The Puffer Forum

Hi, at long last I have got my first Puffers, four dwarf puffers in a 35 gallon tank. It is planted and has rocks and Bogwood. The puffs came to my lfs together with one other, which was sold separately, from a private seller in the UK. I want to do ongoing improvements in this tank, will the puffs be stressed by me moving things, or adding things. Is there anything I can do to help them settle. There is a population of snails in the tank, and I’ve put some tubifex worms in, which they have had a chomp at (I was advised to do this by the lfs man).

They appear very thin!

LOL, appear??? There's no pics!

I’ll try to get some pictures, at the moment all but one scoot off if they think I’m taking an interest in them. The do appear to be hunting through the tank though, which is a good sign!

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The link above takes you to some very poor pictures of my puffs. There’s one shot of the tank in general (note the reflection of my kitchen window). The second photo down in the middle is Brave Puff, who I think is a girl. She hunts alone and comes to the glass to look at me. The plant is one I was sold as African water fern, I don’t think it is. The others are much more difficult to take photos of. I’ll try to get better ones as they get less shy.

Unfortunately, Photobucket won't let you link anymore, unless you pay for Premium membership.
Try treating for IPs: library/hospital/internal-parasites-pre ... treatment/

I’m reluctant to worm immediately because there’s a large population of snails in the tank, although the pond type snails seem to be significantly less. However, there are MTS in there too, I’ve tried to remove them, but there must still be some in there. If I worm It may kill them, which will cause my parameters to jump, and not in a good way. On a happier note the puffs look much better, fatter, more relaxed, and they’re hunting constantly. I cleaned the inside glass this morning and they all came to watch. There appear to be three males and one female, so I need to obtain more females. Any suggestions where I can get pre-sexed puffs ?

I'm glad they're doing better! I really wouldn't worry about MTS, their shells are much too hard for the puffs to bother with. They will help keep the substrate clean.
The only way to purchase identifiable sexes, is if they are mature fish.
You do know how to sex them?

Yes, although I have quite bad eyesight, so it takes me a while. My LFS is due 10 in on Thursday and he said I can have first pick. I did my first water change today (only 4 gallons, just to keep the substrate clean) and after the vacuum they picked over the sand carefully, and got the odd tiny snail. This evening they came asking for food and I clearly saw three yellow abdomens and one white. I gave them some brine shrimp for a change. That drawn, worried look has gone, and they’ve started people watching! That’s got to be good. I can’t tell you how pleased I am with them.