Thinking Of Getting A Dwarf Puffer...?

[ferco]

ok I'm thinking about getting a dwarf puffer... now i have read up on them quite a bit (as you should do with any fish you are thinking about getting) now i've been out of the fish 'business' for a bit but i really miss them and i saw a puffer at my lfs and fell in love! admittedly it was a figure eight but they're brackish and bigger... I'm looking to keep (now this is what i've concluded from reading other posts and web pages) maybe 1 dwarf puffer and ottos in a well filtered 10-15 gallon tank. I was thinking it would be better for the fish and for me (more margin for error with the water changes lol ) if i went for the 15gall? now would a 20% water change every week be ideal/ok/not enough? also i know they aquarium should be well planted but is there a preferred plant? and also what substrate would be best... i've got some sand left from my old brackish setup with the archers... but i've also got some gravel... and one more thing - I'm assuming that with dwarf puffers size the snails will need to be quite small... now are the ones on the plants when you buy them the right size [too small?] i just want to find out everything i can before i even think about a commitment as i don't want to decide half way through that i want to sell him - not fair on the fish.
So any help you can offer would be greately appreciated! hope to hear from you soon lol
thanks again

 

[jenny6165]

i probably cant help you with much, but i think the rough guide for ideal snail size is the size of the puffers eye. so that would be small for a dwarf, but u could always crush the snail between your fingers if its too big.

i also think dwarf puffers need to be in a well cycled tank, but i presume your cycling it anyway.

sorry cant help u any further

 

[ferco]

yea i was going to cycle it for at least two weeks maybe?

 

[Fella]

Cycle it until there is no nitrite and ammonia if you want to give them the best chance of survival.

Check the pinned topic at the top of the forum too.

Also, when feeding snails, size isn't so important. DP's will attack snails much larger than themselves.

 

[ferco]

ok awesome thanks so much for all your help!

 

[kimmers318]

Yes, please cycle the tank properly before getting your dp...or it won't last long. A 10 gal would be fine for a single dp with a few otos.....I have a trio with 1 oto and 2 african dwarf frogs without any problems. Substrate is whatever you wish to use....I personally think it will be easier to suck up the snail shells once I have converted to sand. Snails don't need to be a particular size....they say as small as their eye to be able to eat them, but I haven't seen any of my dp's actually eat the shells, they just slurp the meat out and leave the shell laying around to pollute the tank . Plants are whatever you choose....live or fake, the dp's don't really care. My oldest female Missy loves a fake java fern, but when I bought the real thing she ignored it. Weekly water changes of 20-30% should be fine....when in doubt check your water parameters. I usually end up with almost 50% water changes just because it takes me that long to siphon out the snail shells.

 

[fishwatcher]

I'd go with a trio (1m, 2fm) and couple of otos in a 10-15 gal. Plant it heavily with live or fake plants and have lots of little caves, etc for them to explore. Sand is easier to keep clean and they say that some DPs lay on the bottom at times, and therefore sand is preferred.
As far as feeding, that's the tricky part. For the first 2-5 days they almost will never eat. Start trying to feed them around the 2nd-3rd day, and try a little each day until they are eating. I started out putting a clove of garlic in a cup of tank water with frozen blood worms for about 10 min. Then take a dropper and drop the worms in the current (the garlic increases their appetite somehow). Sometimes you'll get a DP that has internal parasites though and it will have a sunken in belly and die. This is fairly common. When you pick out the fish make sure to get ones with nice rounded bellies, as that decreases the odds of it.
As for snails, mine actually eats the whole thing if it is small enough. That helps keep their teeth shortened. If it's too big it just eats the snail's head and leaves the shell.
If you don't have another tank to raise the snails in, then you should probably set-up a little snail bowl. Unless you want to go to the lfs once a week to get a few.
They really are terrific fish and once they're established are easy to take care of. A 20-30% once a week change should be fine, just check your stats weekly for the first few months until you get on a schedule.
It's great to watch them hunt to snails... they're so tiny yet so ferocious!

 

[Premo]

I don't have any experience with actual dwarf puffers, I keep 1 male and 2 female Somphong's (Lorteti), I have had them for just about a year now. However I can offer some advice.

As many folks will have told you, looking after ANY puffer, is unlike caring for any other fish, they are unique, you really need to understand that not only are each species different in their behaviour, but members of the same species also have personal traits, good and bad.

I get very, very angry at most fish stores, the desire to sell over-rides the duty of care in many cases, last week I was told by a very "knowledgeable" sales advisor that there's no problem in keeping 3 - 4 mekong (pig noses) in a community tank, yeah, no problem if you don't mind watching complete and utter carnage !!

I am new to this forum but scrolling thru various threads, there are plenty of people here who are giving good advice, quite often the guidance is not what you want to read or see but believe me, take any advice you can get with regard to puffers.

I come from a community tank background, we have a wonderful 400 litre set up in our living room, clowns, rubberlips, lampeyes, etc etc, it has taken 8 years to get to where we are, however, I now spend much more time upstairs with the Somphong family, they live in a 240 litre set up, with masses of live plants, bogwood and rocks, they have 5 Oto's for Company, initially I thought I would be "bored" with such a small stock of fish..... WRONG, complete fascination, I have also got over the initial horror of watching them tear apart shrimp, prawns, snails etc.

Have patience, keep researching, listen to advice and when you are ready go for it, you will not be disappointed.

Chris - Dover UK

 

[Fella]

I don't have any experience with actual dwarf puffers, I keep 1 male and 2 female Somphong's (Lorteti), I have had them for just about a year now. However I can offer some advice.

As many folks will have told you, looking after ANY puffer, is unlike caring for any other fish, they are unique, you really need to understand that not only are each species different in their behaviour, but members of the same species also have personal traits, good and bad.

I get very, very angry at most fish stores, the desire to sell over-rides the duty of care in many cases, last week I was told by a very "knowledgeable" sales advisor that there's no problem in keeping 3 - 4 mekong (pig noses) in a community tank, yeah, no problem if you don't mind watching complete and utter carnage !!

I am new to this forum but scrolling thru various threads, there are plenty of people here who are giving good advice, quite often the guidance is not what you want to read or see but believe me, take any advice you can get with regard to puffers.

I come from a community tank background, we have a wonderful 400 litre set up in our living room, clowns, rubberlips, lampeyes, etc etc, it has taken 8 years to get to where we are, however, I now spend much more time upstairs with the Somphong family, they live in a 240 litre set up, with masses of live plants, bogwood and rocks, they have 5 Oto's for Company, initially I thought I would be "bored" with such a small stock of fish..... WRONG, complete fascination, I have also got over the initial horror of watching them tear apart shrimp, prawns, snails etc.

Have patience, keep researching, listen to advice and when you are ready go for it, you will not be disappointed.

Chris - Dover UK

Great post Premo, welcome to TFF!

any pictures of your lorteti?

 

[pica_nuttalli]

welcome indeed! be sure to post lots and lots of pics

 

[Premo]

I don't have any experience with actual dwarf puffers, I keep 1 male and 2 female Somphong's (Lorteti), I have had them for just about a year now. However I can offer some advice.

As many folks will have told you, looking after ANY puffer, is unlike caring for any other fish, they are unique, you really need to understand that not only are each species different in their behaviour, but members of the same species also have personal traits, good and bad.

I get very, very angry at most fish stores, the desire to sell over-rides the duty of care in many cases, last week I was told by a very "knowledgeable" sales advisor that there's no problem in keeping 3 - 4 mekong (pig noses) in a community tank, yeah, no problem if you don't mind watching complete and utter carnage !!

I am new to this forum but scrolling thru various threads, there are plenty of people here who are giving good advice, quite often the guidance is not what you want to read or see but believe me, take any advice you can get with regard to puffers.

I come from a community tank background, we have a wonderful 400 litre set up in our living room, clowns, rubberlips, lampeyes, etc etc, it has taken 8 years to get to where we are, however, I now spend much more time upstairs with the Somphong family, they live in a 240 litre set up, with masses of live plants, bogwood and rocks, they have 5 Oto's for Company, initially I thought I would be "bored" with such a small stock of fish..... WRONG, complete fascination, I have also got over the initial horror of watching them tear apart shrimp, prawns, snails etc.

Have patience, keep researching, listen to advice and when you are ready go for it, you will not be disappointed.

Chris - Dover UK

Great post Premo, welcome to TFF!

any pictures of your lorteti?

Thanks for the welcome, I think I'll enjoy it here.

I am getting my first digital camera hopefully this weekend and will get some pics once I have mastered the technology !!

Look forward to contributing, my main area of experience lies with plecs, loaches, cats etc so hopefully I will pop up all over the place.


Many Thanks
Chris - UK