The Puffer Forum

Im currently cycling a new 10 gallon, hopefully ready for a dwarf puffer adventure ! I would like 3 and an otto? Is that pushing it for a 10 gallon? Ive read that two males will fight and one male one female could go bad. Also it seems really hard to sex them in the shop as they are all quite young, if i can sex them would 2 females be ok? If you buy them young do you just take a gamble with the sex? Id rather have babies and bring them up!
any advice greatly appreciated
ben

I found that looking for males was easier than female. Basically, if they have stripes near the tail (instead of spots) they are generally male. Also, the males have almost illuminous 'scratches' or wrinkles round their eyes.

Careful though the differences can be really subtle.

There is an article on here somewhere about sexing DP's though.

Not quite what you asked about, but Ottos are supposed to be kept in groups. They are schooling fishes. So a single Otto wouldn't be too happy.

ok thanks, i didnt realise that, i read on the dwarfpuffer site that otto's made good tankmates with dwarf puffers but i guess its not fair to keep one on its own then.
Do dwarfs mind a bit of water flow? I have an arcadia arc but the filter it comes with doesnt seem very manly so i have put a fluval 2 in there as well, will this be too much for them?

Lots more plants going in at the weekend!

benp wrote: Do dwarfs mind a bit of water flow? I have an arcadia arc but the filter it comes with doesnt seem very manly so i have put a fluval 2 in there as well, will this be too much for them?

Mine love it and are constantly swimming against the current as if they're on a water treadmill!!!

Current is ok when you puffers are healthy. You might want to keep it down a bit when you QT them or use another tank to QT them in. As for sexing, it's quite hard when they are young. I ended up with 2 males and 1 female! So far so good although the males had a bit of a who's-the-boss fight. Now everybody is submissive to big Palua! With plants and a piece of bogwood they have there own territories. Another thing to consider is they are hard to catch in a tank because you don't want to use a net so they don't puff air... so if you want to choose them, the pet shop employee is gonna hate you! Be prepared!

You can see a sexing article in the library and see this post for more pictures:
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