Hello,
I've been researching DPs for a couple of months now and I'm finally going tonight to pick them up. I have a 20 gallon XH fully planted tank cycled and ready to go. I'm just really concerned about the whole male to female ratio. These guys or gals that I'm getting are really small - I don't think I'll be able to tell. What do you suggest? What's going to happen if I get a bunch of males? Also, I thought I would get 5 or 6 - too many for the tank? I first read 3 gallons per fish, now I've seen the suggestion of 5 gallons per fish.
Picking up new DPs today
i wound up with 4 males and 1 female in a 10 gal because of the same problem and misinformation about Fish per gal from the fish store (this was before i found the puffer forum). i found that with the exception of mating season (spring) they all got along perfectly. maybe it was because they grew up together.
mating season was interesting. there was def. a dominant male, and he would chase the lonely female around to try to mate, with the other males trailing behind him. my female never looked stressed out, so i left them alone, but if you wind up with a similar ratio, just watch for signs of stress on the female(s) and if they look bad put them in a breeder net or QT tank until things chill out.
i actually wound up with little baby DPs believe it or not. i would do water changes and find them in the bottom of the bucket, about the size of the head of a pin. i could spot them by spinning the water in one direction and watch for little bits of debris going against the current. those little babies were really strong swimmers. i tried to keep the babies for awhile but without a designated fry tank for them they never made it.
mating season was interesting. there was def. a dominant male, and he would chase the lonely female around to try to mate, with the other males trailing behind him. my female never looked stressed out, so i left them alone, but if you wind up with a similar ratio, just watch for signs of stress on the female(s) and if they look bad put them in a breeder net or QT tank until things chill out.
i actually wound up with little baby DPs believe it or not. i would do water changes and find them in the bottom of the bucket, about the size of the head of a pin. i could spot them by spinning the water in one direction and watch for little bits of debris going against the current. those little babies were really strong swimmers. i tried to keep the babies for awhile but without a designated fry tank for them they never made it.
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lisalisa
Well, I picked them up last night. At first they seemed to be doing great, they were swimming all over the tank checking things out - this morning I'm not so sure. I could only find 4 of them before I went to work - I thought they were all dead because they were sitting completely still on the bottom of the tank - then 3 of them moved - one still hadn't moved an inch when I left - I'm worried.... Is this normal - do they play dead - or sleep on the bottom? The one that I'm really worried about hasn't moved since last night.
They're not showing any interest in food either, which from what I've read is pretty normal. I've been relocating plenty of snails from my other tanks though so I guess maybe they'll snack on those.
I haven't checked the water parameters since Monday night but on Monday everything thing was great.
ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10 ppm
PH: 7.4
They're not showing any interest in food either, which from what I've read is pretty normal. I've been relocating plenty of snails from my other tanks though so I guess maybe they'll snack on those.
I haven't checked the water parameters since Monday night but on Monday everything thing was great.
ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10 ppm
PH: 7.4
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messy_da_legend
- Figure 8 Puffer
- Posts: 223
- Joined: Sat Feb 25, 2006 4:53 pm
- My Puffers: M. baileyi called Esau
- Location: Ipswich UK