New Puffer

[werzal]

went to my lfs yesterday just to look around. was thinking of getting some pigmy puffers as they are the only ones they can get to go into a community tank.
the only problem is they stay small and i like my fish to get quite big.
then i noticed a south american puffer swiming near by. so i had to have him.
anyway the point of this post is ive heard you have to clip there teeth somtimes, how are you supposed to do this without stressing them out?
is there any thing i can feed them to wear them down a bit?
also how do i tell if its male or female and what are the best foods to feed them?
any help here would be greatly appreciated.

 

[stucolls]

firstly you should have posted this in the oddballs section, secondly whoever told you pygmy (dwarf) puffers can go in a community aquarium are wrong, and thirdly to trim their teeth feed them snails every fortnight. hope that helps

 

[pandacichlid]

http/www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/s...erdentistry.htm

there you are m'friend, a site that has everything you need to know about shortenning their teeth.
Clip them every four to six months and feed them daily amounts of snails but snails as big as their eye.

I thought these were community species, but people tell me I'm wrong.
different sources say different thing, y'know?

you can't sex 'em, no differences apparently.
best kept in loose groups too 4-6
feed 'em krill, muscles, bloodworm and other frozen foods

I'm no expert, ask puffdaddy he knows his stuff

good luck

 

[pandacichlid]

another thing!

Carinotetraodon travancoricus are not community fish, they're more likely to fin nip and harrass more than Colomesus asellus.
My amazon puffers are more compatible for community life, the most general community puffer for freshwater available possibly.

My amazon puffers are not fully mature yet, so don't know how they'll react to other tank mates later on.
hope you do well anyway!

 

[werzal]

i'll start by apologising for posting this in the wrong place, quite new here so not too sure.
i was told they are nippers but would be ok if not kept with any slow moving fish, as all my fish are fast movers i thought this would be ok. i'll keep an eye on him and if it ooks like he is getting aggresive my wife will have to put up with another tank in the house, good excuse!!!!
thanks for the advice but i still dont quite understand, does feeding them snails just reduce how often you clip their teeth and if so how do i clip them?
sorry for being a pain but there is a lot to learn.

 

[pandacichlid]

I don't have pygmy puffers, but have amazon puffers. Amazon's are known to be quite peaceful, however puffers have complex personalities apparently and can switch when mature, but yeah keep an eye on 'em to see what happens. Don't have them with fish that are too small, cus they'll probably eat 'em.
I've read, not to be kept in a community tank due to aggressiveness, how many do you have? what fish are they housed with?
read that link I have posted about puffers teeth!

 

[werzal]

i only have the one south american puffer and he is mixed with tetras, barbs, catfish,a shark and some clown loaches so they might fight over the snails.
luckily i have a tank in my shed that has lots of snails in it(no fish though coz i couldnt control the temp) but the snails love it.
i'll have a look at that link, thanks.

 

[backtotropical]

i still dont quite understand, does feeding them snails just reduce how often you clip their teeth and if so how do i clip them?

The puffer will bite the shells to get the snails out. This grinds down their teeth naturally (obviously theres nobody to clip their teeth in the wild). If they get enough snail shells to chew on, you may not have to clip their teeth at all, but keep an eye on them just in case.