The Puffer Forum

Has anyone had any success in keeping a dwarf puffer in a community tank? I was told by everyone at the LFS that puffers do not do well in communities, and even read that on the internet. I specifically setup a small tank for a dwarf puffer, then my roommate decides to put one in his 55gal tank, and he has had no problems!!!

The puffer does an excellent job at snail clean up and looks healthier than mine now. I did notice when he first went in he was the runt, a male orange killi fish picked on him for a few days, but 3 months later he is the alpha male in the tank. I honestly thought it was a bad idea, and either he would notice fish missing or the puffer would get picked on till death. Everything is fine and even all the micro and galaxy rasbora's are doing fine with whole fins. The only fish he seems to pick on are some larger tetra's that have learned to stay away from him.

Maybe when you put a small fish in a larger tank their demeanor changes?

Not a good idea at all. Your roommate will have issues I will be willing to bet on it. They're little fish with VERY big attitudes. Any responsible fish keeper wouldn't put a DP in a community tank in my opinion. Wait until he/she reaches sexual maturity. Then it will be VERY territorial and it's not going to be good for the other fish.

perfect example of keeping DPs with other fish............. http://www.ultimatebettas.com/index.php?showtopic=57609

Puffers in general are not fish for community tanks. That includes DPs.