The Puffer Forum

Hello all,

I'm not brand new to aquariums, but am new enough for the purposes of this intro. I had a few tanks growing up, and got back into tanks with a small reef tank about 6 years ago. After going through a couple reef tanks and a small freshwater, first with plants then a couple dwarf puffers, I had to shut everything down a couple years ago due to a heavy work and school load. Here I am done with school now, and am ready to get back into aquariums. I have a bunch of equipment and a few tanks, so I'll use what I have, but I do plan to start a small tank for a couple dwarf puffers. I'll be turning to you all for advice, and I'll start another thread with my plans in another forum!

David

What puffer/s are you thinking of getting?

Hi, I apparently forgot all about signing up for this forum! Thanks for welcoming me, I'm keeping (now, since that post was 4 months ago) dwarf puffers, not sure which species, as I believe there's an imitator species, and these were sold to me under the common name.

I'll go ahead and update my new tank and ask for some advice now!

Long story short, my little guys aren't the happiest it seems. I've not been so successful with the plants, and a friend who is suggested I make some changes, and I don't think these little guys are too happy with it since they're in hiding all day long now.

Longer Background: I set up a 10 gallon with eco-complete substrate, some lava rock and Mopani. My friend gave me some plants from his tank, and I ordered a 20g CO2 cartridge setup. It has a Planted 24/7 light on 24/7 mode and a HOB. I initially brought home three juvenile dwarf puffers, and unfortunately two of them bullied the smallest one to death. The two were pretty territorial, staying on opposite side of the tank, though one was more of the aggressor. Fast forward a bit: based on my friends recommendations for the plants, I decided to swap the substrate for a softer clay-based soil, swap the CO2 cartridge (which was highly inconsistent) for a DIY setup, and increase my fertilization. Since the substrate swap, the puffers have been spending more time in hiding. They're actually out in front as I write this (go figure), but they really seem more reclusive. I have also made some changes to the water, which I thought would benefit them more. In my research, I found that they like softer more acidic water more and I am on a well, so my tank was setup with hard somewhat alkaline water at a neutral (supposedly) pH. I mixed in some RODI to soften it up a bit when I changed things around, and have been performing top-offs with RODI. My water is now a medium hardness, slightly less alkaline, and a tiny bit acidic. A couple good things to note are that the two now hang around each other all day, and don't fight any more, and that they love eating snails! (I have a 2.5 gallon set up with a breeding population of rams.) They're not too keen on the bloodworms though, even though they supposedly only ate that at the store, and I don't feed them snails regularly... about once a week.

SO, does anyone have any suggestions to make my puffers happier? If you have tips for the plants too, I'll take it - I have a hair algae bloom right now - but I am more concerned with the puffers and they're health.

Thanks!

Do you have a pic of the tank? Welcome to the world of little blimpy swimming pigs! XD

Thanks! Blimpy swimming pigs... That's a first to me! I'll take some pictures tomorrow...I'll give them a couple snails to lure them out!

Well, let's see if sharing works:

The tank as of right now. I've done two water changes this week and sucked off as much as I can without pulling the plants out (yet it keeps happening) and this algae still grows back super fast!

https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipO ... _FrOYQu2Jc

If you guys are able to see, I tried a close-up video of the little guys eating last week. (Pardon the dogs in the background)

https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipP ... 8SFFEWqN5m

I hope the links work. If not, I'll try to attach.

Thanks!

Well, I just did a water change and took a couple updated shots, but the images are too large to attach. So here's more links:

https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipO ... oN_ii3Vug-
https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipN ... 4_wkAwzPzg

Lol it was a spur of the moment idea for a name!

Links don't work. Try uploading them here: www.photobucket.com

OK, let's try again!

http://i1374.photobucket.com/albums/ag4 ... jckvfg.jpg
http://i1374.photobucket.com/albums/ag4 ... o3xkg2.jpg

I hope that works!

While doing my water change yesterday, I noticed a couple things. First of all, I finally saw a line on the belly of the more aggressive one, yet no line on the other, so perhaps they're becoming sexually mature and are male/female? Maybe that explains the change in behavior? I was also noticing that when I cut the filter and powerhead for maintenance, they come out to explore more. I have my flow cut all the way back on a Koralia Pico and my HOB has moss slowing the flow. Could this still be too much for them? I added the Pico pump because I had a stagnant section of water that was developing a film, and I figured it would be better for the health of the plants and fish if there was better flow, even if the puffers aren't big fans of flow. Finally, while perusing (sp?) the forum, I noticed some of you with the Dwarf Puffers keep Amano shrimp in the tank. If this is acceptable with caution, I'd like to get some to help with clean-up! This is the only tank I've kept where I have no real clean-up crew, as the snails are snacks! Thoughts?

Thanks!