Puffers for Small Aquaria??

[riggers]

Oh I just saw you already said about using the media, sorry.

If you go with Dwarfs I think otos would be good as they are easy and from what I hear do a pretty good job of keeping the tank clean. And they won't outgrow it either so your daughter will be able to keep them in the tank.

[soul-hugger]

Hello...

I have been continuously surprised and pleased to see that my thread has remained near the top of the page since I posted! It is wonderfu to hear from so many people who care, plus you have all show concern and that I appreciate! No offense taken on the cycling stuff.., I would rather have it being said than not, for if I did not know better, you would have corrected me. Most people, once they realize how inhumane it is to use live fish in this way, will consider other forms of cycling. I don't think too many LFS reccommend this anymore, and that is a step in the right direction.

Someone mentioned male paradise fish as a good candidate for a beginners aquarium, and I agree. I know these are fish who have a rock-hard constitution, and will put up with most errors a beginner could make. My daughter did have a betta at one point, and he lived for almost two years. Being anabantids, the betta and paradise have similar water requirements, and a huge plus, especially for kids, is that they are very colourful.

Khulies: I have seven khulies of two different varieties (Khuli and Oblonga). The khulies who are in my smaller tank did hide at first, but once they became familiar with the tank, (they are in with tetras, a juvenile honey gourami and a clown plec) they make their presence known. I love to watch them swimming with their cute wiggly strokes across the front of the tank in the evening, or poking out of the strangest places, trying to hide or sleep, but not totally being hidden. The oblongas are new and still settling in, but when I drop food in for them, they are right out with the others.
My weather loaches, I got them about four or five months ago.., they have easily put on an inch each in length and a considerable amount of girth as well. They may or may not stop growing, but I have heard they can get as long and thick as a foot-long hot dog and live up to 15 years in the right conditions.

Well.., time is now becoming of the essence. sometime this week, and possibly today, I will buy the aquarium. I will continue to research and chat here. It says a lot for puffers to look at the kind of people who own them: friendly, caring, and concerned! Thank-you so much for your help and advice! I will keep you updated on how things are going, and I'm sure I'll think of more questions later!

Best regards,
soul-hugger

[marksrush]

The puffer that finds you will be a lucky one indeed.

[Agnate]

The puffer that finds you will be a lucky one indeed.

I concur!

If you already have Kuhlies and think they would do well in the tank, then you're more than welcome to put them in. I've heard of a lot of success. However, I know nothing about Kuhlies except for what they look like, and I don't know their max sizes or requirements, so I can't really say how well they'd do in a 15 gallon. Can you give me some insight about this? I'd love to know more about them.

[Myaj]

Kuhli's stay pretty small Paul.. about 3-4" long at the most, females get bigger/thicker than the males. A very fat female would be about the diameter of a pencil.

At one point, I somehow acquired a "dwarf" one.. That little guy was so adorable and delicate, about an inch and a half long, only a few milimeters wide. I thought at first my adults had bred but the little guy never grew, it was one of the "babies" I bought originally and it just stayed that small.

One thing I loved about mine, they always hid until the day I got some Water Sprite. They'd climb in it like it was a tree and dangle over the "branches" like a bunch of anacondas in a jungle...

[tuggernutz]

Have you looked at our Pufferpedia? Look under the Learn tab. Our Library is in there too. Be sure to read the Fishless Cycling article in there.

Invaluable! Always on alert, ready to wield your library card! How about just answering the question posed? If someone wanted to research that info themselves, I doubt they would have asked in the first place.

[riggers]

Urm...

[Myaj]

tuggernutz, consider this a warning..

We are here to help people, and many do not know we have a library. Any flaming or trolling will not be accepted here, so please control yourself in the future.

[Agnate]

Also, have a little friggin' respect for a person who makes over 30 posts a day to help people, and pays money out of her pocket to keep this forum going.

I swear, some people need to seriously reconsider what they've typed before they hit the Submit button.

Sorry we digressed, soul-hugger.

[crazedpuffer]

Also, have a little friggin' respect for a person who makes over 30 posts a day to help people, and pays money out of her pocket to keep this forum going.
.

I think your missing a 0 in that number

[Pufferpunk]

Have you looked at our Pufferpedia? Look under the Learn tab. Our Library is in there too. Be sure to read the Fishless Cycling article in there.

Invaluable! Always on alert, ready to wield your library card! How about just answering the question posed? If someone wanted to research that info themselves, I doubt they would have asked in the first place.

Gosh, we work very hard at putting these invaluable resources together. Might as well use them.