The Puffer Forum

hey all, i'm getting a 5gallon planted tank pretty soon for a dwarf puffer and i was wondering what else i could fit in there with her.

i know amano shrimp are good, cuz they are bigger so are less likely to be eaten, and also good for cleaning tank.
i have read a lot of people stating ottos are the best tank mates, but when researching, i read that they require larger tanks than just a 5gal, is that true?

ideally, i'd like to keep 1 DP, 2 ottos, and maybe 5 amano shrimp. is this doable in such a small tank? should i perhaps omit the ottos and just have the DP and 3 amano? could i have MORE than that? or are there other neat aqua critters i could keep in the tank?

i'm soooo excited to get my dp i cant wait til i have a stable tank!

I would say go with your plan of the DP and three amanos, or one DP, two otos, no shrimp. That would be about the bioload limit.

thanks, i'll go with just 3 amanos with the DP. i think they'll do a better job of cleaning up after her haha.

Just watch out. DPs are pretty bad about bullying, even with creatures far larger than themselves. I keep mine with a ghost shrimp, and they do fine, but I think I just got lucky - he was supposed to be food! Otos, on the other hand, are rarely subject to bullying from DPs. I'm not quite sure why - it just seems to be a good match.

hmmm, the otos sound appealing but i've read a few articles saying that they need 10gallons+ and some sites that say they need 20! so keeping 2 in a 5gal... would that be ok?

Personally I would say that 2 would be fine in there. What they need more than anything else is a very established tank, and you need to get some really fat ones. They can be hard to keep alive as the shipping process is very hard on them. I would not get only one as they like company. A 5 is tight but I do think you can get away with it. They are pretty tiny

I've had a DP and two ottos in a 5-gallon for maybe a month now. they are doing fine. I also have some ghost shrimp. They key is water changes!

I did keep amano and cherry shrimp with my DP's, they pretty much left them alone.....I didn't enjoy the GS as much as the amanos, or cherry shrimp, cuz the GS were bullies. The DP's just pretty much go about their own way, except for with snails, and worms.....

Probably the reasons that such a large tank is reccomended for otos are that you would have a bigger algae supply (they have very fast metabolisms and need food available 24/7, and some otos won't accept any food but live algae fresh off the rock - take care of this problem by having spare rocks in a bowl of tank water in a sunny area to grow lots of algae, and switching them out with other rocks in the tank) and that they are very, very sensitive to poor water quality, which can be harder to maintain in a small tank (take care of this by doing regular tests and doing regular water changes, which you should be doing anyway, of course).

thanks guys! its nice knowing that i *could* keep 2 ottos AND a couple shrimp with the DP. i think i'll start out with 2 amano shrimp and see how they do and then once the tank is super established, i'll add 2 ottos. i will cross my fingers the DP won't eat the shrimp haha otherwise i'll definitely be getting ottos.

So far, my DP hasn't eaten any ghost shrimp. I think they are too big. (He definitely eats brine shrimp.) I have about four ghost shrimp right now with two ottos. There is algae growing on my big piece of Texas holy rock, but every so often I add half a piece of dried algae wafer just to make sure everybody has sa full belly. Also, relgious water changes and water tests. I especially have to check levels on my new 5-gallon with danios as it is only a week old. As Pufferpunk's signature says "...water changes water changes water changes....!" I've also noticed that in this warmer weather, I have to keep an eye on the temp of each tank, adjusting the heater as necessary.