Do dwarf puffers have to eat live food?

[OrkyBetta]

Well, I have decided to return my two guppies as I haven't had much luck with them. I had an idea of what to do with my cycled 10 gallon, put a dp in it. Well, my idea is as such, divide it so one side has 4 gallons and the other 6, put my male betta who is currently living in a one gallon into the 4 gal side, and a dwarf puffer in the 6 gallon side, since I know DP's need a good ammount of room.

Is this idea any good, or is it rubbish? And, do dp's have to eat live food, or can they eat other things? For that matter, what do you feed them?

Edit, I have frozen bloodworms and frozen brine shrimp, would this work for food?

 

[fishwatcher]

I tried this exact thing. It worked just fine until one of the DPs got through a tiny crack between the tank and the divider. Luckily I caught him in the act, so no damage was done. I kept the water about an inch below the top of the divider too to prevent any jumping. Since then though I've had a pair of DPs in the tank by themselves. They seemed to do fine so that's how I personally would do it from now on. Or either glue the divider in place so I know there would be no openings.
That's just my experience though. As lond as you keep a VERY close eye on it, they should be ok. Just put lots of full plants against the divider to keep them seeing each other all the time, and make sure there are NO cracks to get through.
Good luck!!

Edit: Mine ate frozen bloodworms and lots of baby snails. Actually I had a very hard time getting the female to eat after the snails bc she wanted just live food then. She got very skinny and I returned her. I was afraid I didn't know what I was doing and was killing her. If you make sure what the store feeds them before you buy, just feed the m the say thing and the same way. If you have a source of live bloodworms, try that. But just know they get very spoiled very easy on live foods.
Don't let this discourage you though... I'm sure you'll do fine with them!

 

[pica_nuttalli]

If you can live with a single puffer in an undivided tank, get your LFS to order you a Colomesus Asellus. They're a little bigger than a dwarf and a lot easier to feed. You do wind up trimming their teeth if they don't eat enough hard things, but that's more nerve-racking than difficult. Mine's actually got his teeth under control at the moment; I'm not positive on why, but I have my suspicions .

oh and FYI: tanks will uncycle if left unoccupied too long! try to avoid this by waiting to return the guppies until the day you get your other fish.

 

[OrkyBetta]

The guppies are still in the tank. Way ahead of ya, don't worry I learned the hard way about uncycling.

So, wait I'm sorry I didn't understand a bit of your post, could you try re wording? On a few sites it said DP's can live in anything over 5 gallons, no other fish in the tank, and be fed with frozen bloodworms as staple diet, with brine shrimp and little pond snails as additives.

Edited, posted before I wanted to, really. Yeah, the divider scared me too, I would definitely seal it off. I make these little things out of craft canvas that lay underneath the light hood and on top of the dividers, and this does a good job of keeping things from jumping.

 

[fishwatcher]

I've been told/read that DPs need about 3 gallons per fish, so you can add a pair to a 10-gal and it should be fine. Mine got along fine... the female was a little bossy, but as long as there are plenty of plants... no problem. I've also read/been told that otos do ok with the DPs. But if you're dividing it I'd do just 1 DP. That way you know you won't have any problem. I think pica_nuttalli was just saying that you could get a little larger puffer if you are willing to not divide the tank.
Let us know when you make the switch... they are cute little buggers!

 

[OrkyBetta]

Thanks. I'm still thinking about it but I hope I can keep up with the DPs. I would love to not divide it, but one of my bettas is in a one gallon to clear up some finrot I bought him with, and I don't think it is fair for him to live his life in a one gallon because he is a big fish. So I thought I'd make sure I reserved at least half of that tank for him. But if it isn't good to keep a puffer in a small space, I won't. But since it seems to be ok, maybe I'll look into it. Thanks.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

fishwatcher got it right. i was just suggesting the Asell's puffer because they're a little easier to keep in terms of feeding and whatnot.

 

[OrkyBetta]

Hey, update, I am going to wait a bit on the DP's. Since I decided I wanted to dedicate a good 10 gallons to them, and have 2 in there, that seems a lot better suited than a divided tank. But thank you very much, and when I can afford another 10 gallon, I will come back here for advice.