The Puffer Forum

I have a cycled tank that i am planning to put a DP in, I was just wondering if i could put a plec, or cory in with it as a cleaning crew any advice please?
Cheers
Lisa

I would guess your DPs would have a wonderful time nipping the fins of the others.

I've read that some people have had success with keeping Otos and larger shrimps with DPs, so you could try that one out. However, the tank needs to be HEAVILY decorated so that the DPs have too much to explore and can't see everyone.

Thank you, im guessing that maybe the otto as it is probably faster than a pleco?? hmm will have to have a think on that one

Cheers
Lisa

Most plecos are just too big for the sizes of tanks used for DPs, common plecos can get 2 feet and a 55 is a tight squeeze for them. Also, corries aren't clean up crew, they're just bottom feeders, they eat no algae whatsoever.

I have a 10 gallon DP tank and they are fine with the cherry shrimp and the otos in the tank. They love to eat little tiny snails that Petsmart likes to donate to me But they don't pick on their tank mates. I have not seen the DPs go after any of the shrimp...even the little shrimp! I was a little hesitant about putting them in there but several people had luck with it so I tried it and at first they were curious but they've never even nipped!

10G: 1 DP, 2 Cories, 1 Small Pleco (L???), 9 Neons, 2 Assorted Catfish (that I need to get IDs on), 3 Bleeding Heart Tetras, 4 Zebras

Only loss EVER in this tank was a DP that my other one killed. By the time I saw it, it was too late to save him




The biggest problem with plecos and cories are that they are too slow to escape DPs, who are fin-nippers. Danios (In my experience) are relatively good tankmates for smaller puffers b/c they are too fast for most of them. Although, they do eat quite a lot, so that's something to watch out for.

My girlfriend and I are running a 10g with 2 dwarf puffers (Clinton and Stacy) an oto (Dyson) and two amano shrimp (Mario and Luigi). The Dwarf puffers tend to mind their own business but we feed them live black worms daily. The shrimp are awesome and keep the tank clean. Dyson is kind of boring but there is no longer algae on the glass. We did have two losses, one DP (Phyllis) and one oto (Bissel). Phyllis wouldn't eat much since we got her and eventually started swimming in circles, I noticed a white spot on her forehead and thought it may be ick so we went to the pet store before we stumbled on these forums and bought Aquarium Pharmaceuticals ick medicine. She was dead by the time we got home, and Bissel was never right from the LFS, he was big for an oto and may of just died from old age or shock from the transfer or a combination of the two.

So in short, with the right puffers and the right crew all should be well...

I have added an otto, a rcherry shrinp, a crystal shrimp and a clear shrimp with a red nose! they all seem to be ok, the dp's do sometimes have a nip at the shrimps but they move out the way really quickly
Lisa