Dwarf Puffer Qs

[Amunet]

Alrighty, so after my sick betta dies in my 10gal tank, I think I'm seriously considering making it a DP tank. I've always wanted some b/c they just look SO freakin cute in the store, but of course I never got one after reading about their aggression. They just seem like my kind of fish. Lots of personality in a cute tiny body heh

So I was thinking, 2 DPs and maybe 4-6 otos. Does that sound ok? Or maybe 3 DPs and no otos? IF I decide to get 3 DPs... should it be 1 male and 2 females? If it's just the 2... does it matter the sex of either? Or would getting 2 males still be bad b/c of aggression?
The tank will be heavily planted. I plan on getting some more plants from Petsmart so I know they'll have snails on them.
Since more than likely there will be snails, how often should I feed the DPs?
Are they picky when it comes to frozen foods such as bloodworm and brineshrimp? We have a bumblebee goby right now who is starving b/c it's so dang picky, so I really want to avoid more fish who are like that.

If we choose to get otos, should I add the otos first? Or is it ok to add them all at once? The tank will be cycled when I get the fish & will be able to support a large amount.
After I clean the tank out after the betta dies.... the filter media will be new along w/ a nice big chunk of mature media, so cycling shouldn't be any problem (never had a problem doing it this way before). Just thought I'd explain that in case anyone thought I was going to put fish in to an uncycled tank or something.

And finally, when planting the tank. Do the DPs need an open space somewhere to swim around, or is it ok to just make the tank into a big plant-filled jungle mess I suck at aquascaping so yeah, it's gonna end up a huge ugly mess anyway so just making sure that that will be ok heh

 

[Esfa]

In a 10gal tank you could have 3 DPs, a few ottos, some bumblebee gobies and some shrimp... I havn't noticed that males are more aggressive then females, and its often near impossible to tell when young, so I'd just say that the sex doesn't matter.

Mine are deffo not picky with food, I feed them 4-5 bloodworms each, everyday. They also get brine shrimp now and again.

DPs don't need an open space to swim... they're so small that the room under a java fern leaf is like 3 olympic swimming pools to them.

 

[Loony Fish]

Hi,
dwarf puffers are mean little guys, the tank set up i would give you would be:
1 dwarf puffer,
1-3 otos,
and then maybe some fish that can take care of them selfs, like large tetras, plecostamus, or some zebra danios.

 

[Amunet]

In a 10gal tank you could have 3 DPs, a few ottos, some bumblebee gobies and some shrimp... I havn't noticed that males are more aggressive then females, and its often near impossible to tell when young, so I'd just say that the sex doesn't matter.

Mine are deffo not picky with food, I feed them 4-5 bloodworms each, everyday. They also get brine shrimp now and again.

DPs don't need an open space to swim... they're so small that the room under a java fern leaf is like 3 olympic swimming pools to them.

Hmm.. so I could get 3 DPs AND otos? I would love that, but I just want to make sure that it would be ok. I know it really depends on the fish and their personality though.
As for the open space.... well I thought I would ask anyway heh Ya never know, maybe they like big open areas or something heh

 

[Bebobb]

I would only get Oto's if you have a CHEESE LOAD of Algea! They would rather starve to death than eat algea wafers. And They Do better in groups of at leats 3. Shrimp are a gamble with Dwarf Puffers. Buy a shrimp of your choice (ONLY 1) and if it lives then buy a few more, and if they breed then the Dwarf Puffers will munch on the babies. I'd Advise to keep then in a VERY PLANTED tank. I have seen bumblee gobies kept with dwarf puffers, but I have never done it. They are vERY pick about their food. They are very carniverous. Feed them Live or Frozen blood worms. They will rearly eat flake food and they hate it.

 

[jennybugs]

I have DPs and otos together and they are fine...I feed the otos cucumber every other day as well as them cleaning the algae that accumulates in the tank.
I've also had amano shrimp with no problems, but the shrimp were in the tank before the DPs which were extremely tiny when I first got them, so what they'd be like with shrimp now I don't know.

The best ratio is 1 male to 2 or 3 females but in a 10 gal tank - approx 38 litres, I'd say 2 DPs and a few otos and no more. Over filter, be prepared to do 50% water changes every week, loads of plants to break up lines of sight and off you go

Examples of the planting I've had in my tanks (2 different set ups)

 

[iSnail]

Space-wise, I think 2 or 3 DPs should be fine with maybe a couple of otos. Definitely no danios. The fast danios will agitate/irritate them too much. Males in general are slightly more aggressive than females but obviously that depends on the individuals. Males do tend to get more aggressive towards other males, especially when in mating mood.

I keep mine with amano and cherry shrimps. The cherries breed fast and majority of the shrimplets get eaten by the puffers but some do grow up. Although my DPs love munching shrimplets, they are not aggressive towards the adult shrimps or even young shrimps that are too big for their tiny mouths. If you decide to add shrimps, either add before the DPs or (if afterwards) add after the DP's have been fed and preferably during their bed time so that they don't think they are food

Food-wise, I feed frozen bloodworms as main staple. Pin-head size baby snails and live daphnia every 2-3 days if I can harvest them. Occasionally live brine shrimps which they like. Only some of my DPs will eat frozen brine shrimps though

 

[Amunet]

Oh I plan to get alot more plants if I'm gonna go the DPs route.
The tank is planted right now, but it's pretty scraggly heh so it will be getting alot more plants and there are 3 decor in the tank that can act as caves for them as well.

I might switch the otos for shrimp. Maybe just try out ghost shrimp since I wanted to get some anyway.. and they're cheap.
Hearing that otos might be picky eaters is kinda detering me from them. As I said, we already have a bumblebee goby that is a picky eater and is starving, so I want to try to avoid fish like that as much as possible.
Anywho.. maybe shrimp, maybe otos, maybe some of each. We'll see. If the tank gets put in to a place that gets good sunlight (aka algae heaven)... then I'll think about otos as well.


Okedoke uuuuuhm.. hmm.... feels like I had more to ask, but I can't remember atm.
Thanks everyone for the help so far

 

[NonstickRon]

Thanks so much for asking this. I was wondering much the same things. I found a local dealer who gets Dwarf Puffers, he called them Pea Puffers, lol. He tried to talk me into buying some today even though I told him my tank wasn't ready, I had to buy some ghost shrimp to get him to back off. Tried to get me to buy some danios and powdered bacteria spores when I asked him where I could by pure ammonia.

Anyway, I'm currently trying to stabalize my cycle while I figure out which plants to buy.

 

[Amunet]

I'm planning on getting more hornwort b/c it grows like a weed and looks great.
Hopefully 1 nice big sword plant as well. Got a really nice sword plant last time we went to Petsmart that is in the other 10gallon tank and it's been doing great so far. Wanting another like it for this tank. It just depends on the quality of the stock they have. They've been pretty good recently with their plants though and how they look.

 

[NonstickRon]

I'm planning on getting more hornwort b/c it grows like a weed and looks great.
Hopefully 1 nice big sword plant as well. Got a really nice sword plant last time we went to Petsmart that is in the other 10gallon tank and it's been doing great so far. Wanting another like it for this tank. It just depends on the quality of the stock they have. They've been pretty good recently with their plants though and how they look.

I'd like to do a little carpet of that java moss or rissia like in the sticky in the planted tank forum channel, very awesome looking.

 

[connorsbala]

I have 70litre tank with 2 females and a male. I think that the male and one of the females are breeding atm Ive also got a load of amano shrimp in there (whch are pretty big at like 2 inch long) and surprisinly 4 Cardinal tetras and 3 Sterbai Cories. Yes it is a gamble but they have been fine in there for about 5 months. BUt, as i think they are spawning the male is getting a little aggressive so i may get rid of the tetras soon.
I have a hell of a lot of plants! Lots of vallis, a massive Amazon Sword, Hairgrass that is so tall that it reashes the top of the tank, Java moss for the eggs to be layed in and nice sizedd crypts. I use RO water and my pH is 6.8..just lettign you know

 

[jennybugs]

*sigh* it's alright for all these people that live in Aquatic shops

 

[Amunet]

I'm planning on getting more hornwort b/c it grows like a weed and looks great.
Hopefully 1 nice big sword plant as well. Got a really nice sword plant last time we went to Petsmart that is in the other 10gallon tank and it's been doing great so far. Wanting another like it for this tank. It just depends on the quality of the stock they have. They've been pretty good recently with their plants though and how they look.

I'd like to do a little carpet of that java moss or rissia like in the sticky in the planted tank forum channel, very awesome looking.

I would LOVE to get some kind of carpet type of plant, but I've never seen any for sale here.
Actually no, we did have java moss for a while, but we got it half dead, so it didn't survive for very long w/ us.

I would get amano shrimp again if Petsmart had them, BUT I want shrimp that can breed in fresh water and from what I understand, their eggs & baby shrimp need to be in brackish. So I think I'm gonna try some ghost shrimp b/c I'd love to have baby shrimp as well. Might not last long w/ the DPs hunting them down, but some might heh.

 

[Amunet]

AHA! I finally remembered 1 question I had heh


OK so I read that DPs don't really have the same problem as other puffers do w/ their beaks and having to make sure they don't overgrow etc etc.
And I've watched videos of DPs attacking snails and sucking them out of their shells.
Will they do this to a snail that is bigger than them?
We have about 4-5 pond snails in the tank atm and they just keep getting bigger and bigger very quickly & if they survive me cleaning out the tank some, then they'll be even bigger by the time I do eventually get the DPs.
Will the DPs have a problem eating them still if the snails are a bit larger? Or will they just tear chunks off and eat them that way? OR will they leave them alone if they get too big?