New Species Tank. Dwarf Puffers!

[Brennos]

Hey guys, I thought I would share my ideas, and hopefully get some tips from those who have kept puffers before. I have a 38l tank that has had 3 Bristlenose babies in it for 6 months, and now they are big enough to put in my community tank. I was thinking of converting my 38l into a puffer tank. All I need to do is add some more gravel, and plant some new plants, and add some snails and ill be ready for some puffers. Today I'm off to Hollywood Fish Farm Mt Roskill, to get some more black gravel, and some nice plants for the puffers to play in, the next "decoration" will be some caves to serve as hidey holes for them, and then I can actually look at adding a couple of puffers. I was thinking 3 puffers might be enough, and hopefully wont be too much aggression in the tank.

Currently in the tank, is some clumps of hair grass, some Java fern, and some sick looking twisted Val, which I might remove. Any recommendations for plants for puffers? I was thinking Ambulia, but It never grows nice for me, it always grows on angles, and just looks rough.

[Joshlikesfish]

I was thinking Ambulia, but It never grows nice for me, it always grows on angles, and just looks rough.

SamH would be able to sell you some really nice stuff

[SamH]

SamH would be able to sell you some really nice stuff

O rly? The stuff I have at the moment is okay, I wouldn't say nice. But Brennos, feel free to come and grab some.

[Joshlikesfish]

I assume you want those puffers that just came in? I saw them at HFF. They're cool as

[Brennos]

I'm a few weeks from actually getting puffers yet. I need to re-cycle the tank, and get the plants established. and I need to decide on caves etc. Does anyone know if I can cycle the tank with snails? I'd prefer not to buy some cycling fish, if I can just use snails to cycle, as the puffers will take care of the snails later on.

[Brennos]

O rly? The stuff I have at the moment is okay, I wouldn't say nice. But Brennos, feel free to come and grab some.

Currently I have some hair grass up the back of the tank, and some smaller grass up the front. and a Twisted val. I might pm you about some ambulia, if i don't see anything at HFF i like.

[SamH]

I might pm you about some ambulia, if i don't see anything at HFF i like.

Yeah, no worries

[Nymox]

Id be careful with 3 of them in there, 38 ltrs is it the AR380? If it is, they have a very small footprint, Id be inclined to just get the one DP and 2 oto's

[SamH]

If the aggression gets too bad with three, I have a 60x30 my fighter probably wouldn't mind moving out of for a bit. Well planted too.

[Nymox]

I would still advise against getting 3 for 38 ltrs. 2 would be pushing it especially if its an AR380.

[Brennos]

interesting, one of the staff at hff has a 380 with 5 DP's and some guppies, and has no issues. I might start with 2 and see.

[Nymox]

wow 5 in an ar380, I wonder how many they went through before they got 5 with a higher tolerance level. My DP tank has 3x the footprint of an ar380, I've lost 3 DP's due to aggression and the tank is just chocka full of hiding places, heavily planted. So I guess all I can say is good luck :lol:

[Brennos]

Breakaway also had 3 DP in his 380, I think it was 2 females, and 1 male. I haven't even got to the fish yet, ill start with 2 and go from there. Might look for a couple of otos as well if I can, to serve as cleaners. That's at least 2 weeks away. I have added Ramshorn snails today, and some Indian fern.

Plants are Indian Fern, Hair grass, Twisted Val, and some other random grass Might actually be hair grass I'm not sure. I also picked up some blood worms and brine shrimp for my other tank, and will feed the puffers on blood worms as well.

[Nymox]

If you manage to get them old enough to sex then its easier as you can get the male to female ratio right. Get some white worms if you can and daphnia, live is the way to go. Daphnia is great too, being crustacea they are a little crunchy so good for the teeth. Whiteworms, ramshorns, daphnia and bloodworm should have you some healthy puffers.

[johnny walker]

i have a 380 well planted with two dwarf puffers

[Nymox]

seems all the placid puffers are up that way, all the nasty ones come here lol.

[Ice222]

Lol well I got mine from roskill and one of them is definitely a nasty one. Luck of the draw really .

[Brennos]

If you manage to get them old enough to sex then its easier as you can get the male to female ratio right. Get some white worms if you can and daphnia, live is the way to go. Daphnia is great too, being crustacea they are a little crunchy so good for the teeth. Whiteworms, ramshorns, daphnia and bloodworm should have you some healthy puffers.

Awesome thanks for the tips. I am going to try and score me a small (20l) tank to raise ramshorns, and I already have the blood worms, and will buy a few packs of the others you mentioned. I have been looking into breeding my own live food, but I think buying it frozen is just as convenient for me.

[Nymox]

all the foods I mentioned bar the bloodworms are fed live. Daphnia is easy, was my first live food, container outside till the water is green, add daphnia and wait a few weeks for the numbers to increase. White worms are also easy, I just have them in dirt, keep it just moist enough so the dirt will clump is squeezed hard, trickier to harvest them though, but still only takes 2 mins or so. I find the daphnia is particular great for them, not only do they keep the teeth in check, but they swim quite well so they provide entertainment for the DP's as they cruise around hunting. Ive never seen my DP bite the shell on a ramshorn, he just hovers above till it stick out its head then whack! Then I end up with half eaten snails fouling the water.

[Brennos]

Oh really. I have heard the same about the ramshorns, but yeah, I'm not too fused, as the tank is right next to my PC, so ill remove any dead things I see. I saw Daphinia, and White worms as frozen food, are these no good? or are live just even better?

[Nymox]

DP's can be fussy so I find feeding the live foods are a lot easier, and there's very little waste as they love it so much. I also believe that you loose some nutrition when freezing, and when they are so easy to cultivate it seems silly not to.

[Brennos]

DP's can be fussy so I find feeding the live foods are a lot easier, and there's very little waste as they love it so much. I also believe that you loose some nutrition when freezing, and when they are so easy to cultivate it seems silly not to.

I might give it a go then. Would they be able to be cultivated indoors under a fluro light with a heater, also, where did you get the culture to start the colony?

[Nymox]

I just have a drum cut in half outside, I filled it with water and left it for a few weeks, the water turned green. Luckily for me I had some just down the road (thanks LA) but otherwise I would have advertised on here that I was looking for some. No heating or lighting, just a drum outside.

I have heard of people heating it over winter, and keeping it inside under lighting, I think if you get temperatures that are likely to freeze the water that might be a good idea, or if you need mega amounts for fry rearing then keeping the temperatures up over winter wont have a population decline.

They eat algae, not all forms, I find infusoria is best. Easiest way I found to grow that is in sunlight, not flouro. But, if you can get green water inside under flouro, then daphnia will thrive.

[Brennos]

Excellent. Cheers for the advice Nymox. I think I have a few 20l buckets lying around in the garage, so ill set some of those up in the garden and see how i get on. Ill put a post in the sfor sale section and see if I can get some culture. Have you ever cultivated baby brine shrimp? are they any good for my tropicals or the puffers?

[Joshlikesfish]

You can cycle using pure ammonia