Getting reay to take on some DPs!!

[Pufferpunk]

Either pH is fine. You just want to test to see if it stays stable. What's the pH of your tap water?

[Hillehaus]

I probably wouldn't do anything to decrease the pH. I certainly wouldn't use any chemicals to do so. In my experience, a stable pH is more important than the actual numbers.

What is your substrate, as that commonly affects pH?

[JennLynn]

the pH in my new tank is the same as the pH in my other two tanks and my tap water.. I put driftwood in thinking it would bring it down a tad. She is doing fine in the pH she is at, now though. I just didn't understand why I'd get such different readings. also, while I have you both here! my puffer is about 1/2" now, and shows no signs of territory or her spots turning to stripes, so am I correct in assuming she is a lady?

[Pufferpunk]

library/puffers-in-focus/sexing-carinot ... rf-puffer/

[JennLynn]

That was a great article! It was the one that helped me distinguish her as a female origingally, I'm just paranoid.. I don't want to pair a male and female in a small tank, without a third female. Pufferpunk, do you have an article on freshwater cleaning crews? I was thinking MTS, and imagine that the puffers will keep the population from exploding. I was also thinking amano shrimp, but are cherry shrimp smart/quick enough or will they just immediately become food? And then how many otos could I have without overcrowding? I'm thinking two, but wasn't sure if that would be too many?

[JennLynn]

(second female, third dp)

[Pufferpunk]

I don't have an article on that here but keep in mind, MTS's shells are much too hard for even a larger puffer's teeth & have been known to chip/break them. Most a DP might do is eat the meat out of some of them.

[JennLynn]

that's what I'm planning on; I want them more for the aeration/cleaning aspects but you think the newly hatched could hurt them? I don't want that by any means

[bertie 83]

Dps normally flip them and eat them rather than crunching but you never know. Cherry shrimp seem too daft to live in a dp tank IMO, I had good luck with amanos they just lost a leg here and there. Large armoured shrimp may be worth a go, pond snails are a good snail option, sometimes bury etc but keep your substrate shallow and you will get by with a syphon to clean it

[JennLynn]

Thank you, Bertie! I've been so back and forth on my cleaning crew

[Pufferpunk]

To post our old Mentor RTR: "Puffers don't have cleaning crews, they have food reserves!"

[JennLynn]

Haha!! Little A little B. I know whatever goes in there could very possibly become lunch.

[Biff Malawi]

I keep cherry shrimp with my dps. After chasing them around initially the dps seem to ignore them now. They breed so fast if a few get picked off it's no big deal. I have thought of MTS myself but the puffers wouldn't eat many and once introduced they are forever.

For clean up crew I have had great success with the South American Spongefish.

[Biff Malawi]

[JennLynn]

hahaha Bill! it took me a while to figure that one out , thanks for the assistant picture.