The Puffer Forum

the 3 otos and the lone female dwarf puffer have been living together since august the beginning of sept 06.

Well, this morning i turned ont he lights when i got up to find the smallest of the otos laying on the bottom of the tank inbetween the/by the rhyzome of a crypt wendtii, breathing hard. I my first thought was that i must not be feeding them enough and have allowed it to starve, which would have been a shame but the other otos had somewhat rounded stomachs

So, i have one of those hang on tank plastic grated betta display/fish breeder/isolation tanks. I install it and scoop the little guy up and place him in it with a piece of cucumber. Well, it stopped breathing when i checked it 10 minutes ago(9:30pm ish). Upon closer expection when i got it in the isolation box was that the rear half of it was much pale-er than the front/head. Second, i noticed little red areas, almost bite marks. I think about 4 tiny dots total.

The thing is though, the puffer is usually in the way of the 3 otos and not the other way around(the puffer seems to ignore them). Unless it wedged itself between something and got hurt, is it safe to assume the little DP devil was the culprit?

I would.

My guess would be that the sick otto had been discovered by the DP and attacked, yes. That doesn't mean that your DP is out to get ottos though, the majority of fish will scavenge on an ill fish.

i'm not surprised, they are little devils. I just was making sure that its safe to assume the DP.

Mine little monsters chewed up about a third of a 3 inch SAE, and have munched on anything else I've tried to keep with them thus far.

well, the first one i thought was possible starvation or possibily the puffer. I have now lost a second one, tail nipped to hell and a good chunk missing from the body and thus am only waiting upon my delivery from drsfostersmith.com tomorow in order to setup the 20g high and begin cycling the tank in preparation to seperate the dp from the otos. The dp will eventually be placed int he 20g high with maybe other dp's(an additional 2-3).

My question is, could i put the 5 otos in the new tank 20g without cycling and just throw in a bunch or pennywort to soak up nutriants/ammonia/nitrite/nitrate until the extra power filter cycles? Or should i use temporary power filters on the established 10g with the puffer(heavily planted) and swap the established 2213 canister over to the new tank?

my gut feeling is to do the latter.

From what I've read, definitely not. Otto's have a hard time when it comes to acclimation into a new tank. I would try and purchase bio-spira and hold out for 24 hours, then check your water parameters before introducing them to an uncycled tank. Even then you could still lose your Otto's

just kinda want to get them out asap. I didnt realize the puffer would turn so violent so quickly(almost night and day). Most people said a year or so to mature, Mine was super tiny when i purchased it in september. And its the only one in the tank so i didnt think there would be territorial issues like multiple puffers in the same tank.

but hey, we've all been warned from the start. I just want to get them out asap, yah know?

I dont want to be cruel.

Do you have a tank divider handy?

Or put the little brat of a puffer in a breeder net for a few days?

i have one of those hang on the tank breeder boxes. I just feel it would be kinda cruel to house her in that for the next week or so while the new tank cycles.

Nah, just throw some plants in there and a few snails..

If you already have plants and can steal a filter, that will really, really speed up your cycle. Personally, going that route I'd feel perfectly comfortable moving the dwarf puffer to the new 20 asap and leaving the otos in the established tank. That will be plenty of bacteria, and I highly doubt a little single dwarf puffer could poison itself with ammonia in a completely uncycled 20 gallon tank, much less one with a boosted cycle.

The otos on the other hand.. they are really, really touchy buggars and if you plan on leaving them in the 10 for the long run anyways, I'd just move the puffer once the 20 is set up.

this 10g has become a temp tank, while i am in the process of setting up a 90g low-tech tank(south american theme) so the otos will be moving to a very large tank somewhere near february 1st i'd reckon.

the 20g high will be my first high-tech tank with pressurized co2 and EI dosing, etc etc.

I got almost everything in my shipment today, including the new Hydor inline heater and what not.

I am gonna set up the 20g and get it cycling while i place the puffer in the breeder box for the time being.

i feel kinda bad. the breeder box is kinda small. its like the little plastic hang ons that the fishstores use to put fish in to bag, but it has slats on the bottom to allow water in and out. I put a big clump of java moss in and some snails.

kinda like this but it has holes/slats in it.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/P ... 004+113766

I cant see keeping her in there for a week or more.[/url]

edit***

i wussed out. Her bellie went all dark and she wouldn't stop ramming the sides of the box. I let her free in the tank. I just will have to gamble for the next week or so until the 20 cycles.

I can't remember where you are but you could get some Biospira and speed up the cycle by quite a bit. If you can't find any locally, drsfostersmith.com now sells it online.

New Jersey.