Dwarf Puffers

[Wolfdog]

OK i have an empty ten gallon with a few live plants in it.

I would like to have a dwarf puffer in it. I have heard and know that is good to have snails with dwarf puffers cause the puffers like to eat the snails and it keeps their teeth small.

How do i keep a community of snails in with the live plants? How do i breed the snails? Do i get one big snail and it will have babies? But then will all the snails big or small eat all my plants?

Last question, if i have the tank very heavily planted and with lots of hiding places would it be ok to have a couple (2 or 3) Kuhli loaches in the tank?

Thanx,
Wolf

 

[houndour]

Hi Wolfdog,

I'm also getting a dwarf puffer and all the reading up I've done says that dwarf puffers are really a species only fish, but have also read that the only fish they are really suitable with are otos.

As for snails. I've had snails in planted tanks and have not had any problems with them eating plants.

 

[SirMinion]

Not Khulis, no.

Khuli loaches are worm-like and wriggly... just like a puffers natural food!

If you must keep something with dwarf puffers, you're limited to fish that don't move much and/or are amoured like (tank size dependant) a bristlenose plec or maybe a trio of ottos.

However, there's no guarentee that whatever you try won't get attacked.

 

[mattbeau]

If you are like me and have a tendancy to overfeed you community tank. Keeping snails will be absolutely no problem. generally a LFS can offer you some for free, just regular pond snails or ramshorn, keep away from malasian trumpet snails as they are bad for puffer teath.

after having them in a sperate tank for about a week you should have about 50 small snails(in my case) I usually wait till they grow from .5-1 cm and then just drop them in the puffer tank. My puffer has a tendancy of moving the shells neer the filter when hes done (I dont know why)((unless the current is placing them there))

 

[houndour]

why are malaysian trumpets bad for puffers teeth? is the shell too strong?

 

[SirMinion]

Generally it's best not to let small puffers have MT snails because their exceptionaly hard shells can damage tiny teeth.

However, large MT snails can be offered to Dwarfs because the puffers will suck the snail from the shell instead of trying to crush it.
Of course that defeats the whole point of offering snail for dental maintainance!

 

[PeterM]

I also wouldnt worry too much about breeding snails... but Ive got a suggestion here that might work:

You have a ten gallon tank. This is what I would call an ideal home for a single dwarf puffer because its twice as large as what Id recommend for living space (at least five gallons per dwarf puffer). So, if you get hold of a tank divider, you could set up a little snail breeding program in one side of the tank and keep your puffer in the other.

You could split the tank 70 - 30, so have seven gallons for the puffer say three gallons for the snail colonies. Keep a fairly dense bunch of plants in the small side for the snails and keep your puffer in the other side, preferably with pots and bits of wood and plenty of plants too. Get a bunch of snails from your LFS, as mattbeau suggested, to start off your breeding.

The snails will of course make frequent bids for freedom into the puffer side of the tank. Well, a single snail will of course make a single bid for freedom. This setup would allow you to actively "breed" (ie - leave alone until babies happen) the snails in one side of the tank away from the hungry puffer. When you want to feed, you could just grab a plant and shake it around in the puffers side of the tank until enough snails have fallen off. Its a free food supply Free = Good.

Do also feed your puffer bloodworms though, and try with artemia (brine shrimp, washed) and daphnia (water fleas) if it will take them. Mine dont

 

[Wolfdog]

Thanx 4 all the suggestions guys!

How many snails a day/week do the puffers need?

Thats a good idea on splitting the tank, but i have an awesome piece of drift wood i have for the tank that fits perfectly. Also i would like to have a couple ottos also.

I do have snails in my 55gal community setup though... I just need to know how many need to be fed to the puffers.

Weird question now..

Do Dwarf Puffers puff? im sure they do right?

Thanx,
Wolf

 

[SirMinion]

Dwarf puffers can puff but rarely actually do.

Just feed the puffers as many snails as you can, whenever you can. Don't get too worried about overgrown teeth in dwarf puffers as it's very rarely a problem and even occasional snails will help keep it that way.

The key to feeding is (as with most organisms) variety, and snails form part of the important variable diet.

Our Dwarf puffers take:

• Live or frozen bloodworm
• Live or frozen brine shrimp
• Live snails
• Live or frozen daphnia
• live glassworm
• finely chopped cooked prawn
• live small earthworms
• chopped earthworms
• Vinegar 'eels'
• microworms

 

[Wolfdog]

thanx a lot!

Wolf