Considering A Puffer

[Styx]

So, I’ve been thinking of getting a puffer for a puffer tank for a while now, but I’ve been stayed by websites and people saying how sensitive and difficult to care for they are. So, I’d like some opinions on how hard they are to keep. Can they ever be gotten to accept a pellet of flake of some kind or am I doomed to feed them only frozen and live food? Can they eat blackworms okay? Blackworms cause a lot of problems and even death in betta fish, is it the same way with puffers?

These are the puffers I was considering getting for a 10 gallon puffer only tank:
Dunno how many of these:
http/www.pufferlist.com/puffer/freshpuff.php?puffid=3

One of these:
http/www.pufferlist.com/puffer/freshpuff.php?puffid=5

One female:
http/www.pufferlist.com/puffer/freshpuff.php?puffid=2

Or lastly a pair of these:
http/www.pufferlist.com/puffer/freshpuff.php?puffid=1

It would only be one species per tank (so if I decided to get the second one down, it would only be that single puffer in that tank). I hate dither fish and only own bettas, and I don’t think they two would mix. X3 So, just the puffer in the tank.

What sort of filter should I get? Would one of those whisper 5-15 filter work, or something more powerful? I’m super nervous about the ammonia thing.

Now, I’m in Utah and the PH is sometimes as freakishly high as 8.5! Would these puffers be okay in just the tap water with conditioner or would I need to alter it for the puffer in order for it not to die?

And… I think that’s it. The more I think about it, the more I want a puffer, but not at the expense of the puffer’s life or health.

 

[SirMinion]

For a 10 gallon tank, a pair of Carinotetraodon travancoricus (Dwarf Puffers) would be fine but no more than two.

The alternative is a single fish of the irrubesco or lorteti species but they're harder to find and generally harder to keep.

To my knowledge no species of puffer can be reliably fed on processed foods such as flake or pellets and will always demand fresh, frozen and live foods such as bloodworm, daphnia, brineshimp, chopped prawm, chopped mussel, chopper earthworm etc.

For dwarf puffers the tank should be well lit, strongly filtered with either a hang-on-back, internal or cannister filter which outputs a medium current. Dwarfs like water movement.

They prefer sand to gravel and like hiding places and tall plants. In the wild they live in the overgrown edges of riverbanks so try to aim for that sort of feel.

In a 10 gallon tank there's not really room for other species tankmates and there are very few compatable species anyway. Adult dwarf puffers can and will kill fish up to several times their size.

At 8.5, your pH is indeed high, however most fish can adapt if done slowly. Trying to change the pH with chemicals can often cause more harm than good. Some bogwood in the tank will help take the edge off.

The more I think about it, the more I want a puffer, but not at the expense of the puffer’s life or health.

I like your attitude!

 

[Styx]

How are they harder to keep?

That's what I thought. Could I feed them chopped tiger shrimp?

I didn't want to put anything with a puffer anyway. :3

Thanks, I was hoping they could handle it. I don't use chemicals, they're expensive and a pain. But I will try to get ahold of some wood.

LOL, doesn't help that my friend is pressuring me into getting a puffer! She's like, "Get a puffer! Do it, right now, you NEED a puffer!" And I respond, "I dunno..."

 

[Fella]

It's worth noting that one of the big attractions to puffers is to see them puff up, something which happens very, very rarely, and should not be encouraged with force. Puffing up is a defence mechanism and something that shouldn't be done on demand.


As for feeding puffers, I feed my dwarfs live daphnia, live bloodworm, snails, and frozen foods. They prefer the live by far (and its very cute to see them hunt them!) and snails are something some people would encourage you to feed them in order to trim their teeth, but in dwarfs it's not too important IMO.

8.5 isn't too bad a PH for dwarf puffers either, they prefer a higher PH, up to around 8.3. Like Sir Minion says though, bogwood would be a good idea all the same.

Other factors which make puffers difficult to care for are things like, medicines. Puffers will not tolerate a lot of medicines so treating them is difficult, if not impossible. They also cannot be lifted out of the water, if they panic and inflate, they will inhale air, and that is almost always fatal for them. They also will not tolerate Ammonia or Nitrite, so it's very important to keep water conditions perfect, and make sure they're only entered into a cycled aquarium.

They're very rewarding to keep though!

 

[bogwood]

I have 1 Dwarf Puffer in a 5UKG... my PH is also high at '8' but the DP seems happy enough... make sure your tank is heavily planted, with rocks, wood providing an interesting habitat to keep bordom at bay... I also have an Otto in there for cleaning duties (DPs are messy eaters)... he hasn't been spotted by the DP... yet... foodwise: frozen bloodworm, live brine shrimp, mussels and prawn... and live small Ramshorn snails (from my other tank)... pellets and flake are looked at with disgust!!...

 

[nmonks]

Hello --

If you have a high pH, then possibly one or other of the brackish water puffers might be an option. They will thrive in alkaline water, provided you add some salt as well. The figure-8 puffer is a good size, possibly not for a 10 gallon tank, but certainly for a 20 gallon one. If you are keeping just one specimen and no tankmates, then even some of the brackish water species of Auriglobus and Chonerhinos puffers might be an option. They're nasty as heck, but fun to watch.

Fella's comment about medicines was an interesting one. I'd not heard that before, but I'm certainly aware of other fish (mormyrids, 'freshwater' morays) that react badly to copper-based medicines. I keep a South American puffer in a community tank for a year or so, and it has not been harmed by my use of the Interpet brand whitespot and fin-rot potions, Octozin, or the eSHa Exit whitespot potion.

I agree with SirMinion about food. While no puffer I've ever kept has had any interest in dried pellets or flake, they invariably take frozen prawns and mussels, both of which can be bought cheaply in bulk (e.g. from Asian food markets) and used as required. Snails and shellfish generally are important for wearing down the teeth. Smaller species should probably not be fed Malayan livebearing snails, according to some experts because they are too tough to break open easily (my South American merely ignores them).

Live foods of any time have the risk of introducing parasites, and that is why it is always best to use gamma-irradiated frozen foods or foods manufacturer for human consumption. I can't think why blackworms are a particular problem, but if you think they are, then don't use them. Some puffers are addicted to insect larvae (South American puffers for example) while others much prefer crustaceans.

While bogwood is right to point out that puffers can be messy and there are catfish that get along with them, I'd modify that somewhat by saying that no catfish, loach, or whatever truly "cleans up" the aquaria. All add to biological load, increasing the amount of nitrate, and making you perform more frequent water changes. Certainly add catfish if you want to, but for a clean tank, it is far better to remove uneaten food yourself within 5 to 10 minutes of feeding time.

I'd heartily recommend picking up a book on puffers before buying. There's a very nice little volume by Chris Ralph that might have its flaws but at 4 UKP (~ 7 USD) is a steal. Probably a better book in terms of depth is the Aqualog puffer book, but it is much more expensive. You can get both on Amazon.

Pufferfish, by Chris Ralph, published by Interpet, 2003, ISBN 1860542336

The puffers of fresh and brackish waters, by Klaus Ebert, published by Aqualog Verlag, 2001, ISBN 3-931702-60-X

Cheers,

Neale

 

[Fella]

Fella's comment about medicines was an interesting one. I'd not heard that before, but I'm certainly aware of other fish (mormyrids, 'freshwater' morays) that react badly to copper-based medicines. I keep a South American puffer in a community tank for a year or so, and it has not been harmed by my use of the Interpet brand whitespot and fin-rot potions, Octozin, or the eSHa Exit whitespot potion.

Copper based medicine is what is said to be the danger as far as I'm aware. I lost my SAP when I contracted ich in one of my tanks, and while the treatment was effective on all other inhabitants (including ottos, said to be tricky to keep alive) the puffer died. I obviously can't be sure of whether this was because of the copper medicine (I learned since treatment that it's not recommended for puffers) but it could well have played a factor. When I explained the passing on of the SAP to a local LFS worker (Sean Evans, who keeps puffers himself and contributes to PFK) he also mentioned copper to be a factor in successful treatment of puffer illnesses.

Obviously though, it's clearly not cut and dry as Neale has treated with no harmful side effects!

Craig

 

[Styx]

Fella, oh no. I read that puffing can even kill a puffer because they can't breathe properly. I think if a puffer I had puffed, I'd just about have a heart attack.

So, if anything happened, would a safer medication be I use for my betta fry and nothing copper based?

nmonks, thanks a lot. I'll go see about those books now! :3

 

[Seidge]

Fella, oh no. I read that puffing can even kill a puffer because they can't breathe properly. I think if a puffer I had puffed, I'd just about have a heart attack.

So, if anything happened, would a safer medication be I use for my betta fry and nothing copper based?

nmonks, thanks a lot. I'll go see about those books now! :3

Isn't this only if it puffs up out of the water? I think this is why you should never net a puffer and make it leave the water as if it breathes air it will die.

 

[Fella]

Fella, oh no. I read that puffing can even kill a puffer because they can't breathe properly. I think if a puffer I had puffed, I'd just about have a heart attack.

So, if anything happened, would a safer medication be I use for my betta fry and nothing copper based?

nmonks, thanks a lot. I'll go see about those books now! :3

Isn't this only if it puffs up out of the water? I think this is why you should never net a puffer and make it leave the water as if it breathes air it will die.

It's a defence mechanism, so puffers typically only do it when under extreme stress and as a last mode of defense, so probably not conducive to it's health in or out of water. Out of water though, yes, it will swallow air and it's often difficult to release it.

 

[Styx]

How do they handle tempature fluctuation? Are they really sensative to it? Like, say I was changing their water and I, for some reason, got the temp a little off, would that be really harmful to them?