The Puffer Forum

Hi,

A couple of weeks ago we added a dwarf puffer to our ten gallon tank. The gentleman at our fish store (in Bangkok) said it would be fine with our 2 corys, 1 hillstream loach (AKA stingray or butterfly loach), and 6 neon tetras. Of course I should have done my own research first - as I have now discovered via the web that DPs are very aggressive.

He/She seems to be doing fine so far and has shown no sign of aggression towards any of his tankmates. Has anyone had any experience with DPs in a tank with corys, loaches or neon tetras? It is fairly well planted with a couple of caves and driftwood too. I would hate to have to return him (believe me - no fish wants to go back to the store in Bangkok! Even if it is the best one in town, which isn't saying much...). Is this just the 'honeymoon phase" and should I expect him to start taking chunks out of his tankmates at any time?

Thanks!

Hello and welcome to the forum!

I myself have had fairly good experience with my dwarf puffers in with other fish. Your tank is not very big, but I think you would be better to get a couple more dwarf puffers. I believe they prefer to be in small groups and when they have each other to keep busy with, don't pay much attention to the other fish in the tank. Now there are people on here who have had bad experiences with dwarf puffers. I think how your tank is set up makes a big difference. Lots of plants, and places to hide should help diffuse any aggression.
I've got DP's in with irrubesco puffers, corys, gobies and a bristlenose plec and because the DP's are in a small group, they seem content with each other and don't bother the other fish at all. But keep in mind, each situation is different.
I would consider either getting a bigger tank, or moving those neons out and getting a few more DP's. They are cool when they are in a small pack, they get a pecking order established and can be quite entertaining to watch.

I would get the hillstream loach out of there, they are very specialized fish that need huge current levels and I think a 10 gallon is too small for one, and of all your inhabitants, that's probably the one that will get nipped and picked on.

In my work tank, I had 3 DPs, 2 dwarf corys, and 2 kuhli loach, and some black neon tetras. The tank was very peaceful, never had any aggression in the tank. I fed the tank with bloodworms everyday. This was all in the 20g. They were eventually moved to a coworkers 65g because he loved the setup.

DPs are generally fin nippers. I know some has had some success with keeping them with other fish (mostly otos), but personally I would never do so. I've seen the face of DPs when they have the chance to take a chunk out of another fish's tail. They look soooo satisfied. I would really worry about your cories. Cories don't learn much from their mistakes, so they probably would never learn to stay away from the DPs. They seem to forget all about what just happened, and happily go back into the danger. I see it a lot when my plecos chase off the cories. The cories jumps away, and then wander straight back into the same area they just were chased off.

BTW, cories are to be kept in groups with a minimum of 5-6 specimens.

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Well I have 3 dwarf puffers in a 10 gallon tank, which is the maximum amount for a tank that size. I also have 1 Oto catfish (the only guaranteed dwarf puffer tank mate) and two ghost shrimp. Generally the rule with puffers is about 5 gallons for the first puffer and maybe 2-3 gallons for every additional puffer after that.

Many people have been successful with keeping other tankmates with dwarf puffers. This is usually because they have a HIGHLY plated aquarium. If you have enough plants (just to where you can't see the background of the tank), then you can succesfully keep DPs with other fish as long as they are fast-moving and don't have huge fins. As stated before, they are fin nippers and will keep picking until the other one eventually dies. For as small as they are, they are pretty agressive and territorial.

You did make a smart move adding the dwarf puffer last. This makes him adjust to another species' territory. If it was the other way arround, it'd be less likely to be successful.

Finally, not to take away from The Puffer Forum, but here's another forum that I direct my DP questions to, as it's an entirely Dwarf Puffer forum. http://dwarfpuffers.com/forum/

Well that's all for now and

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WickedEdges wrote: I also have 1 Oto catfish (the only guaranteed dwarf puffer tank mate) and two ghost shrimp.

Are you aware that otos are to be kept in groups?

ya you need atleast 3-4 oto's for them to be happy.

Yes I am. My LFS only had one at the time of purchase. (Last week). I'm currently waiting on a new shipment. We live in Alaska so that could be anywhere from 2-3 more weeks. Grrrr.

WickedEdges wrote:Yes I am.

Glad to hear that. Good luck on getting more! I can imagine that Alaska isn't the easiest place to get new and exciting fishes.

We live in Alaska so that could be anywhere from 2-3 more weeks. Grrrr.

LOL, don't you mean, Brrrrr??? n

BTW,

LOL. That too, but it's actually about 60-80 degrees in summer here too, just like anywhere else.

I wish I was in the "anywhere else" it's been about 95-105ºF all summer here. Just recently got a break with the coat tails of the hurricane. Finally under 90ºF for a few days.

I have to say Hierony that I feel badly for you with those temps. If it gets near 80F here, I start to complain -- I don't know how I lived in Florida for 28 years! There's no way I'd want to go back to living in a warm location now. I like the cooler weather and even if it rains a good bit of the time, I prefer that to extreme heat any day.