Pygmy Puffer Tank

[Puffdaddy]

Also try throwing some ghost shrimp in the tank as well. I do that for my DP's, and man I got to tell ya they sure look awful happy chasing those around the tank all day. It's also fun to watch.

 

[fishboy619]

while most puffers are fussy eaters that will be aggressive,
and one of mine is, the three i have in a 15 gallon tank are the most opposite puffers ever, they will eat most foods, including (frozen/live) bloodworms,brineshrimp, pellets, pest/pond snails and freeze-dried tubifex worms when bothered.
i also have in the tank, 3 ottos, 1 apple snail,a few mts (bloody puffer didnt eat these, now they live there!) and guess what...1 ghost shrimp, yes, the puffers all leave the shrimp alone and never bother it, in the day or night (im sad and stay up and watch)
surely my puffers arent the only ones to do this?
they have no aggression towards each other, and none to other tank mates. if this wierd or what?
the tank does have lots of rocks and caves in, with plenty of plants and good filtration, and heating.
my guess is, as the puffers are well fed daily, and are happy, they live piecefully with no problems.
what do you think.

on the other hand however, one lone DP in its owb 5g, is the most aggressive bugger. he will attack his food, mainly bloodworms and brineshrimp, and will even attack my hand when i put it in the water, funny really, again his tank has caves and plants in, i did have 3 ottos in there as well, but i found one dead with a few wounds on, but i wasnt sure if it was the puffer that killed it, or attacked it when dead, so i moved the 2 survivers.
lol, funny little fish dwarf puffers are

 

[JackoUK]

while most puffers are fussy eaters that will be aggressive,
and one of mine is, the three i have in a 15 gallon tank are the most opposite puffers ever, they will eat most foods, including (frozen/live) bloodworms,brineshrimp, pellets, pest/pond snails and freeze-dried tubifex worms when bothered.
i also have in the tank, 3 ottos, 1 apple snail,a few mts (bloody puffer didnt eat these, now they live there!) and guess what...1 ghost shrimp, yes, the puffers all leave the shrimp alone and never bother it, in the day or night (im sad and stay up and watch)
surely my puffers arent the only ones to do this?
they have no aggression towards each other, and none to other tank mates. if this wierd or what?
the tank does have lots of rocks and caves in, with plenty of plants and good filtration, and heating.
my guess is, as the puffers are well fed daily, and are happy, they live piecefully with no problems.
what do you think.

on the other hand however, one lone DP in its owb 5g, is the most aggressive bugger. he will attack his food, mainly bloodworms and brineshrimp, and will even attack my hand when i put it in the water, funny really, again his tank has caves and plants in, i did have 3 ottos in there as well, but i found one dead with a few wounds on, but i wasnt sure if it was the puffer that killed it, or attacked it when dead, so i moved the 2 survivers.
lol, funny little fish dwarf puffers are

I can't wait to analyse mine over the next few weeks and see what kinds of personality they both have. I have some live brine shrimp ready for them and some frozen bloodworm too.

Would they eat Mealworm that my Girlfriends got for her future turtles?

 

[iSnail]

Not sure about mealworms Aren't they too big for your DPs' mouths??

 

[JackoUK]

Not sure about mealworms Aren't they too big for your DPs' mouths??

Yeah, probably are a bit, and I don't fancy chopping them up really.

 

[kpintheshed]

i agree it would be nice too cut the worms joking it would be

 

[JackoUK]

I've had my pair of puffers now for a couple of weeks. To start with there were no problems at all. They didn't go near the Oto's and fed pretty well. In the last few days though I have lost a couple of the Oto's, I think probably to starvation. I put some algea ridden plants in their tank and tryed an algea wafer or two but still two of them didn't seem to eat. Now the puffers will not accept frozen blood worm, or any frozen food and will only accept live bloodworm or daphnia. I was wondering if this was usual? Also one of the puffers will just not allow the other one to feed. As soon as he comes out the aggressive one batters him until he has to retreat amongst the plants again. The tank is large enough, 15 UK gallons, and very well planted. I have 3 or 4 hiding places for the puffers. I'm now wondering if I must purchase two smaller tanks, she's not going to be happy, and seperate them. If this is the case would an Aqua320 (28L) be okay for each of them?

Thankyou in advance.

 

[bymauldin]

I've only had my DP's for 3 days now. They haven't touched any food yet. I've tried giving them frozen bloodworm and they wouldn't eat it. I have tiny pond snails in their tank and they haven't touched those. I also just added 5 ghost shrimp today...so we'll see, but so far they haven't even paid them any attention. I hope they eat them though. Ghost shrimp are ugly little buggers!!
Also, I haven't noticed any aggression in my DP's either....well, not yet anyway. I have 2 in a 10 gal. So far the DP's hang out with each other and follow each other where ever the other one goes. I think it's cute. I hope they stay pals, but I'm sure that won't last for long once they get a little older. I have lots of caves and plants though just in case.

 

[iSnail]

It's not unusual for new DPs to not feed for the first week or so. Just give it a few days to settle in their new environment. However, must keep an eye on the water parameters. Make sure all the uneaten food is taken out. Also, they don't normally show their aggression until they want to claim territories so even though they are pals at the moment you'll have to wait and see how they get on. I find plants and crevices are more effective than caves. My DPs never go into clay pots I put in the tank for them. I think they are a bit claustrophobic

As for the stop eating frozen food behaviour.... I can only guess that maybe the frozen food is not to their taste because my DPs are fussy like that. They sometimes refuse frozen bloodworm from different packs even of the same brand. You can try starving them for a couple of days then try again.

28L will be fine for 1 DP btw.

 

[bymauldin]

I did see my big puffer chasing my little puffer around today some. I knew that wouldn't last. I was just hoping b/c it was really cute. I hardly ever see my puffers to be honest. They stay hidden in the plants a lot. My little puffer was playing in the new bubble wand I added this morning. I think that's the most I've seen them today.

I do have some pretty big shells in my tank that my little dwarf puffer will lay in. The big one just likes to lay on plant leaves. Neither of them have went into the terra cotta pots. I may take those out. They are just crowding up my tank.

 

[iSnail]

They will come out to you eventually when they are more comfortable with their new environment. Mine are always begging when it's feeding time. Hilariously funny little fish

Open end tunnels is an alternative to terracotta pots for hiding places. Have fun keeping the little guys

 

[JackoUK]

As for the stop eating frozen food behaviour.... I can only guess that maybe the frozen food is not to their taste because my DPs are fussy like that. They sometimes refuse frozen bloodworm from different packs even of the same brand. You can try starving them for a couple of days then try again.

28L will be fine for 1 DP btw.

I may try the short starvation tactic. At the moment i'm feeding them Daphnia, which they do seem to enjoy but still need coaxing into them. Fussy little buggers. Thanks for the advice on the 28L tanks, atleast I know I have an option now.

hardly ever see my puffers to be honest. They stay hidden in the plants a lot. My little puffer was playing in the new bubble wand I added this morning. I think that's the most I've seen them today.

I find the same thing. Especially with the smaller of the two. I actually see more of my Oto's at the moment.

 

[fishboy619]

some puffer will take a while to get eating. most will eat when hungry. just offer food each day i would.
some puffers will only eat live foods.luckily mine wil eat frozen or live.
JackoUK: if your puffers are being aggressive towards each other, buy a devider instead. its a lot cheaper then 2 sperate tanks.but yes, 28lt would be fine.
ottos usally make good tank mate. some will allow other fish to live too(well invertabrates, snails,shrimps etc)
and i dont think ghost shrimp are ugly, they are quite intresting sometimes and i love to have them in a tank.

 

[bymauldin]

I finally got one of my puffers to eat last night

I've been trying to target feed them with a clear medicine dropper for the past several days. They just watch me shoot the food out and then they swim off. Last night I put the dropper in and the big puffer came up to it and started biting at the sides of it trying to get the bloodworms that were inside. I just barely let a little bloodworm peek out the hole on the dropper and the DP took it, pulled it out, and swam off with it...but he was right back at the dropper in a second.

My other DP still won't take food from me yet. I did see it eating a snail the other day though...so it's not going entirely hungry. I also saw it taking a few bites off one of my Ghost Shrimp...So, that's one down, and I gave two away. Somehow I still have 4 left.

(I feel bad calling my fish "it" wish I knew if they were male or female ) I can't see any dark stripes on the belly...but I guess only time will tell.

 

[JackoUK]

JackoUK: if your puffers are being aggressive towards each other, buy a devider instead. its a lot cheaper then 2 sperate tanks.but yes, 28lt would be fine.

Thats an option but unfortunatly I don't then have another 15G to stock with even more fish, and thats my cunning plan.

finally got one of my puffers to eat last night

I've been trying to target feed them with a clear medicine dropper for the past several days. They just watch me shoot the food out and then they swim off. Last night I put the dropper in and the big puffer came up to it and started biting at the sides of it trying to get the bloodworms that were inside. I just barely let a little bloodworm peek out the hole on the dropper and the DP took it, pulled it out, and swam off with it...but he was right back at the dropper in a second.

Congrats. I too have a small amount of success with feeding atleast one of my DP's. If i target feed them as you have they do seem interested, even in frozen bloodworm. Unfortunatly I now have whitespot in the tank so theres another issue to deal with.