Have any tips for dwarf puffer nano tank?

[rmalford]

Does anyone have a lot of experience with these? I've been pondering how many I can stuff in a 13g nano all in one with a mj400 return pump. Will my pump suffice? How much flow can a dwarf handle? Will low light level plants survive these puffers?


Thanks in advance!

[eklikewhoa]

You could probably pull off 3-6 if you are talking about pea puffers.
The pump is fine for that size tank and good if you plan on going with low light plants which will break the flow path some giving the puffers a place to escape to.

[Ca Nguyen]

i've had a pair in 12 gallons for a while. they got along fine. but i hear they need to be decorate or planted densely so it break line of sight. they can take a good amount of flow. remember to keep it warm and feed them everyday.

[rmalford]

i've had a pair in 12 gallons for a while. they got along fine. but i hear they need to be decorate or planted densely so it break line of sight. they can take a good amount of flow. remember to keep it warm and feed them everyday.

Suggestions on what type of foods to feed? Do you still have them? If not, would you ever do it again?

[Ca Nguyen]

i fed them a collection of snails i breed in a 2.5 gallon with sponge filter. i drop them in a bowl and put the bow in the tank so the snails can't burrow down the sand to get away. they will also eat frozen bloodworms every other day (i feed each 2 full length bloodworms a day and keep the little capsule refrigerated. at the end of a week, i throw the left over away). i also feed them a ghost shrimp whenever my oscar had too much to eat.

one of my 2 puffers didn't hunt the snail, i had to clip his over grown teeth, and i see him actively harassing the snails, just never see him kill one. the other is an avid hunter, making short work of any snail that come out of the sand bed.

i no longer have the puffer because my little cousins tried to feed them with half a bottle of omega flankes while i was away for a weekend. i would like to keep them again someday. i don't spend alot of time looking at them, but when i do, i do it for like 30 minutes. the way they swim and they eyes movement fascinate me.

[rmalford]

Thanks a lot for all the good info. I've seen a few hunt some snails and I think it's awesome. I'm not entirely sure if this is the route I want to take yet but, I'm seriously thinking about it.

[Ca Nguyen]

no worry. just remember, in a little tank you need to do consistence water change every week. and if they don't eat, they go famish really fast. so imo, they're easy to care for, just need alot of caring relatively to other fishes

[electricblue]

Peas don't mess with plants, and the only way it work with more than one is if only one is a male... But I still wouldn't put more than 2 in there. They love bloodworms and I don't.feed mine snails but who knows they may hunt some mts. Mine have shown signs of illness when they go without eating but they are hardy fish

[eklikewhoa]

I wouldn't feed mts, look for pond snails or ramshorn

[rmalford]

Why not mts? Too small? I just picked up some ramshorn yesterday morning.

[eklikewhoa]

Mts have much harder shells which could damage the beaks of the puffers.

[Ca Nguyen]

Mts have much harder shells which could damage the beaks of the puffers.

really good info. that explained why my puffer never touch the MTS first several months. i breed them in a separate tank with no water change for months and after 3 months i notice all snails were starting to turn transparent, might have depleted the trace calcium level.

[electricblue]

Yea, mine wouldn't touch mts when o tried feeding them that so I just stuck to bloodworms but I've seen one try tor pull a big.mts out its shell

[rmalford]

I've had some peas for a couple of weeks now. I have 4 and they're happy and fat chowing down on my RCS, yellow rabbits and blue and red ramshorns.

[eklikewhoa]

LoL, AWESOME!