The Puffer Forum

Okay. I just got back from my LFS and got 3 DP's!! One is a male and the other two are females. I will include pics later. I bought freeze-dried fully grown brine shrimp (makes me mad, I didn't think that they would be that big! I guess I'm going to have to break them into 10 or 12 pieces) Anyways they are only 3 cm long and are in a 5 gallon along with 2 pond snails for food, and 3 ghost shrimp (I don't care if they get torn to shreds.) The tank is heavily planted. Any advice for a newbie on this website and to the world of DP's? Thanks. ~John

I'm so excited!

Oh, and how do you change your picture, add information, and get a line underneath every post with have something there that shows up every time? Thanks.

Look under "Share" at the top of the page and then "user account". There are lots of options in there.

Welcome to TPF! I stumbled across puffer-ownership 3 months ago and I'm hooked. You get one and before you know it you're afflicted with MTS - multiple tank syndrome. It really is an addiction. Hehe...

Two females and a male sounds good- even better would be 3 females and a male. It gives the male a chance to divide his agressions. I have one male DP and he's quite the character. Usually, he's giving me the sideways glance, and saying "You again?! I find my own food. Stop LOOKING AT ME!" He's in a 5 gallon hex which has a smaller "footprint" than a rectangular tank, but is okay for just him and a few shrimp. Which brings me to some bad news: I'm afraid your tank is too small for your puffer friends. Dwarf puffers need 5 gallons for the first one and 3-ish for each additional. That said, I LOVE my 5-gallon. Its small, yes, and they are harder to maintain because of that, but having a little bio-cycle going with fish, shrimp, snails and itty bitty bacteria and moss, and plants is exciting. You just HAVE to keep up with water tests and water changes.

I'm a newbee- only had puffs for 3 months or so. That said, my FIRST puffer was a green spotted (GSP) that I had in this same tank and unfortunately, I killed him. (Too small a tank and too many fish. I'm afraid "Mr. Green" died of severe ammonia poisoning.) You will LOVE this website. Its FRIENDLY and knowlegable. I always feel comfortable with the advice and experience(s) given here, especially when I get confusing or "doesn't-sound-quite-right" from LFS (local fish stores).

Got it! Thanks!

How do I make a picture appear? You know, without you having to click on a link? Same with videos. How do I do this? Thanks.

Lil' Swimz$ wrote:How do I make a picture appear? You know, without you having to click on a link? Same with videos. How do I do this? Thanks.

Hi again. I edited my first post with more info.

For pictures, you need to put the picture(s) in your puffer gallery. That's under "Share" at the top and then "User galleries". Once you've uploaded the picture(s), you can put them in a post by clicking the "TPF Gall Img" button at the top of the white post box. In the list that pops up, find your user name and click it. It will then show you all your pictures. Click the image you want and voila!

For videos, you can paste in a youtube url in the white box. You click the "youtube" button at the top of the white box. The URL goes between the <youtube> and </youtube>.

Thanks, Mr. Green! I plan on getting a 30 gallon in August and moving all my current fish in my 10 gallon to the 30, and the puffers to the 10 gallon. I'll work on getting pics of them. Oh, and I just fed them. I crushed up the dried fully grown brine shrimp, and none sank, and Bullet went right up to it, looked at it, then left. I do have an over load of pond snails in my fountain, but I'm worried that if they can't find them, or kill them, then they'll starve. Is this true? Do you just think my puffers are still scared and don't feel like eating, or not?
Oh, and I think Bullet claimed my No Fishing sign. Every time a female comes near, he chases them away. Oh, and here is a pic of my 5 gallon.

Try the pic again. Can't wait to see it!

Your puffers might just be adjusting to their new surroundings. Do you know what the store was feeding them? Maybe try that at first. The snails- as long as they dont' have any disease, DPs love tiny snails. I just leave several in my tank and when I clean it out there are empty bitten-up shells. They like hunting for their food- they WILL find them eventually. The only thing is (as I discovered) that if the snail dies and isn't eaten, that will pollute your tank big time. (And dead snails smell BAD.) If you get the tiny ones, this shouldn't be as big of a problem though. Its when they bite at/annoy the bigger ones (but can't actually bite through the shell or get past the snail's "foot") and those die of starvation because they won't come out of their shells that you can have bigger issues. (Experience!)

That is funny about the sign. Puffers get territorial. In fact, they say you should introduce all puffers at the same time to a tank or the "first" one will say "This is MINE!" and chase and nip at any that follow. To avoid that, you can rearrage the plants, etc. so its "reset" to them. Also, lots of plants and rocks and things to break their line of sight helps cut down on fighting.

All of my pics are too big!!!!!!!! Here, I'll just give you my flickr. t

I can't even get onto flickr anymore. It says the page can not be displayed.

Finally!! Here. http://www.flickr.com/photos/fish_fish_fish/?saved=1 Sorry if they're blurry.

How big are your pix? I have my camera set at HUGE and I still can upload to here.

PM me and I'll give you my email.

EDIT: Nevermind.

I don't know how big it's set at but all my pics are 2.50+ MG.

You have the 5 gallon hex! Just like I do. What "footprint" means is basically it sits on a smaller surface even though its still 5 gallons.

An older pic.