The Puffer Forum

Hi, I am new to the puffer community and this is my first time writing out to you guys. Currently, I have a 20 gallon tank with 1 male and 2 female dwarf puffers. It is slightly planted and the fish are thriving very well. The plants include Java fern and Java Moss. My question is: How do you breed these dwarf puffers? What water conditions are best when breeding? Do I have enough (and the best types) of plants for breeding? What do I do with the eggs and fry? Thank you!!

Play some Barry White for them?

My DPs bred all on their own, without any help from me. Mine liked hidden areas to do their spawning -- they seemed to like a large hollow shipwreck ornament I had that was in three large pieces. My DPs are always happiest in very heavily decorated environments. I don't think they care if plants are live or artificial, but they do like LOTS of them.

I removed the two babies that I found, but due to my inexperience and not knowing how to feed them properly, they died. I suspect the rest were gobbled up by the other DPs.

So they will breed fine in the water they are already comfortable in?? And what should the tank setup be for the eggs and fry?

That is correct, they will breed if they feel the desire. Very small foods will be required for young. I have often considered a linked system with the main dp tank so fry can be moved instantly without needing to be acclimatised with a passive slow feed back to main tank. Never got further than considering though

Pufferpunk wrote:Play some Barry White for them?

Sorry--couldn't help myself. I've never bred them, listen to those guys.

cts6143 wrote:So they will breed fine in the water they are already comfortable in?? And what should the tank setup be for the eggs and fry?

Keep the adults with the eggs if possible, as they like to "fan" the eggs with their tails and guard them. I don't know why they do this, but I personally think it might help prevent them from getting fungus. Also, the eggs are just too delicate (in my opinion) to move. You could move the parent fish, but I wouldn't try to move the eggs. I move goldfish eggs all the time, but would be really reluctant to mess with DP eggs.

For fry, I'd do same-temp water (82-ish) as the main tank, and infusoria as first food, graduating up to newly-hatched BBS (baby brine shrimp) within a week or so.

I think they fan them to keep them clear of detritus and crud. I could be wrong lol. Barry White may help get them in the mood lol. Never tried that

If "Let's Get it On" doesn't work, nothing will. Sorry, its a fact.

My understanding is that the male fans the eggs to ensure that they have access to fresh water with enough oxygen in it.

It would be handy if the puffer owners who have bred them could post their water parameters please? Even if it is just the pH and temperature. Also whether their DP's are more likely to spawn immediately after a water change and whether the water change water is cooler than the tank water or not.

Iliveinazoo wrote:It would be handy if the puffer owners who have bred them could post their water parameters please? Even if it is just the pH and temperature. Also whether their DP's are more likely to spawn immediately after a water change and whether the water change water is cooler than the tank water or not.

My pH from the tap is always high, usually 8.0-ish. My puffers seem to like this a lot. I keep the temp stable with a heater at 82F.

Never saw a connection between water changes or temp fluctuations and their breeding. The little boogers just do their own thing, with no pattern I can discern.

Thanks Pufftastic

My fish store owner told that their dwarf puffers always get in to the mood immediately when they ad Tetra Vital https://www.tetra.net/scan/en/products/tetra-vital to the tanks.
I've tried that now but no immediate reaction, I didn't dose it as much as the instructions said (yet) because my breeding tank has other fish at the moment. I have also read that they like the addition of peat or other material that make the water "black". I've just ordered this product and I'm trying it out when I get it: https://www.aquaristikshop.com/aquarist ... er/907156/

I've seen a dwarf puffer fry 2 times in my community tank, the first time was when I had vacuumed all the dirt and plant particles from the tank and there were some shrimp fry among them, but I didn't have time to pick them up then so one week went buy and then when I was collecting the shrimps I saw a tiny round fish among them! I placed it in my nano but unfortunately it didn't survive the time when I had to spend weeks at the hospital.
Last year I was watching my fish when I realized there was puffer that was way too small to be one of those young ones I had bought earlier, it must have been hatched at my tank. I have been feeding micro worms to it and now it eats bloodworms and other frozen foods like the others, I'm very happy that it has been growing so well.
At the future when I'm going to try to breed puffers in a breeder tank, I plan to feed the fry first with the Hobby Protogen that is the easiest way of providing infusoria to fry IMO. https://www.aquaristikshop.com/aquarist ... at/355100/ I think the java moss from a mature aquarium is essential when raising dwarf puffer fry, since they can then eat all kinds of tiny creatures that live among the moss.
Unfortunately I cannot tell exactly what the water parameters were when they were breeding, but my tap water KH and GH is soft and pH around 7 and it usually drops in the aquarium, I have soil as a substrate and that makes the water parameters ideal for most fish.
Temperature has been around 25-26C.
I'll post more info later if my attempt is successful.

Pallokala,let me know if you're successful! I'm realizing how hard it is to find these once-plentiful dwarf puffers, and I'd love to start breeding them to help slow the depletion of wild puffers.