The Puffer Forum

Hey Guys
I am thinking of getting 1 or more Dwarf Puffers and I was wondering if someone could give me some good advice before I screw up. I have been doing some reading and understand there is some difficulty involved in keeping puffers and I would appreciate advice on Plants, whether or not I would still be able to have a small bottom feeder along with my puffer(s).
Thanx a Bunch

DPs are probably the easiest to keep. they require no salt and 3 gallons minimum for each one. you want a heavly planted tank and some driftwood. you shouldnt be able to see the back of your tank. For a ten gallon i would say 2-3 puffers depending on the decorations in your tank.

My apologies if you already know this, but make sure to cycle your tank before putting your fish in there.

I lost my first puffer because of this, I hope you won't have to go through that.

The only things that can be kept with them is pretty much, shrimp, oto's, bumble bee gobies, and some loaches.

If you are lucky you can get some males and females and maybe have some babies.

Not sure bumble bee gobies would last very long in a FW tank. But yeah otos are cool and will be perfect with DPs. Not much else to add really.

I don't know why so many beginners to keeping puffers overlook the Dwarf Puffer.

Honestly, Mine has been one of the most interesting fish i've ever owned. So much so, that I have a Hagen 32 gallon tank cycled and waiting for 5 new juvenile Dwarfs (I plan on adding in my current lil guy, once the others are established)

They do require a lot (and i mean a LOT) of plants though; you can do fake plants, but live plants have the advantage of helping remove Nitrate from the water column. If you are doing live plants, make sure you have a good *fluorescent* light and that it supplies at least 1.3-1.5 Watts Per Gallon (Watt rating of the bulb divided by tank size). Unless your tank came with a good Fluorescent bulb, you will want to switch over to a bulb that has a minimum "6500K" color temperature. This helps prevent Blue Green Algae growth.

Now, If I were in your position, i would also recommend staying away from sharp-edged gravel. You want very fine gravel or sand for puffers, preferably without jagged edges. Some people swear by things like ADA or other specially made substrates, but "Shultz Aquasoil" which is like fine red gravel for ponds (not the dirt stuff! gravel!) is good for growing plants too.

Expect to be giving 1/4 to 1/2 of the regular dose of a good trace mineral supplement too. otherwise you will stunt plant growth and algae will take over.

Anywho though...

Dwarfs have wonderful personality and you'll never quite get over the look of ".....Snail?" they give you when you're looking at their tank.

You might want to look at particular plants that you may be interested in keeping, and see the light requirements. Because some plants need a lot more than 1.3 to 1.5 watts per gallon, but some cannot handle this and therefore 1.3 to 1.5 would be plenty. It depends on the sorts of plants you are interested in. I personally wouldn't care but I know some people would, so just warning you before you get a tank with very little lighting or too much etc. You might see plants labeled as "high light requirements" or "low light requirements" etc. Basically it means around these sorts of wattages per gallon:

0- Very Low
1- Low
2- Medium
3- Medium High
4- High
+ Very High

To be perfectly honest though, most plants in your average pet or fish store will not require more than 'medium' lighting, 2wpg is usually good for most plants.

At 1.5wpg, you're looking at Water Wisteria, Java Ferns, most moss varieties, most common Cryptocoryne varieties and you *can* grow green cabomba, although it will eventually lose leaves and take on a spindly appearance. Some people i know have had limited success with swords; if in doubt though, Jungle Val will grow in just about any condition.

Bacopa or "money wort' seems to be more popular as of late, but it needs 2wpg as a minimum.

I have been writing a full article on planting puffer tanks, but this was the 'Reader's Digest' version. if in doubt about a particular plant http://www.plantgeek.net has a wealth of info for you.

Yeah that's true i've never seen a plant that's needed 4 or higher watts per gallon. But I have seen a few needing 3, not many though. Careful with java fern cause it can burn and end up with little clear spots all over it in higher lighting.