The Puffer Forum

after accidentally breaking my other 20 gallon (luckily nothing was in it) i am left with a 10 gallon and i want to do a biotope. i do have a few questions like what plants to use, can i have cherry shrimp in the tank as a food soucre, and are pea puffers hardy

They are hardy, if they are in a well-balanced eco-system that has no ammonia, no nitrite & very little nitrate. Mine only eat live blackworms. Most cherry shrimp, they don't touch.

library/puffers-in-focus/dwarfpuffercare/
library/puffers-in-focus/sexing-carinot ... rf-puffer/

another question i have is how many can live in their because i was thinking around 4 or 5 because the tank will be heavily planted

Read the articles.

No more than 3, either 3F or 1M/2F.

+1 to Pufferpunk's comments above.

I just got Dwarf Puffers as well after researching for the past couple of months and they have so far been happy in their 10g planted tank. They are definitely very hardy fish but make sure your tanks ph is not way to high and make sure you check for ammonia and nitrates before adding these little guys to their new home. I have read about some Dwarf Puffers not being able to be kept with small crustaceans but it all depends on the individual puffer and how mature they are so I would
definetly supply them with live blackworms, frozen bloodworms (put them in water to thaw them out first), or pond snails (I got some at my local petco for free since there a nuisance to most petshops). I would also not have more than 2 in a 10g since they are very active fish and may start fighting with each other since they are a little territorial. In my Dwarf Puffer tank I have a live substrate bed for my plants and have sword ferns, Anubis, and water lettuce floating around. I recommend lots of plants for sure in a Dwarf Puffer tank since they like to wander through them and explore and they help lower nitrates and ammonia.

Hope I helped and have fun with your new little friends