Dwarf Puffer In This Type Of Community

[Ficious]

ok guys so i made a poor choice yesterday of buying another DP. i already had Henry but couldnt help but purchase another one! Henry is in a 5 gallon bowfront aquarium with gravel substrate and its very very very heavily planted. there are 5 cherry shrimp and a pair of otos. i just added the other puffer because i figured it was smaller and was even pry less dominate than the shrimp and otos. so far he/she looks ok, a little bit timid though...and it usualy stays outa sight or on the other half of the aquarium. i dont imagine that dps would pair up and happily swim together because they look alike, and am aware that they need a lot of cover to break up eachothers sight.

i bought henry about 6 months ago and he came from the same tank as this one. Im unsure Henry is a boy because hes not that mature yet. only at about 5/8's of an inch. hes really colorful compared to the new one.

was this a bad decision? I have another planted 5 gallon next to this but its the home to the micro fish Trichopsis pumila, and would have nowhere to put them.



SOOOO the only other place i would put the new dp is in a 20 gallon planted. I DO have a cycled 36 gallon that is empty. i could swap some fish to maybe make the 20 gallon ok for dps? my real question though is will any of these fish be a bother to the dp? or the dp to them?

20 gal has 1 female betta, 3 white clouds, 3 amano shrimp, 1 bulldog plec, 1 clown plec, couple corys and plenty of pest snails. i also have 4 large snails that i would take out.

idk what to do guys lol just let me know. the little puffer was only $4 usd.

 

[BigTom]

I certainly wouldn't put a DP in that community setup. Sorry if I'm being dense, but whats the issue with him being in with the other one? At 6 month I'd expect them to sexable, can you provide a pic?

 

[Ficious]

sry i dont have time before work to get a pic close up but here the 5 gallon theyre in. the plants have really grown since then.




EDIT: my 5 gallon tanks are on my computer desk. i just looked down and noticed for the first time they were checking eachother out. like dogs sniffing butts. they seem to be happy with the other and this relieves me a bit.

 

[BigTom]

Just keep an eye on them and see how they do I guess. Although 5g is less than the recommended minimum you might be OK. As long as you keep the water quality high then the deciding factor will be their behaviour, and there's not much you can do about that, other than take one back if they do fight badly.

 

[jennybugs]

Imho you'll be just sitting on a time bomb with two dp's in a 5 gallon tank

Don't even consider putting the dp's in with any of the other fish you've mentioned, especially not the betta or the sparkling gourami.

Best to get the dp's a bigger tank that will accomodate both of them more than comfortably than try to keep them in the cramped conditions of a 5 gallon tank.

In the mean time as Tom says, keep the water spotless and keep your eyes peeled for aggression too.

 

[SirMinion]

Even dwarf puffers are a community no-no.

We tried tetras with our dwarf puffers once... everything was fine for for weeks then overnight we lost nine of the 11 tetras.

This is what a one 1½cm Dwarf puffer can do to a tetra.

apologies for having to drag this photo out yet again to illustrate the point once again that puffers are not community fish.

 

[Ficious]

yea wow lol. now ill have to do something with the little booger. so far i guess the one ive had is the dominate one. i cant even find the other. although the shrimp are out grazing happily. thanks for your input guys!

 

[jennybugs]

You can't find the other? I'd be worrying by now

 

[Ficious]

You can't find the other? I'd be worrying by now

No i found him but just in time. he attacked the one ive had for a while so i took his butt outa there! im happy to say that, unfortunatly, he has a 36 gallon all to himself. things worked out well...but once i need to use the 36 gallon ill be stumped again