NEWBIE

[logan22]

So my 90 gallon is almost cycled...and im planning on getting dps for it..Do they need Real plants to thrive..because i only have fake plants,,and i dont know the fisrt thing about a live planted tank...also how many should i keep in a 90 gallon?...do they need alot of places to hide?

[xrayjeeper83]

how many DP's do you plan on putting in your tank? Anything else?

I dont know about the plants, but I dont see why they would need live plants


Oh and welcome

[Pufferpunk]

Wow, with 90g, you could keep a larger fish. If you really want DPs, how about getting a 10-29g & use the 90g for a nice BW biotope or some GSPs? Check our Pufferpedia for other ideas. If you really want the DPs in there, look on other sites for ideas on how ti keep planted tanks, they can be quite beautiful & rewarding! See our Library for more DP info.

[Ohyouknow]

i hear there is some great information on plantedtank.net, and some people can get quite extravagant in growing live plants. I've tried meddling in it myself, however my lighting won't be upgraded until after I get this wet/dry filter going - so I'm at a stand still, and fake-planting (live won't survive it seems with <1 watt/gallon).

You can do fake, just watch the edges of the plants (check them to see if they are sharp).

+1 PP, 90g is large for dps - 5gal per puff is sufficient.. if you wanted to go all out (and heavily planted) you could have almost twenty of them O.O (5 gal for the first, 3-5 gal for each thereafter). Kind of neat to think of all the little interesting hides, plants, territories and such you could put in there... I'd be tempted to build a DP condo, to take up the vertical space as well... a few slate 'castles' would be neat, plants everywhere...

hmmm

[Hilly]

I like your idea of dwarf puffers in a big tank. A large community of Dwarfs look amazing, especially at feeding time when you will have a congregation buzzing up and down the front of the tank waiting for food following your every move.

[pufferpuggirl]

I've always enjoyed having more than one dwarf puffer. A group seems more interesting interacting with one another. And I think, as long as they have plenty of hiding places with plants and/or ornaments, they aren't as apt to become aggressive as they might be if they were in a smaller, less decorated tank.
I think you would enjoy having a group of dwarf puffers. And nothing wrong with plastic plants if you don't have any experience with live, but not all live are difficult to grow either.

[PolishPuff]

I strongly agree with the last two comments.

Dp's are my favorite puffers to look at. When feeding time comes, they come swimming from different hiding spots (looks funny)

[jus85411]

i can just imagine there just being like two or three in this huge tank, food gets dropped in and they all come out of the shaded areas all over the place then all of a sudden the tank looks a lot more full. i think seeing them all emerge at once or one right after another would be pretty funny to see

[logan22]

Thankyou to all for your interesting feedback!! Im guessing im going to need some more plants then as well as hiding spaces like rock caves or something like that! i have thought about live plants.. what kind of plants do DPS need or like for that matter?

[xrayjeeper83]

Fish really dont care what type of plants are in there with them, as long as some of them are tall enough to hide in

[L!$A]

Island Pets has some cool plants if you walk into the store go to the far right of the store and walk towards where the sand/rocks are for sale, on the wall to your left there should be some large plants for like $20 i think, maybe cheaper
Try to get the non-prickly plant

[logan22]

That sounds pretty good!! quick question tho? do plants cause any water problems..parasites or do they die off ? because 20 dollars here 20 dollars there it can be expensive,buying new plants all the time if they die frequently... im guessing i would need some tall plants.. to my tank is pretty deep..

[J-P]

The plants that do well will really do well the others, if they die, that is ok.. you know not to buy them again. Eventually you will be clipping the ones that do well and can transplant them to other areas of the tank.

[L!$A]

That sounds pretty good!! quick question tho? do plants cause any water problems..parasites or do they die off ? because 20 dollars here 20 dollars there it can be expensive,buying new plants all the time if they die frequently... im guessing i would need some tall plants.. to my tank is pretty deep..

I was talking about fake plants, but if you wanna try real plants go for it!!!

[jus85411]

i dont have much experience with planted tanks, but as long as you research the plants you want or can have according to your setup and lighting, it can be very rewarding and only help your water quality which is especially important with puffers