dwarf puffer to eat snails

[guppler]

I have a few tanks of mostly guppies. My 30 gallon is for comunity/boy guppies. In other words any boy guppies born in my girl tanks go in there as soon as I know they are boys and if there's room other species can join them. The female bettas i've tried have not done well, but the danios look happier than the guppies so far. The happiest critters in the tank are the little brown pond snails. I got about half a dozen over a year ago to help control algae and now I have maybe hundreds of tiny baby snails in the bucket every time I vacuum.
So I was thinking if I put a puffer in with my comunity critters it would have plenty to eat. But from what I've read, it sounds like even the tiniest puffers would probably nip at my little guppies too much. I have a small glass tank (about 2 gallons) and a few plastic critter keepers (bigger and smaller). Would something like that be OK for one dwarf puffer? Are they happy alone? I also have my old goldfish tank which I replaced because it had a small leak and the gold fish were getting big for it anyway. That's 10 gallons, but it has a little water with some native pond life and I was considering getting hermies again, and I'd have to at least clean it up good and fix the leak if I want puffers in it.
I was thinking I could do a tank mostly for plants and have a puffer in it and toss in my extra snails when I clean other tanks.
So basicaly what I want to know is are there any puffers that can live nicely with guppies, how much space do they need, are they good snail control, and what do they want their tank to be like? Are there specific species I should look for that are smaller or less agressive or live well on mostly snails?

 

[Puffer_freak]

No puffers I'm afraid. I'm not sure you have enough tank room for one anyway. How big are the critter Keepers?

 

[SirMinion]

If you like your guppies without fins, then yes, go ahead and add dwarf puffers. Otherwise, no. No puffers are compatable with guppies.

 

[Chasing Puck]

Snails only get out of hand when there is ample food available--make sure you aren't overfeeding, and clean the tank more frequently. The snails population will dwindle.

 

[guppler]

Thanks for the advise, all.
It's about what I expected, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to ask. I think puffers are really cute, but i might have to admire them outside my own house for a while. Gobies have a similar look and would probably fiit my comunity better.
To answer Puffer Freak about the critter keepers, I think my biggest is about 3 gallons. That one has 5 guppies in it right now, but it's meant to be temporary, like for breading and hospital and stuff. I wanted to give my last spotted guppy a chance to have kids, so i matched him up with some females that might make good moms. The other critter keepers are probably mostly less than a gallon, but I haven't really measured most of them. I even have some really tiny ones (probably less than half a gallon) mostly for holding insects or fish long enough to draw them. I bought them the same day I got some danios and gold fish, and the person working at the store asked if any of the fish were going to live in the critter keepers. That would be bad.
How much room does a dwarf puffer need anyway? If I cleaned up a 10 gallon tank and put some plants and snails in it , would that keep a puffer happy? What about if I find something about half that size?
Maybe I should be looking at other species for now. Do you have an opinion on bumblebee gobies or upside down catfish to live with boy guppies? I guess I'm looking for something pretty small with a different shape.

 

[Erised]

bumbelbee gobies are brackish water fish, so will not go with your guppies. Plus I believe they will nip the fins as well.

Dwarf puffers you should be able to keep in the 10 Gallon... Some say you can fit 2 dwarf puffers in a 5 Gallon, making it 4 for a 10 Gallon. Though, personally I think this is pushing it big time ... I'd go for a max of 3 in a 10 Gallon ... You'll need loads of hiding places for them though, and make sure there's plenty to break there eyes sight seeing as they're very teretorial when they're a bit older.

Not a lot of fish you can keep with dwarf puffers as tankmates though, I think the only thing that really will go in with them is a small school of otos to keep the tank algae free. If you do get them, you can feed your dwarf puffers brine shrimp, bloodworms, dapnia, tubifex, normal shrimp and you'll need to feed them snails from time to time to keep their teeth down

 

[SirMinion]

How much room does a dwarf puffer need anyway? If I cleaned up a 10 gallon tank and put some plants and snails in it , would that keep a puffer happy?

Yep, two dwarf puffers would be fine in there as long as it has a filter & heater.
Sand for puffers is best.