_wozzy_woo · Mar 31, 2004

when do they puff up...

myenigmaself · Mar 31, 2004

Mine have never puffed up, and I've only heard a couple accounts of the dwarf puffers puffing. I'm not sure if it's because they're fearless, or that they're just so tiny that it's hard to notice them puffing. They do get pretty huge bellies when they eat though!

myenigmaself · Apr 20, 2004

I've done some reading and a lot of watching my puffers and the puffers in the lfs. My conclusion is this. I think the tails generally stay straight when the fish are healthy (and not turning). However, their tails seem to fan when they are stressed or in attack mode (attacking other puffers or food). My puffers tails fan right when they're about to strike a snail. In the fish store there are way too many puffers in too small of an area, and they almost constantly have their tails fanned and are all nipping at one another. It makes sense that they'd keep the fins fanned for larger surface area for a quick getaway. Please, someone correct me if I'm wrong about this!

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