The Puffer Forum

what frshwater puffer wuld be appopritate for a tank this size? how many can i put in?

Check out http://www.pufferlist.com . The red eyed puffers (irrubesco or lorteti), dwarf puffers, or Tetraodon
cochinchinensis come to mind. I'd think singletons of all species except for dwarfs where the rule is about 3 gallons per dwarf puffer.

Eric

dwarfs are cool. what can i put with them? how many red tails can i get? can i mix the red tails with the dwarf puffers if i add alot of plants? i also like the brazilian puffer, how many of those can i get?

Freshwater: Dwarf puffs about 8 at the most (thats with good filtration)
Brackish: Figure 8's (one)
Salt: non really

I've kept dwarf puffers, but none of the others I've listed...so I'd wait for someone else to chime in.

Dwarfs, according to others, do well with otos. I kept mine alone. They're actually quite aggressive for such small fish, and I agree they're cool.

Eric

i can have 8 dwarfs? thats cool! i think i may go with them. what aboutt the red tailed and the brazilian? is there anything i can mix with the dwarf puffers?

the only thing you can put with dwarfs with any sucess are otto's. You can keep up to 6 dwarfs in a 20. Not eight.

I set up a 20 long with 8 dwarfs for a friend. The bioload is a bit high but I am a person who really pushes over filtration. I would say any more then 8 is over stocking due to space, but in a 20 LONG I have only ever seen success.

can you keep 7? thats just an inch over.

Well I'd personally go for it. I've kept 8 in a 20 long before I gave it to a friend cause he had more time for the setup then I did.

i have a 20 long. i was thinking if i do get puffers, i would maybe get plants that i could get a suction cup and stick it to the glass to make more hiding spots. so how many puffers, 6, 7, or 8?

Depends on your filtration and experience. If your just begining go with 5 at most then bump up to 8 once your experience and filtration is good.

over filtration is not IMO a simple solution to advocate, especially to a beginner. Even with suggested bio-loads puffers need over filtration, and that's not even talking about physical space. Dwarfs need 3 gallons/ fish MINIMUM, and seeing as a 20 gallon holds 19 gallons at very best, you should go with 6 puffers max. For more info, go to http://www.dwarfpuffers.com

Heh, I break the rules of puffer keeping a lot. I figure as long as the lines of site are blocked and the puffs are not getting ill, attacked, or seem timid (also with water qualities normal) I see there to be no problem. But point taken over filtration for a 'beginer' is not an option.

But from 5 years of doing it that way I have not had a problem. (**Hint for the more experienced**)

Even you wouldn't put say, a fahaka in a 50 though, right? stunting is a prob. I agree that it is much easier to push limits when you have your head wrapped around things and know how to quickly spot and correct problems.