I have a 30 gallon tropical fishtank with mollies, hatchetfish, neons, glowlights, etc. I was at the fish store and I saw freshwater dwarf puffer fish. I looked online and found that they sometimes bite of fins of other fish. When I went to the aquarium this past weekend, they had puffer fish that were larger than the one I had previously seen. The girl told me they were very aggressive and they actually eat guppies. The puffers were in a tank with other fish and they seemed to be getting along fine. I really want to get a dwarf puffer...what should i do?
2007-01-23 08:01:19 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Fish
get another tank.
they are cute, and fun, but don't play well with others. the stores only have them in for a short amount of time, and they don't get used to having other fish around. they will eat guppies, and other small fish, and sometimes, will fight to the death with another puffer. they are hard to transport, because you can't really net the little buggers,,, but more like you have to scoop them with a cup or bowl, because you don't want them 'puffing' full of air. they also jump, so you need a tight fitting lid on your tank. They also, require live food, or they become uninterested in the food. they have actual teeth, and will bite the fins off of any other fish that has fins. they require certain water perameters, because they don't have scales, they have skin. which, makes them even harder to transport because you have to worry about their stress coat. overall, they're cool little guys, but take a trained owner. not for the beginner (not that you are,,,,), but they have a lot of specifics that you have to maintain. Some places say that they need to be no more than one puffer in a tank, or else they get too teritorial, and will fight.
i spent a week learning about them because i wanted one too.... i think i'll wait for a while, and get a separate tank for them if i decide to get one.
good luck, hope that helps.
2007-01-23 08:15:02 · answer #1 · answered by Silver Thunderbird 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That would not be the best idea, in fact it's not even a good idea to keep one in five gallon tank. over-crowding is a serious problem and if you are planning to add more puffers then i would suggest at least a 30 gal. tank that has multiple hiding places. puffers are territorial so hiding places put all around the tank would be a good way to keep the puffers from attacking one another. however you were on the right track when you said you were going to heavily plant the aquarium. and as far as "Otos" go, they usually do get along with puffers. I myself prefer the porcupine puffer.
2016-03-28 23:06:05 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Puffers are notorious for suddenly turning on tankmates. They almost always do fine with other fish when young, then one day they turn aggressive and attack everything in sight. No puffers are reccommended for the community tank, they are for species only tank.
I once thought it would be ok to keep a dwarf puffer in with my betta. Everything was fine for a year until one day all of a sudden I woke up one morning and my bettas fins were torn to shreds and the puffer was chasing it all over the tank.
If you want one, you can go get a 3 gallon tank and keep it by itself. Dwarf puffers stay really small so it would work great.
2007-01-23 08:11:49 · answer #3 · answered by fish guy 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
For safety purposes, I would suggest getting him his own tank. When you saw him in the tank with other fish, just he was in there, doesn't neccessarily mean that it was enjoying it.
2007-01-23 09:06:49 · answer #4 · answered by Flames Fan 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
puffer fish r cool! get 1 totally
2007-01-23 08:16:29 · answer #5 · answered by richie 1 · 0⤊ 4⤋