The Puffer Forum

Hi everyone. Well, I have had my dwarf puffers for 3 days now. They seem to have settled in and stopped pacing the glass. Yesterday I fed them some live black worms which they LOVED. Ever since then one of the males ( I think it is a male, they are still kind of young) has gotten very aggressive. He seems to have picked a place in the tank that he is claiming his own and anyone that comes remotely near him is chased and attacked. I have noticed some of the others have chunks missing out of their tail fins now. No one else seems to be fighting, just him. Is this something that will get better as they work things out between themselves or will this behavior continue to get worse? I don't have another tank set up for the aggressive one and don't really want to have to keep him by himself. Do you think I should take him back to the LFS and exchange him for another one, or is this just the way dwarf puffers are?

How big is your tank? If they are crowded, they will fight. Also, males will fight a lot if there aren't enough females. If this continues, I'd return him.

It is a 29 gallon tank. I think it is pretty well decorated and has several fake plants, a cave and an artificial tree root. I have 5 dwarfs, a bristlenose pleco and a couple of amano shrimp. It is really hard to tell because they are young, but I think there may be three males to two females . The reason I am calling them males is because they seem to have more of a yellowish brown color and not as many spots. Their bellies look yellow also, but I don't see the brown line or wrinkles behind the eyes on any of them. I will have to call the LFS and see if they will exchange two of them for females. I can't believe how aggressive they are, and it seems to be getting worse by the hour!

Ahhh, that would be the problem. Also, the pleco will get too large, I think. Do try to exchange them. Read the article in the Library on sexing DPs.

I thought the bristlenose pleco only grows about 4 inches long. The one I got is an albino, and the LFS told me they may only grow to 3 inches or so. If anyone has one, do they stay small enough to stay in a 29 gallon tank?
The dwarfs seem to be a little better today. There is definitely one male who is the dominant one and will nip at anyone who gets too close. One of the males is very submissive and keeps to himself, and the others seem to school together. I think I will still take the aggressive male back and replace him with a female.

There might be a way of telling if they are male or female...from what I have observed, if there is more of a line instead of spots down the tail on the left and right, they are male, and if they are more like spots, then they are female...just something I have noticed over time, though I could be wrong too....

Problem with sexing DPs is that they don't show gender-specific markings until they're approaching maturity.

Here's the pleco info that I found. You were right - I got confused with another type. http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile117.html

Yes, the pleco will be fine. There are a few species of bristlenoses, but most stay under 6" and will be okay in a 29.

With the males, the yellow bellies will be your first indication, followed by the solid stripe down the length of the body through the tail. The last sexual signs to show up IME are the line on the belly and the eye wrinkles.

I'd try to either take back the dominant male or exchange him for a female if possible.

I don't like the thought of returning him .... but that's just me. Can I suggest putting some plants, plastic or live, directly in the area that he's defending, so it makes it harder for him to see any of the other puffers coming near his area?
Just a thought.

schismy007, since I have posted this I have learned that I have I have 4 males and one female in the tank. The reason I know they are males is because they are starting to develop the dark line down the middle of their bellies, and they are extremely territorial. Also, their coloring is different than the females (more of a line down the tail as opposed to spots).
All they do is charge and tail nip each other when one comes into the others "territory". Three of the males are VERY aggressive, but the other male seems to be very docile. I do think I am going to have to exchange some of the males for females because based on what I have seen, it doesn't seem like it will work this way. Has anyone heard of this many males to females working successfully in one tank (29 gallon)?

You will want to re-arrange the setup when you get the new puffs. I had my adult male dwarf puffer and tried to add what I THOUGHT was a younger female, but turned out to be male. My bigger male chased the littler one and nipped at his tail.

Put as many plants and decorations as you can in there.

I have heard of two males getting along, but they are in a very large tank with about a bajillion plants. They belong to APOCRYPHA.

I ended up with a ratio of 2m and 2f. Ended up moving one male to his own little setup as he hadnt eaten in a week and was almost white. Happy to say since then the remaining 3 are happy and my little one on his own has coloured up and started eating with a vengence. So in my limited experience no the males did not get on, but who knows?

I must have good luck then because I have alot of males in my big tank and they all seem to be alright together. They do chase, but there's no actual nipping and no one getting hurt or losing fins.

(Amy -- too bad you are in Bournemouth, I'm looking to find homes for my SAP's)

Awwww! So would as well! Though the plan currently is for a GSP *sigh* want them all You really are too far away!

Puffs do seem very individual from what i have read on here, it may be you try and just be prepared for the consequences or rehome (took me a while to get round to it as may have read my panic on here but did the right thing in the end )