The Puffer Forum

Hi there,

I have a small 35l tank with a nice sized (90L filter). I've got bored of my fish and am possibly thinking about dwarf puffers.

Only problem is I have a baby clown plec which likes the bogwood. He's about 5-6 cm long. Would he need to be moved at all? He's not agressive just a bit territorial.

Thanks for the advice folks.

Well, a 35l tank is how many gallons, not quite 10?

IMO, that's too small for a clown pleco and anything else. I know Clown's don't get that big, but its still a pleco and they put out a lot of waste. I never like to see any of the smaller plecos (bristlenose, zebra, clown, etc) in anything smaller than a 20 gallon tank.

Considering how sensitive puffers are to dirty water, I don't think it would be a good combination.

Aggressiveness wouldn't be an issue I wouldn't think, but I don't think the water quality would be good enough with a pleco in there.

Myaj wrote:Well, a 35l tank is how many gallons, not quite 10?

IMO, that's too small for a clown pleco and anything else. I know Clown's don't get that big, but its still a pleco and they put out a lot of waste. I never like to see any of the smaller plecos (bristlenose, zebra, clown, etc) in anything smaller than a 20 gallon tank.

Considering how sensitive puffers are to dirty water, I don't think it would be a good combination.

Aggressiveness wouldn't be an issue I wouldn't think, but I don't think the water quality would be good enough with a pleco in there.

Oh rite - nah its ok the clown is going v.soon. He's just staying in my tank till we move out 2/3 months.
I've got afluval 2 plus for filtration which is ok for upt to 90l so I am hoping that will be ok for the moment. I take on board what your saying though. The plecs and the puffers are well messy. Shall I wait then till the clown plec moves out ?

That would probably be a good idea. Then the tank will be cycled with from the pleco and they can go right in with no cycling time.

A big filter is good, but it doesn't actually remove any wastes from the water. It just gathers the solids in one spot.. the water is still "dirty", you just don't see any bits floating around because they are caught in the filter.

Also a lot of dwarves will attack plecos.

flamesofifreet wrote:Also a lot of dwarves will attack plecos.

Ok cool - in that case I will spend some time getting the tank sorted, i.e plants hide-outs etc then swap my plec for a couple of DP's.

Will I be ok with 2?? Hopefully I will get lucky and get females

I would aim for one male and two females, or a pair. There's an article in the library on how to sex them, but often at the store they are too stressed or too young to tell for sure.

Myaj wrote:I would aim for one male and two females, or a pair. There's an article in the library on how to sex them, but often at the store they are too stressed or too young to tell for sure.

Ok top stuff. best work on my tank then.

Thanks