The Puffer Forum

I went to the lfs today and they had a tank full of dp's all about less then .5 inches so they were really small. I have a 29 gallon heavily planted tank. It has three big apple snails that are 4x the size of the puffers so i dont think they will be bothered. But i also have an african butterfly fish and a gold algae eater. I know they are agressive fin nippers but could i get 4 without any problems

Dwarf puffers are often more aggressive than people expect. I wouldn't personally keep them with the two fish you already have. Your other fish could get hurt.

Also, I'm not familiar with most algae eaters, but if that's a Chinese algae eater, it gets aggressive when it's older, which would put your DPs at risk too.

Thanks
Once i saw the puffers in person it is really hard to believe that they are agressive as people say lol. Its not a chinese algae eater, its a simese algae eater

Yes with several DP's a heavily decorated tank will be needed to break lines of sight and minimize aggression. I do agree with Pufftastic that keeping them with the other fish may cause trouble.

Here is my heavily planted DP tank. They LOVE the tangled mess of the Hornwort and Java Moss.

Either way, those puffers will tear their fins off.

Strait and to the point^^ i probably wont do it but lets hear some more opinions

Fishe wrote:I went to the lfs today and they had a tank full of dp's all about less then .5 inches so they were really small. I have a 29 gallon heavily planted tank. It has three big apple snails that are 4x the size of the puffers so i dont think they will be bothered. But i also have an african butterfly fish and a gold algae eater. I know they are agressive fin nippers but could i get 4 without any problems

I tried to keep a solitary DP with a blue mystery snail and it didn't turn out well at all. I thought since my mystery snail was huge (about 3 1/2 inches wide) it would intimidate my puffer a bit or that he wouldn't see it as food. However, my little puff, only about a half inch at the time, ate my poor snail's antennae clean off. And even though snails have the ability to regenerate almost anything pretty quickly I felt really bad after the first couple of times and noticed the snail staying hidden in his shell almost all the time. I tried moving him to another planted tank I had but it seemed he was already really depressed and overstimulated so he died shortly afterwards...

DPs are generally nasty. They seem to have the same attitude as a Great White Shark; to see whether it's food or not, bite first and then see.
A DP on it's own is not a bad option. I have heard about Nerite Snails being a bit more robust against DPs but that's just hearsay. Also, if a DP seems ok for weeks and months with a fish, don't let this be a good sign as one day the DP will trash it's once friendly resident.

Jerry

jeromecarlyoung wrote:Also, if a DP seems ok for weeks and months with a fish, don't let this be a good sign as one day the DP will trash it's once friendly resident.

Jerry

So true! I think all puffers have the potential to live harmoniously with other fish for a period of time, whether that's for a few weeks or a few months ... Or a few seconds.

My F8 lived happily with a few balloon mollies for a year or so, then picked them off one by one. Just say yes to species-only tanks.

DP's eat scales and fins in their natural diet. DP's with other fish can be a life time of harassment for the other fish.....

My DPs could not kill apple or mystery snails but they tormented the heck out of them. Nerite snails are all I've found to work, even in my F8 tank. Ghost shrimp have also been good to go for a few years now.

I'm not a fan of snails, but I've read many others' good experiences keeping nerites with F8s as well.

Snails gross me out. It was all I could do to stomach keeping a ramshorn breeding tank for my F8. That was REAL love, I assure you.

+1 to Pufftastic's comments on puffers and species tanks.