Are Dwarf Puffer Hard To Look After

[samxx]

are dwarf puffer hard to look after

 

[love cichlids]

Dwarf puffers are easier since they are freshwater not saltwater like the GSP I have. They are territorial and you can get only a few in a well planted 10 gallon with a few caves to hide in.

 

[samxx]

can i find one in a 4 g
why do you have to have caves & plants in there

 

[Fella]

can i find one in a 4 g
why do you have to have caves & plants in there

You could be lucky and have 1 in a 4 gallon.

Things that make them tricky are

- territorial behaviour
- do not eat flake food
- will not tolerate the majority of tankmates
- cannot be removed from the water at any time
- IMO, require planted tanks in order to feel secure

Those factors, while they look small, can make them quite difficult to look after

 

[samxx]

territorial behaviour like what

what do they eat

 

[Fella]

territorial behaviour like what

Well, they are fin nippers, and in my tank with DPs in, each one has his own "patch" and when one of the others strays into his patch, he gives them a hard time, eg, he'll chase them, and threaten them. If it weren't a DP, and were a slow moving fish with long fins, I have no doubt he'd take a bite out of them.

what do they eat

Snails, Bloodworm, black worms, daphnia, brineshrimp.

 

[neilw_uk]

I have 2 DP's in a heavily planted 6 UK Gallon tank with a few caves. I would only recommend 1 in a 4 gallon with maybe 2 otto's. This seems to be a safe bet as the puffers don’t seem to bother them and they will keep things clean.

They are very messy eaters. I use Frozen Blood worm daily and once a week i pop down to the local fish shop and ask for some pesky snails that you find in the plants section. They go MAD for these little buggers!!!

If you can use sand as your substrate as the puffers prefer is and it’s a little easier to clean. You can get this from most fish shops. (Don’t get Play, Builders or Sea sand!!!)

Cheers,

Neil

 

[Alex_]

i thought play sand was safe

for fish tanks?

-Alex

 

[neilw_uk]

Some sand is ok, but they sometimes add chemicals to it.

If you can pay the extra £ or $ get it from the LFS. The quality is MUCH better then play sand and it looks much nicer!

 

[SJ2K]

Some sand is ok, but they sometimes add chemicals to it.

If you can pay the extra £ or $ get it from the LFS. The quality is MUCH better then play sand and it looks much nicer!

Sand is sand, alooot of people on here will dissagree with that statement. Play sand HAS to be safe as its for children and most people would say it looks just as nice so its your call, personly I wouldnt fork out for a product because its in a more expensive looking packet

 

[DarkEntity]

Play sand is safe, but i wouldnt ever use it again, i had a hell of a time with it a year or so ago.

 

[nmonks]

You need to be careful shopping for sand. I usually use smooth silica sand from the garden centre. That's about £3 for 25 kg. So price really isn't an issue. But silica sand is very pale. A lot of fish (most fish?) fade their colours when kept in tanks with bright substrates. Paying the extra for black aquarium sand can make a huge difference, especially with things like dwarf cichlids. Their colours are far more intense.

The things to avoid are sharp silica sand (usually sold in garden centres) and river sand that isn't lime free (unless you're keeping hard water/brackish water fish).

The other issue with sand is it needs A LOT of washing, and even then, it'll cloud up the aquarium for a few days. Filter-aid flocculants and lots of filter wool will help enormously here. After a week normally all the silt will be gone and the sand will be perfectly clean. Plants far prefer sand to gravel, as do most benthic fish. Midwater fish couldn't care less.

Cheers, Neale

Some sand is ok, but they sometimes add chemicals to it.
If you can pay the extra £ or $ get it from the LFS. The quality is MUCH better then play sand and it looks much nicer!

 

[jennybugs]

I have 3 DPs and I find them easy to look after as long as you keep up the maintenance on the tank weekly. As they are messy fish, they require 50% water change each week and over filtration to keep the water up to spec.

I feed mine on frozen or live bloodworm and the occasional mussel and they are all fit and healthy. Heavily planted tanks are a must to break up their line of sight, thus effectively reducing any aggression that may develop as they get older. They require some form of cae/hidey hole areas to call their own and for them to feel secure. My 3 each have their own section in the tank to guard and I don't get any scraps (although they are all still very young) as the tank is very heavily planted with plenty of rock formed caves for them to hide in.

All in all they are a very rewarding fish to keep