DP's

[pufferfreak]

I have an empty 7 gallon tank and i am thinking of getting two DP's. ive seen some at my LFS. Right now i have a natural looking gravel, java fern and a water fern. Suggestions?

[WalkingTarget]

Suggestion 1: More Plants

Suggestion 2: More Plants

Suggestion 3: Sex Dwarf Puffers very VERY carefully. You want one male and one female.

[pufferfreak]

Yes sorry forgot to mention that. i am getting tons and tons of plants. The ones at the LFS seem to have the pecking order worked out. they are the only two fish in their besides the bumbleebee gobies(which shouldnt be in their ).

[riggers]

You probably won't be able to sex them if they are young ones to be honest. Anyway you are having two, so the males may not fight anyway as there is no female to fight over. Obviously you would still be better off with a male and female though.

[riggers]

they are the only two fish in their

Oh well then, you have no choice over what sex to get anyway .

[pufferfreak]

Yeah lol. i know the whole male female thing. i figure though that sinse i am making the tank look like and underwater jungle they might never see eachother lol. if worse comes to worse though one will have to go. i am cleaning the 7 gallon out right now. my plan is to
-stalk it with lots of plants
- peices of wood
- lots of snail
- maybe 2-3 small schooling fish just for effect.

[Starlet]

- lots of snail
- maybe 2-3 small schooling fish just for effect.

What kind of snails? Dp's are supposed to eat ramshorns and if they are too plentiful, the puffer will stuff itself. They just keep eating!
Schooling fish should be kept in groups of 6-7 or more...plus dp's don't get along well with other fish except otos. You could put 2-3 otocinclus' in there and they'd take care of any algae problems you have.

[riggers]

I agree, the otos will be much better suited to the tank. It is very risky putting other fish in with DPs. The otos will stick together as well. I know it is not really the schooling effect, but I think otos are actually quite cool.

[pufferfreak]

Snails for cleaning and/or eating. I might do otos to as they are very plentiful in my LFS's. Pondsnails most likely with a big mystery snail maybe.

[pufferfreak]

Okay i got the 7 gallon setup. Its sort of half cycled already. Im going to start getting plants and a piece of wood in the next few weeks.

[Mareva]

I recommand you get pieces of wood high enough to cut the tank in 2 sections so it makes 2 territories.

I would only keep the 2 DPs in the 7G. Adding other fish, IMO, would be too much bioload. 7G is already just enough for the 2 DPs.
Also, otos are schooling fish that should be in groups of 5 minimum, and that's too much for a 7G. I know a lot of people have 1-2 otos with DPs, but my experience with otos has proven that they fare much better in group. I've often bought 3 at a time and they all died. Then I got a groupe of 6 and they all survived. I could really see how they hang together when stressed, reducing their stress and I think that's why the others died, from stress and not being able to release it by hanging in a group. Well, that's what I observed anyways.

Good luck!

[pufferfreak]

Yes i will definitly get wood to cut the tank in half. I will probably only get the two DP's as you suggest. Will putting so many plants in there so that you cant see the sides help the territory problem?

[riggers]

Will putting so many plants in there so that you cant see the sides help the territory problem?

Yeah that will help loads. And it will look nice

[pufferfreak]

Yeah i am a fan of live plants. lol

[Mareva]

Yep!
Tons of plants!