20g setup advise

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Eagle-Beak
Puffer Fry
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Joined: Thu Apr 05, 2018 9:12 pm
Location (country): United States

20g setup advise

Post by Eagle-Beak »

Hey, everybody!

My fiance and I just set up our new 20 gallon tank (woo!) in hopes of preparing a good home for a freshwater puffer. We'll be doing live plants, and will have a 3in Bristlenose Pleco in there with him.

We've had our hearts set on an Amazon puffer for a while. What's the experience level on those guys, especially with their extra dentistry needs? We understand that a 20g might be a tad small for them, especially because they prefer to be in a group, so what might ya'll suggest?

If not, then we also have a soft spot for Dwarf puffers (because, how can you not??). The tank will be heavily planted so the line of view will be broken up, so we're thinking about 4 or so of those guys in there. With their higher aggression levels, just the four of them and the pleco would probably be plenty stocked (if not overstocked?). Thoughts?

Thanks in advance!
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Pufferpunk
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Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
Gender: Female
My Puffers: Filbert, the 12" T lineatus
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Mongo, the 4" A modestus
2 T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
Also kept:
lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
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Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
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Re: 20g setup advise

Post by Pufferpunk »

[welcome]
Congrats on your new tank! Unfortunately, puffers just do not play well with others... Even the smaller ones like SAPs & DPs can make mincemeat of a pleco. So I'd leave the pleco out. Your tank would be great for 4 DPs. Too small for SAPs & yes, they are more of an "advanced" fish, with their dentistry needs.

You could also consider a FW lurking species, there are many of them & some of them are very strange-looking fish! IDK where you are located in the US but there is a fellow here selling 2 great species, here in our Classifieds.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
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Pufferpunk
Queen Admin
Posts: 32764
Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
Gender: Female
My Puffers: Filbert, the 12" T lineatus
Punkster, the 4" red T miurus
Mongo, the 4" A modestus
2 T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
Also kept:
lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles
Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
Location: Chicago
Contact:

Re: 20g setup advise

Post by Pufferpunk »

You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
Eagle-Beak
Puffer Fry
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu Apr 05, 2018 9:12 pm
Location (country): United States

Re: 20g setup advise

Post by Eagle-Beak »

No problem! We have no interest in using starter fish, and we've already starting adding daily bio-starter (Seachem Stability) and dechlorinator (Seachem Prime).

I've never heard of the lurking species! We would love one unique, larger dude having the whole place to himself, but which one would you suggest? We're willing to put in the work, but an advanced puffer might be much for us. We also don't want to drop a bunch of cash.

Do you know of a link with a list of all the lurking species? I haven't found much on Google.

And, in case we decide on dwarf puffers, do you need to add all the DPs at once, or can you add them one at a time? I.e., do they get mad if you add newcomers, or is it okay as long as you stick to the 1 DP per 5 gal rule?

As always, thanks so much for your advice!
Eagle-Beak
Puffer Fry
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu Apr 05, 2018 9:12 pm
Location (country): United States

Re: 20g setup advise

Post by Eagle-Beak »

Do you know of a website with a list of the lurking puffers? I'm trying to find info online, but I haven't found much.
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Pufferpunk
Queen Admin
Posts: 32764
Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
Gender: Female
My Puffers: Filbert, the 12" T lineatus
Punkster, the 4" red T miurus
Mongo, the 4" A modestus
2 T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
Also kept:
lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles
Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
Location: Chicago
Contact:

Re: 20g setup advise

Post by Pufferpunk »

Ambush Predators:
Tetraodon miurus (Congo Puffer)
Monotrete Palembangensis (Palembang Puffer)
Monotrete Baileyi ('Hairy' puffer)
Tetraodon Duboisi (Dubois' Freshwater Puffer)
Monotrete suvattii (Arrowhead Puffer )

Red-eye/Lurkers:
Carinotetraodon irrubesco (Red Tailed Redeye Puffer)
Monotrete Cochinchinensis (Fangs Pufer)
Tetraodon Cutcitica (Common Puffer)
Monotrete Turgidus (Brown Puffer)
Monotrete Abei (abei Puffer)

And then there's this weird one:
Auriglobus Silus (Golden Puffer)
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
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pufferjw
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Red Congo Puffer
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Dwarf Puffer

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Location (country): USA
Location: Boston/Chicago

Re: 20g setup advise

Post by pufferjw »

The ambush predators can be pricier, generally around $60 to $120, with Tetraodon Duboisi being over $1000 and extremely rare at that. However, you can probably find a Tetraodon Suvatti for around $40 if you're lucky. As far as lurkers go, there's actually a Pao Leiurus for sale on aquariumfish.net right now. It's only $15, but you will have to pay a hefty overnight shipping price. Here's the link if you want to check it out: https://aquariumfish.net/catalog_pages/ ... r_sale.htm
220 Gallon - 1 Super White Leopoldi Stingray
55 Gallon Planted - No Fish
29 Gallon Planted - 1 Duboisi Puffer
29 Gallon - 1 Red Congo Puffer
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