New here, soon to be puffer owner again.

[JakeJekel37]

Hello everyone. Just thought I'd introduce myself as I've been lurking for a little while now.

I'm currently cycling a 10 gallon. I have 3 ideas bouncing around in my head on what to do with it. I've kept fish all my life, but stopped about 3 years ago because I got tired of doing the same thing all the time. I had always used the same fake plants and same decorations. Recently, I got the bug again, and decided to finally step up and do it right with real plants.

My 3 ideas for the tank are:
1) Red Cherry, Blue Pearl or Yellow shrimp colony (I know not to keep them together because they'll interbreed and revert to their natural, wild brown coloring).
2) Small community tank
3) Dwarf Puffer tank

I've actually had DPs in the past. About 7 or 8 years ago I had 2 DPs in a 20 gallon long community tank and they did wonderful in there. Very few incidents of fin nipping. However, that was in a 20 gallon long, and I don't believe I could do a community tank with a DP in a 10 gallon.

My water seems to be most ideal for DPs where I currently live. My tap water has a pH of 8.4 but with the driftwood in my tanks, it's a steady 8.0, and the temperature of my tank stays between 76-80 as I live in Florida and it's very expensive to have the AC running to lower it further than that.

I guess my question would be, should I keep this a species only tank with 2, maybe 3 DPs (if I can find a male and 2 females), or is there anything else I could put in with 1 or 2 DPs that could handle the high pH? I know Otos are good tankmates for DPs, but they seem to be best suited for a more neutral pH. And I know shrimp are pretty much a crap shoot with DPs depending on individual temperament.

Also, are there any good places to order DPs online? Or should I try to get my LFS to order some for me since I haven't seen any in store yet?

Thanks.

[Flutter]

Welcome and obviously we're going to say to go with the puffers :p

If I were you I'd go with 3 DPs (good for you on doing the research about proper sex ratios) or a single DP with 3 or 4 kuhli loaches. I just love those little guys.

[JakeJekel37]

Thanks for the welcome and reply.

I've thought about kuhli loaches, but wasn't sure a 10 gallon would be enough for them. So that's an idea. I'll do a little more research and see what kind of water parameters they like, but I thought preferred more neutral or slightly acidic water than my 8.0.

[JakeJekel37]

One more question... Does anyone know if a CPO (dwarf orange crayfish) could be kept with DPs? Water parameters are about the same for both, and I thought perhaps the CPO would be able to defend itself from the DP if it needed to. But they're a bit high priced to take the chance on without hearing if anyone else has tried before.

Perhaps best just to not try it.

[xrayjeeper83]

that sounds like a bad combo. Both of those would most likely pick at each other. Since puffers tend to sleep on the bottom the cray might think he is food, and when the DP is awake he may pick at the crays eyes and legs

[JakeJekel37]

That's right, I forgot that they slept on the bottom, thanks. It's been awhile since I had them.

[Pufferpunk]

Plus, what might happen to the puffer if the cray does try to "defend" itself?

[JakeJekel37]

Plus, what might happen to the puffer if the cray does try to "defend" itself?

Yeah yeah

Just throwing around some ideas. I did answer myself in the post I first brought them up and said "perhaps best just to not try."

I will most likely just go with a species tank if I can find some females.

[xrayjeeper83]

thats best for most puffers

[Lola]

What I found with my DP 30g 'community-ish' tank was that it was a challenge to keep the puffs well fed if there were tankmates competing for food. So I wouldn't mix them with mid-water fast swimming fish again. (But kuhli's sound great - always intended to add some when I kept this tank.) My puffs had no issue with otos and amano shrimp and with careful introduction, the DPs didn't bother either. And they were a great clean-up crew.

I've heard of lots of people who keep DPs with dwarf crays but I have zero experience with that. As the DPs became fully mature, there were constant and intense (for me, anyway) territory battles. I had one male and four females and the male would charge at certain females and chomp down on them causing occasional puffing, even though the tank was as heavily planted and rockscaped as I could manage. Despite this intraspecies aggression, there were no shrimp problems. My main issues with the tank were feeding (especially when treating for internal parasites) and puff-on-puff aggression.

[bertie 83]

welcome, i have personally had bad experiences trying dps in community tanks, as with lola feeding is difficult, of they feed too well on other fish's fins not good

[JakeJekel37]

Thanks for the welcomes and the ideas.

Amano shrimp might not be a bad idea, as they get up to 1.5-2", and they can handle my water parameters well. Again, I'd love to put a couple otos in there, I just don't think the 8.0 pH would be a good environment for them, same with the kuhli loaches.

[bertie 83]

amano shrimp are the only tankmates i tried that worked i would go with that. no guaruntees tho so be prepared for the worst

[JakeJekel37]

Lol, I ALWAYS prepare for the worst. It's always a gamble buying anything. Even if they look healthy when you get them, you just really never know. They may have just been infected with something that isn't showing. They might not handle acclimation that well. Just gotta do everything you can, and never spend money you can't afford to be throwing away.

[RTR]

Most crays will nip off the plants (if live), so i would not use with DPs, where i use live plants only. I would not trust the DPs to leave the cray alone, or vice versa. No good either way.

Second the species tank idea for DPs, or basically any puffer.