Dwarf puffer help

[pollypuff]

ok so I have way to much time on my hands and did a mock up of how I would personally scape the bowl. yay for photoshop lol

http://i.imgur.com/J41DP7J.jpg

Mostly I would do this to maximize space but also ease of cleaning. You can super glue anubias nana to the rocks and use that instead of substrate - makes a nice carpeting effect, holds down debris aka poop but also easily removed for cleaning. Anubias barteri, a larger leaf anubias is on top of the rock. You can glue, tie or simply wedge it in place. Again, easily removed for cleaning. As mentioned before anubias doesn't require high light or fertilizers. This also gives your puffer more space in 2 ways - no substrate to displace water and also utilizes the center of the bowl while still giving you a centerpiece and creates an interesting structure for your dp to explore. Because there is no substrate you can easily re-arrange this setup - reconfigure the arch, move the plants ect - any time you feel your dp is bored and you want to give him something "new" to explore.

For fun here is a pic of my red-eye, Shmendrick, showing off how much he likes anubias lol. Taken about 5 minutes ago
http://i.imgur.com/gNLRJN0.jpg

[fishguy12]

Thanks for your contribution. I can see where you're coming from but some questions do arise. Surely removing stuff and adding loafs of the same thing will more quickly bore the puffer? And the use of loads and loads of anubias won't make the tank the most eye catching of things . I do pike your idea but the fact that anubias seems to cost a lot here and the large amount if it being in the tank would make it look rather stale if that makes sense. I must say your photishopping is very good. I wish I could do it that well lol.

Also what would go at the back of it? Your red eyed puffer looks really cool, is he like a dwarf puffer (same size and requirements?).
To combat the large plants I'll have to trim them but in a way I want the tank to become like s jungle in a sense as it will make the puffer feel more...puffey.

If you can expand a bit more on your ideas I'll consider it as it does sound good. The other problem is that I won't be able to do it until maybe Christmas time..... Which sucks. I might be able to get a bigger tank as well but I highly doubt that.

One thing I do have is a tank that MAY become free soon that is around 18 gallons (45x30x45cm). This would be good for some puffers or one puffer of a different type but I'll use fake plants as I can't grow plants in big tanks. Lol

[fishguy12]

So the puffer just got stuck in the filter intake. I think one of his left fins may be 'broken'. He can swim well but I feel he may be handicapped . Last time I checked on him he was sitting in a plant obviously traumatized. This has definitely set back his progress of getting used to the bowl.....

[Pufferpunk]

Add Melafix to help heal him. Be sure there's enough O2 eschange in there.

[fishguy12]

There's enough 02 exchange as I added an airstone the other day. I'll try and get some melafix.

Is there any small-iah freshwater puffers for the tank I mentioned earlier?

[Pufferpunk]

Not that you could add to a DP tank, they would have to be housed separately.

[fishguy12]

Also about the glass surfing. He hardly ever does it at the front which leads me to believe that due to the light he may be able to see his reflection in the glass. Or hr is still getting used to the tank and the new scape. Or (finally) he's bored because there haven't been any live things to hunt for in a while as I'm collecting snails to set up a breeding g tank because he ate all my previous snails!

Finally he could.be surfing because I added some of the pieces of fertilizer from a root tab to the roots of the plants in the bowl. I think I didn't put them deep enough and now they're leaching loads of nutrients into the water which could be stressing him out? Thoughts on this

[fishguy12]

Not that you could add to a DP tank, they would have to be housed separately.

Only 1 dp could go in an 18 gallon tank? I didn't think they were that aggressive XD

[Pufferpunk]

I meant, no other puffer species added.
Fish do not see their reflections in the glass.

[pollypuff]

Also about the glass surfing. He hardly ever does it at the front which leads me to believe that due to the light he may be able to see his reflection in the glass. Or hr is still getting used to the tank and the new scape. Or (finally) he's bored because there haven't been any live things to hunt for in a while as I'm collecting snails to set up a breeding g tank because he ate all my previous snails!

Finally he could.be surfing because I added some of the pieces of fertilizer from a root tab to the roots of the plants in the bowl. I think I didn't put them deep enough and now they're leaching loads of nutrients into the water which could be stressing him out? Thoughts on this

put a sponge over the intake. I know you're trying really hard to do the right thing but this bowl does not sound like a good environment for this puffer. There is no room for error in 3 gallons - do you test your ph? some fertilizers can affect the ph and there is a good chance you are overdosing because the bowl is so small. He might be glass surfing because he doesn't have enough room. When you feed him snails you will need to remove them right away if he doesn't eat all of them because the ammonia will spike quickly in 3 gallons of water. Honestly, you would be better off trading in your puffer for a betta. Anyway this situation is upsetting me to much so this will be my last post in this thread.Good luck little puffer.

[Pufferpunk]

Bettas love swimming room!

[fishguy12]

Also about the glass surfing. He hardly ever does it at the front which leads me to believe that due to the light he may be able to see his reflection in the glass. Or hr is still getting used to the tank and the new scape. Or (finally) he's bored because there haven't been any live things to hunt for in a while as I'm collecting snails to set up a breeding g tank because he ate all my previous snails!

Finally he could.be surfing because I added some of the pieces of fertilizer from a root tab to the roots of the plants in the bowl. I think I didn't put them deep enough and now they're leaching loads of nutrients into the water which could be stressing him out? Thoughts on this

put a sponge over the intake. I know you're trying really hard to do the right thing but this bowl does not sound like a good environment for this puffer. There is no room for error in 3 gallons - do you test your ph? some fertilizers can affect the ph and there is a good chance you are overdosing because the bowl is so small. He might be glass surfing because he doesn't have enough room. When you feed him snails you will need to remove them right away if he doesn't eat all of them because the ammonia will spike quickly in 3 gallons of water. Honestly, you would be better off trading in your puffer for a betta. Anyway this situation is upsetting me to much so this will be my last post in this thread.Good luck little puffer.

Thanks for helping. I'm sure the puffer will be fine; I care for him very well.

I know why he has been glass surfing. Its because (unfortunately) he's scared of me. I think he's associated me with both food and the massive hand shape that sometimes enters the bowl. I think this because I did a test earlier. I stood outside my room.and peeked around the door and watched him In the bowl. He was fine and exploring or just floating g about. I walk into the room and sit down by my desk, where the bowl is, and he starts glass surfing again.

I repeated this a few times and im sure that this is the reason he glass surfs.

Plus I'm sure dp's need a large size tank for their size because of their bioload and not the amount of swimming space they need, however its obvious that the more swimming space is better.

[fishguy12]

Just thought I'd do an update on Peanut. Turns out 'he' is actually a 'she', which would explain her strange placidness towards the shrimp .

The glass surfing has all but stopped, apart from when I look at the tank. She's unfortunately pretty scared of me, but I've been sitiing by the tank and moving every so often so she gets used to movement. Everything seems to be going really well at the moment; whenever I watch her in the tank she is exploring stuff and nipping the java moss because apparently it looks like a snail to her XD.

There's been a population of hydras suddenly appear, I'd say there's about 8 if them in total. They don't really bother anyone and I think they look cool, however I don't want a population explosion so I'll be cutting down on feeding for a few days, maybe a week.

My sister wants to get a tank mate to go with Peanut, is this possible?

So all in all I think Peanut is happy, and I'm happy with Peanut

Just to add I'm trying to get. A 20 litre+ tank for Christmas but I'm.not sure of it'll happen.....still if it doesn't she's happy with her current bowl so yeah.

[Pufftastic]

My sister wants to get a tank mate to go with Peanut, is this possible?

Not in the size bowl you have currently. Sorry.

To have two, you need a minimum of 10 gallons US, and I recommend going even larger than that to minimize aggression and stress levels. Remember, we're not just trying to keep puffers alive -- the goal is to help them thrive.

[fishguy12]

Thanks, I was sure nothing else that's a fish could go in there. Might get a few more RCS instead.