Just a quick Carinotetraodon travancoricus (DP) question!

[Red Panda]

I am reading a lot of mixed stocking guidelines on Carinotetraodon travancoricus (Dwarf Puffer) and would like to know what's up. I've seen two being reccomended in a 5 gallon and sometimes up to three if you can get 1m/2f. So what's up?

Thanks in advance!
RP

[Pufferpunk]

You'll NEVER see that recommended here!
library/puffers-in-focus/dwarfpuffercare/

[Red Panda]

So 2-3 gallons per puffer is absolute myth and will absolutely never work? The PufferPedia says 5g/DP while that link says 5g for the first and 3g for additional.

[Pufferpunk]

Well, if you want them to live long, happy, healthy lives... Otherwise, follow the "myth" that others post on different forums than this one...

[Red Panda]

I want them to live long, happy lives which is why I'm asking. Even this website gives contradicting information and want to know what is best for these fish.

[RTR]

Very, very few hobbyists ever set an "ideal tank" of any sort. Then you also have to define what you mean by "ideal".

If you want to maximize lifespan for DPs, an ideal tank IMHO would be a 20-long (US tank sizes), which is situated between two other identical tanks., all well planted with live plants. It would house one DP. A feeding cone with dish below would be included.

If you want a breeding tank, then for me it would be a 33XL, well planted with live plants, housing 1 male and 3 females, and again adjacent to another tank of the same set-up. Two well-spaced feeding cones would be included, each with a cast herp water dish beneath it to reduce substrate infestation with live blackworms.

If anyone else has set such DP tanks, I haven't heard of such, so why bother listing it? Most hobbyists would consider such set-ups "wasteful" - which I have been accused of being regularly for decades.

[Biff Malawi]

I think a heavily planted 20l would be a nice home for a trio of DPs.

RTR I am fascinated by your response what are the outside too tanks for? Are they all plumbed together? Why is that better than say a bigger tank like a 40g breeder?

[Red Panda]

I was thinking 5 - one male, four females.

How does one go about obtaining sexed puffers, however? I will most likely have to order online unless I can get into my LFS on fish day before the puffs hit their water. They have some nasty tanks.

[RTR]

Red Panda: Around here, we only rarely see sex-able DP in the LFS. I just buy more than I need, keep them in QT until I have selected the ones I want and return the left-overs. they are likely sxable then, so are worth more to the LFS.

[RTR]

Biff Malawi: The side tanks are for fish-fish con-specific visual interactions. And yes, there is also tank-to-tank water exchange to share pheromones between tanks as well. Both of those functions help reduce male-female aggression within the breeding tanks. I have a thing about visual and biochemical/pheromone interactions among fish. It works for Cichlids as well. It was all triggered decades ago from Konrad Lorentz' "King Solomon's Ring. I am a compulsive experimenter.

Fish can damage their partners/mates/same-sex competitors because we cannot provide Nature-scale physical surroundings sufficient for aggression/territorial/hormonal release and/or escape. Visual contacts don't kill. Aggressive displays between fish divided by glass are still releases but w/o fatal consequences. Visual displays between some Tank species I have bred did evd up with "chin" calluses on the dominant males. But that is better tann dead dominant males. It works, it is interesting, and is cheaper than my single-mals.

HTH, FWIW