The Puffer Forum

Either pH is fine. You just want to test to see if it stays stable. What's the pH of your tap water?

I probably wouldn't do anything to decrease the pH. I certainly wouldn't use any chemicals to do so. In my experience, a stable pH is more important than the actual numbers.

What is your substrate, as that commonly affects pH?

the pH in my new tank is the same as the pH in my other two tanks and my tap water.. I put driftwood in thinking it would bring it down a tad. She is doing fine in the pH she is at, now though. I just didn't understand why I'd get such different readings. also, while I have you both here! my puffer is about 1/2" now, and shows no signs of territory or her spots turning to stripes, so am I correct in assuming she is a lady?

That was a great article! It was the one that helped me distinguish her as a female origingally, I'm just paranoid.. I don't want to pair a male and female in a small tank, without a third female. Pufferpunk, do you have an article on freshwater cleaning crews? I was thinking MTS, and imagine that the puffers will keep the population from exploding. I was also thinking amano shrimp, but are cherry shrimp smart/quick enough or will they just immediately become food? And then how many otos could I have without overcrowding? I'm thinking two, but wasn't sure if that would be too many?

(second female, third dp)

I don't have an article on that here but keep in mind, MTS's shells are much too hard for even a larger puffer's teeth & have been known to chip/break them. Most a DP might do is eat the meat out of some of them.

that's what I'm planning on; I want them more for the aeration/cleaning aspects but you think the newly hatched could hurt them? I don't want that by any means

Dps normally flip them and eat them rather than crunching but you never know. Cherry shrimp seem too daft to live in a dp tank IMO, I had good luck with amanos they just lost a leg here and there. Large armoured shrimp may be worth a go, pond snails are a good snail option, sometimes bury etc but keep your substrate shallow and you will get by with a syphon to clean it

Thank you, Bertie! I've been so back and forth on my cleaning crew

To post our old Mentor RTR: "Puffers don't have cleaning crews, they have food reserves!"

Haha!! Little A little B. I know whatever goes in there could very possibly become lunch.

I keep cherry shrimp with my dps. After chasing them around initially the dps seem to ignore them now. They breed so fast if a few get picked off it's no big deal. I have thought of MTS myself but the puffers wouldn't eat many and once introduced they are forever.

For clean up crew I have had great success with the South American Spongefish.

hahaha Bill! it took me a while to figure that one out , thanks for the assistant picture.