Indian Dwarf Puffers

[Loony Fish]

hi all,
are the pea puffers really that mean?! i have heard they are not. thanks

 

[Esfa]

hi all,
are the pea puffers really that mean?! i have heard they are not. thanks

depends really... one of mine used to bully the rest, the others lived with snails, shrimp and otos.

Best to be cautious, though.

 

[nmonks]

Define "mean". If you mean are they sadistic psychopaths, then obviously not. They're animals that obey their instincts. In this case, they're territorial (so they chase one another) and they're fin parasites (meaning they feed on the scales and fins of other fish). Both these drives make them difficult to house. You can't keep more than one specimen in a tank too small for each fish to create its own territory, and you can't mix them with any other fish species because they're likely to be nipped whenever the puffers get hungry.

Cheers, Neale

are the pea puffers really that mean?! i have heard they are not. thanks

 

[jimi priest]

hi all,
are the pea puffers really that mean?! i have heard they are not. thanks

they range from puffer to puffer ( like with all puffers), but they tend to be territorial little fin nippers. the fact is you can never be sure till you have one so maybe you should experiment, but any thing that eats him will be dead and you should have a back up tank fully cycled for him if he is aggressive.

 

[Loony Fish]

hi all,
are the pea puffers really that mean?! i have heard they are not. thanks

they range from puffer to puffer ( like with all puffers), but they tend to be territorial little fin nippers. the fact is you can never be sure till you have one so maybe you should experiment, but any thing that eats him will be dead and you should have a back up tank fully cycled for him if he is aggressive.

i like this idea, i'm gonna try it

 

[jennybugs]

I wouldn't put them in with anything other than otos. Not worth the risk imho Never trust a puffer...Neale's advice is spot on

 

[jimi priest]

I wouldn't put them in with anything other than otos. Not worth the risk imho Never trust a puffer...Neale's advice is spot on

yes it was great advice but not all puffers are the root of all evil i have a red eyes in my community tank and he gets along fine with every one no missing scales no missing fin pieces i know hes a fluke of nature that might one day go on a killing spree but i think not there are alot of puffers out there that do fine if given room i heave heard of dwarfs saps and red eyes mubus and even a fahaka that allowed and lived with tank mates

 

[nmonks]

Puffer "threat level" does vary with species. Carinotetraodon irrubesco appears to be relatively easy to keep with other fish. I'm only aware of a very few examples of truly nasty fish, and given the complexity of the genus, it is entirely possible that more than one species is sold as the Red-eye Puffer. Oddly enough, while the males are territorial towards conspecifics, they seem to ignore other species. Females on the other are much pushier, and my female is constantly engaged in battle with a female dwarf cichlid. It's all threat though, and no harm seems to be done (in the couple of years they've lived together, at least). Colomesus asellus is another reliable species, though it is definitely a fin-nipper, so can't be mixed with slow-moving tankmates.

The dwarf puffers though are in another league. They are consistently nippy and territorial. I wouldn't mix them with anything, and would encourage you to keep them as a group (to avoid bullying) in a tank large enough for each fish to have its own territory.

Cheers, Neale