The Puffer Forum

So i just bought one dp, the lfs guy said he was still a youngin. I was wondering though,, If i should get another dp or not, they were all kept with some mollies a few guppies and some tetras. So im pretty sure they will be ok in my tank. I didnt know if they are a schooling type or if i should just have the one...

How big is your tank and what else is in it? I wouldn't keep a DP in a community tank-- the other fish's fins will be nipped for sure. Also, they aren't schooling, but they can be in groups provided that the tank is planted and has enough room and hiding spots. They are fairly easy to breed too, from what I've heard.

i have a 35 gal or maby 50 gal community in one of our offices at work, it has 5 dp's angels cardinals tetras etc and they all get along fine no fins nipped, over a year that way.

Yes I'd have to say that I've kept DP's in a community tank for a long time and I never seen any tatty fins, although I will be honest about seeing a DP have a go at a Cory to move him away from his territory, but nothing serious at all and they were in with Gouramis, several different Tetras, guppies, lots of different bottom feeders and probably a few others I can't think of. Right now I've got my DP's (about 8 of them) in a tank with my irrubesco puffers, some Cories, a couple of different species of Goby, a Bristlenose plec and a guppy, and they all live happily together -- but having plants and hiding places is very important.

Personally I think dwarf puffers enjoy being in small groups and I think they are a bit social, to an extent. Of course, how many you should have depends a great deal on how big your tank is, so that's the first consideration.

I had mine with guppies for a just a short time, and all the tails had bites taken out of them. Looks like it's worked in some cases, but not in my experience, and many others have said that they nip fins a lot too.

I have a 30g tank with 2 tetras, 3 mollies one guppy an otto and 2 shrimp and plus some plants.

Oh and my new dp of course. =]

ive moved mine from the large tank - they used to nip fins here and there - but now in the smaller tank they are having a go at the mollies a lot - im going to have to move the mollies and corries as soon as poss

Ok so from all the opinions I've heard,, more space with a lot of things to cut off eye site between puffs= happier living?
If i create this environment could i try and add some saps with my dp?

Your tank is maxed out. I would not add anything at all. If anything you are already over stocked. And definetley not sap's as you are suppose to have 15 gallons per sap.

And you would need at least 3 SAP's in order for them to be happy. With the size tank you have, I would get a couple more DP's .... keep it an odd number, and I would forget about the SAP's.

14 inches of fish is so not overstocked. Ive asked a lot of people to make sure. Its an inch of fish per gallon. I have a 30 with 14 inches of fish. and id say 3 gallons worth of plants,gravel ect... And its 5gs per puffer. Every website and store I've seen says so. I just want to know if they can be OK in the same tank together provided things which cut off lines of site...gosh cant people just ansr a simple question?! Ive done my research i know how to stock my tank. only thing i dont know is their habits and what kind can live with one another.

heartagramette wrote:. Its an inch of fish per gallon.

Not true, especially if your talking puffers. Look at it this way, would you put a 10" fish in a 10 gallon tank. Of coarse not.

[quote/]Not true, especially if your talking puffers. Look at it this way, would you put a 10" fish in a 10 gallon tank. Of coarse not.[/quote]

Well duh. its an inch of fish for bio load purposes. You give them enough room to swim and make sure the fish you have equal to an inch of fish per gallon bc of bio load. I didn't say that was for puffers,, i said 5 inches per puffer (fw). If you want me to elaborate...its 5 inches of puffer, per puffer that gets to an adult size which is less then 5 inches. Ive done my research (like i said)

look at the pufferpedia on this site. and you will see both what you want to know and that your wrong about the size tank for puffers.