The Puffer Forum

Is there any puffer that would do well in a 3 gal eclipse tank? My betta just died after 6 years and I want put a new type of fish into the tank.

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puffers create way too much waste for a 3g. even a dwarf puffer. bc they eats meats and snails its still alot of work keeping a tank with puffers in the right sized tank clean

i suggest an upgrade if you want a puffer and lot and lots of research thru out this forum to decide if you can properly care for a puffer. IMO puffers are for a more advanced fish keeper.

not to discourage you or anything. Puffers are one of the most pleasing fish to keep. If you dont mind becoming there slave lol

I dont think I will ever consider myself a pro but I have bred bettas for 3 years. I have also kept a variety of cichlids such as oscars, red devil, peacocks, firemouths, flower horns and was pretty devoted to my albino trinidad pleco as well as my chocolate pleco. As the larger fish passed on I down graded and sold the large tanks. Im now left with a 12 gal nanocube that has a reef setup including my hawaiian white spotted puffer (toby). I was thinking a dwarf puffer with a plant setup...so that the plants can use some of the waste to help nurish them. Thoughts on this?

Well then you do have some XP. I would Do DPs in the 12g, 3g just isnt enough. BUt seeing you have a Toby in there your only option is really to upgrade if you want more puffer/s

Check craigslist for cheap tanks, some of them complete for dirt cheap. If you just looking to use the 3g id consider another species of fish

Have you kept marine B4? A toby is MARINE and if you thinkin of elaborating on that setup( saw it in your other thread) you'll wanna read up a bit on multiple topics/ SW FAQ

I agree with SammyDee ... that 3-gallon is just too small for a puffer, besides I think dwarf puffers prefer to be in small groups. They seem to enjoy travelling around in a little pack, at least that's been my observation with them. I would get at least a 10-gallon (obviously bigger is better, so if you can do a bigger tank go for it) and I would try for about 4-5 dwarf puffers. I think you will enjoy seeing them interact with each other, and how they investigate their tank and surroundings. Just remember, lots of plants with puffers, broken lines of sight are very important.

A toby needs a minimum of 20g, 30 being even better. Keeping a SW puffer in a tank that small will be too difficult to keep the parameters stable, unless you plan on tons of WC & top off 2x/day. Please rethink this.

i have kept SW before I actually have a 29 with a pigmy angler and a leaf fish with a couple damsels, as well as a 55 gal that has a commersons angler with a tomato clown,yellow tang, naso tang, and blue tang. The Nano she gave me was already set with the toby and a coral banded shrimp. I am thinking of ellobarating on it but to a more invert setup with live coral, mayber a feather duster, keep the shrimp in there. Toby is moving to the 29 eventually but I want to watch him and make sure he is healthy and not transfer any illness to my stable 29.

I dont wanna sound rude or anything as I have just signed up on this forum, but I do have expierence just not as much with puffers and this is part of my research process to figure out if they are the right choice and such, as this is a site dedicated to the puffers.

It's not rude... I just asked bc most ppl find this site a bit too late that's why I asked. It good u kno what to do. Good luck

most ppl find this site a bit too late that's why I asked.

You are right about that.

Even a highly advanced fishkeeper really can't keep a dwarf puffer happy in smaller accommodations. It's sort of like trying to paint the sky green. You can be Michelangelo and you still couldn't do it, 'cause it just doesn't work that way.

Personally, for that tank, I would get another betta, or maybe some triops (my new obsession).

so the girlfriend and I have talked it over as she is the one who really wants fresh water puffer setup so we are pulling the toby in 2 weeks or so and putting it in the 29 and my co worker claimed the banded shrimp for me. So the 12 gal nano cube is going to then be converted to a freshwater planted tank with puffers. I am going to get new lights for the cube tomm as it has the antic blue in it. Im not super expierenced with planted tanks other then using plants in my 3 gal eclipse with a betta, and even at that it only had an amazon sword. I didnt need to use a fertilizer or CO2 or anything of that nature as it was only one plant and betta droppings seemed to work fine as its fertalizer.

Any thoughts on lights-im thinking a 6500K or should I go higher?
I gotta see what my lfs has instock as far as soil and fertilizers but is there any out there that you folks prefer?
Do I need a CO@ setup or can I wait on that issue?

man Id love to have a nano. It just seems like a waste to make it FW when its got a SW stuff built in to it...Be prolly just as much $$$ to get a 20g off Craigslist and have two Beautiful tanks

Check out this site, I've been using their ferts for many years: http://www.yamatogreen.com.