Dawrf puffer

[mattbeau]

I know what every one is saying OMG you cant do that!
But wait, hear me out.

and this is by no means a solution fix or advice

I figured I'd try him out in the community, I felt the single 6 gallon wasnt big enough for him and the snails were getting way out of hand in the community, I was starting to see ammonia from the population boom and I was removing about 15 per day in addition to what i was feeding him so I removed a section of regular good old gravel out of the community tank (about 1/4th) and replaced it with black moon sand, rearranged the furniture in the community, left the Dwarf gaurami nest intact, and moved the DP from the puffer tank (the right way) to the community along with some of his furnature, I then moved the two coryadoras from the community to the puffer tank (which i will probably be donating to the neigbor).

The DP is actually quite timid, when he first entered the tank the female honey dwarf kept "fealing" him up and he really didnt react to it at all as he was so pre-occupied with the abundance of snails, he generally stays where the sand is (on the opposite side of the guarami nest) the male gaurami is so pre-occupied on establishing a nice bubble nest that he rarely leaves it. When the DP approached the gauarmi nest the male chased him away with his "fealers", he hasnt gone back yet.

The neons seem to be able to wander from side to side with out any problems from both the gauramis' and DP's zones and apeare comfortable as they dont really shoal tightly at all

and finally the Oto's as always arent bothered from anyone.

the DP seems pretty happy as within hours of the move he was wandering about his tail fin expanding from time to time.

now current stock list in community

2 Honey Dwarf Gauramis
5 Neon Tetras
3 Otociclids
1 Dwarf Puffer

It will be staying this way as it seems stable and dont want to throw anything out of wack even though I'm well under the In. per gallon rule.
and of course I will be keeping an eye on everyone and at the first sign of trouble he can go back.

 

[Betta*b*Happy!]

I keep my DP in community with no probs.

Then again some others rip all other fish streight up.

I personally support your idea provided you do like you say and keep a close eye on him and keep his tank on standby.

It's not like you have run out bought one and stuck it streight in with other fish!

GL

 

[pica_nuttalli]

how old is your dwarf? this info gets thrown around here a lot, but dwarf puffers get exponentially more aggressive once they hit sexual maturity. and have you seen Sir Minion's rummynose carcass? that happened overnight to the entire school.

adult dwarf puffers are not community fish. they are small but they are not gentle. it may be "working" at the moment, but six months from now you could have an expensive tragedy for a tank. keep hold of that six gallon until this time next year; you're probably going to need it.

but it's your tank and we all have to make our own choices. so, to address your other issues...

if your community tank has an overabundance of snails, then you're feeding too much. cut down on feedings and the snails will slow down reproduction, leading to population decrease.

an easy way to control ammonia levels is to add live plants. do you have any floating/surface plants like duckweed, cambomba, hornwort or lillies? most gouramis and other surface nesters like those sorts of plants anyways because they create still spots on the water's surface. these sorts of plants are also very efficient at removing excess nutrients from the water column.

--EDIT--
No stocking arrangement is a success until it has run with no deaths, maimings, or illnesses for at least six months. It is not appropriate to call a tank a "sucess" or to recommend a set-up to others until that marker has been reached. This is especially true of combinations that have been regularly proven disastrous in the past!

 

[Francis]

Hi,

I agree with the above. But puffers seem to vary individually so keep a close eye.

Francis.

 

[Fella]

I agree with Pica. This sounds like running downstairs with scissors to me. It might work out great, but inevitably a disaster will occur.

I'd love to see the rummynose school carcass photos though. is that sick? Not because it's cool, but because I think it would make a good point.

 

[mattbeau]

Thanks pica, Frances and fella.



He's full grown, prominant black stripe on his belly,

I have an abundance of anacharis, probably about 15 plants all together, plus 5 fakies 4 different hiding holes via ornaments

I had to make a custom floating plant setup as I have a strong current at the surface because of my two penguin 150's viewed here

The problem with feeding isnt a matter of the quantity of food but rather the type of food for the various types of fish.

Coryadoris -flakes, shrimp pelletes, blood worms, algea tabs
Otos -shrimp pellets, algea tabs
gauramis -flakes shrimp pelletes, algea tabs, blood worms
neons- flakes, blood worms


so I have an interesting feeding arrangement

I understand that it would take a while before I will actually know things are safe.


and by no means is this advice for anyone, every tank is different and every personality is different.

I want to try it as a fix for my snail explosion and is still considered temporory. and if this will work it would be ideal, as the snail population can stay under control, the puffer should stay well fed, and should help prevent fin nipping
(in theory)

 

[SirMinion]

how old is your dwarf?  this info gets thrown around here a lot, but dwarf puffers get exponentially more aggressive once they hit sexual maturity.  and have you seen Sir Minion's rummynose carcass?  that happened overnight to the entire school.

[snapback]881154[/snapback]​

Yep, once again, this picture gets dragged out.

A school of tetras happily co-habiting with four dwarf puffers for several months then this happened to the whole school overnight one night.

puffers are not community fish

One day you WILL start losing neons and your gourami WILL get trimmed.

 

[Fella]

Point made.

I doubt even my cat could do that.

 

[mattbeau]

Thanks Sir Minion





I've been observing the tank through out the day, and instead of my puffer going psycho, my Male gauramis lost his mind and is chasing my neons all over the place.

I'm afraid he is going to make a mistake he'll regret so

tada

puffers going back into his little home

thanks everyone for your concern and advice

snails are cleaned up though

 

[mattbeau]

Ok all is restored back to normal

The male gauramis is acting "friendlier" to my neons

That was so wierd though.

I wonder if the male knew my dp might be trouble and was displaying agression to the neons (this is my house ) in a passive aggressive mannor while trying to avoid confrontation with the DP

either way i think i might be upgrading my community to a larger tank so i can give my DP a bigger tank and perhapse a few of his own kind

 

[J-Money]

generally when do dp's hit sexual maturity? I've had my 5 in a community tank for almost a year now with a few guppies, a school of tigerbarbs and a couple of plecos with no problems

 

[mattbeau]

The male belly will develop a black stripe which becomes really prominant during breeding season