Dwarf Puffer Biotope...

[guppy_man]

Ok so im getting 4 dp's on monday (hopefully) i have to ring the shop owner monday morning to remind him to get them from the warehouse.

Anyway i want to make this look as natural as possible. Ive done some reading on their habitat and i have already got some of the plants that grow in the slow moving rivers they live in.

Hygrophila polysperma (Dwarf Hygrophila)
Microsorium pteropus (java fern)
Vesicularia dubyana (java moss)

But i also have a nice dwarf anubis growing nicely on a piece of wood im going to use, so even though that plant isnt from that area im going to make an acception

When i go to collect the dp's im going to see if he has some Vallisneria tortifolia (dwarf vallis), and also Cryptocoryne walkeri var. lutea.

I have some red lava rock which i may use, if not then ill get some rocks from my local river. My base substrate is going to be sand, but im going to mix some small brown coloured gravel in with it, and also im going to find some dead leaves to lay on the bottom to make it look even more natural. Im not sure if i want the brown tinge to the water yet, ill decide when its finished.

Btw the tank is 20gallons

Any other info would be much appreciated, any pics would be great too.

 

[ghent_3rd]

Thanks for posting this thread guppy_man, beat me to it, I am doing exactly the same thing as you but on a smaller scale, it will be a single DP in a 5 gallon. Will be good to get some more information on these great little fish.

Have you been on the main DP website on the net, there is some good information on there.

Dwarf Puffers

 

[Miah002]

Sounds great.

Can you post a pic of your tank when your done?

 

[guppy_man]

It will be nice to see how yours turns out ghent, looking forward to it. Ill post some pics as it is now, when im in the middle of scaping, and at the end. A sort of mini journal.

Just going to look for some rocks, sticks and leave now.

 

[ghent_3rd]

No worries, I will try and do the same with mine, mine is going to be in a split tank with a betta on the other side, but separately filtered and heated. I still got loads of work to do setting my rack up ready for the fish yet but I will keep all informed!!

 

[Miah002]

Are you getting the Dps today or tommorow?

 

[guppy_man]

Are you getting the Dps today or tommorow?

Hopefully tomorrow if the shop owner collects his stock.

 

[guppy_man]

Sorry i havent posted for afew days, couldnt get anything done with the huge amount of snow we had, sadly didnt get any dp's this week.

I did make a start on the tank though, afew plants are planted, the piece of wood with the anubis on it is in, and also afew stones and sticks have gone in.
It doesnt look too bad atm, i just want a more overgrown jungle look. Once i get more plants and sticks/wood in there i think it will look quite good.

I do have a question though.... The sticks that i used have this white slime thats has appeared on it over night. I havent seen this stuff in all my years fishkeeping. Is it harmful to my fish/tank?... should i scrub it off?


Ill post pics later on after ive finished this stupidly long essay

 

[iSnail]

Really looking forward to some of your DP biotope pictures Are you going to keep a snail hatchery too?

I had some of that white fluff on my bogwood too when I first had it. It eventually disappeared (took a few weeks though) and my puffs didn't seem to be affected in any way.

 

[guppy_man]

The tank is full of mts's at the moment, i know that they're shell is real tough, so i have also got a 5gallon tank with a betta init thats also full of mts and pond snails so got plenty of live food. I'll also buy some frozen stuff soon.

The white stuff i was talking about seems like a snail magnet, every stick i have that its growing on there is between 10-15 on each quite funny.

All i need now is afew more sticks, some dead leaves for ground cover, and of course 4dp's. I may even introduce some cherry shrimp before the dp's.

I cant post pics ive lost my sd card... will look for it now, but most probably post pics tomorrow.

 

[iSnail]

Don't want to put you off but I'm in a bit of dilemma regarding cherry shrimps in my DP tanks. My DPs go really excited when they see any newly hatched cherry shrimps. I notice some of them staying plump even without me feeding them and a couple of them have become uninterested in the food I feed them. I'm worried that they are getting an imbalanced diet with too much Thiaminase since they are such finicky eaters. Here's a thread that Neale Monks posted recently about Thiaminase. Maybe you can research a bit before your DP tank's all set up.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=272526

 

[guppy_man]

Thanks isnail, maybe i won't add any shrimp then, might just add them to the 5gallon snail tank i have. Much better and safer for them.
Heres the pics... still not overly happily with it, maybe once i get some dead leaves for ground cover, and the Hygrophila grows taller i think it will look better. So what do you think?

 

[wackystarfish]

Awesome! I think i might do this, but there is a distinct lack of puffers near me. I would do it with my 30 gallon How many puffers would i get in there??? Also, i would have to research keeping the water right... Eeugh! Anyways, good luck! Just watch out that the sticks may be a bit sharp and could hurt the fish.

 

[Miah002]

Looks good. If you want algae cleaners then get otos but they need a very mature tank.

 

[guppy_man]

Awesome! I think i might do this, but there is a distinct lack of puffers near me. I would do it with my 30 gallon How many puffers would i get in there??? Also, i would have to research keeping the water right... Eeugh! Anyways, good luck! Just watch out that the sticks may be a bit sharp and could hurt the fish.

The rule with dwarf puffers is 5gal per fish, but can maybe add 1 or 2 more if the tank is desnley planted. These guys are aggressive little things. The sticks arent that sharp even though they look it.

Looks good. If you want algae cleaners then get otos but they need a very mature tank.

I doubt ill bother with otto's they need to be in a group of 3 or more and if im going to have 3-4 puffers there wont be enough space. Im thinking of trying shrimp, but not sure.

Btw the java moss isnt placed there... i just threw bits in the water flow and where ever it ended up i left it. More natural that way (lazy way)