i have a dwarf puffer and i just got two new one, when i released them into the tank, the one i had b4 started following them & 'pecking' at them..is this normal? or are they gonna kill each other and what not..
2007-01-27 11:42:08 · 8 answers · asked by OOOMAR 1 in Pets ➔ Fish
i have had puffers in the past..and yes there was a pecking order involved..so yes it is normal & yes he may or may not kill the "newbies"..just watch him to see if he's becoming too relentless..but chances are if you have plenty of plants & places for the new guys to hide he'll get used to them. feed them & shut the light off after they eat & maybe he'll calm down. my puffers were all young & new to the tank when i got them so i really didn't have that problem..so maybe rearranging or adding more plants would help. i did have that problems with cichlids but they did eventually get along (well, as best as cichlids do) once everone established their territory.
2007-01-27 14:07:43 · answer #1 · answered by DEWEY 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Dwarf puffers are territorial. Even during mating season, a male won't always allow a potential female mate into his territory sometimes. Your establish dp is just defending his/her territory. You should have first quarantined the new fish for 2-4 weeks to make sure they didn't bring in any illnesses or parasites, then rearranged the tank so the old dp no longer recognizes his/her old territory, then put all the fish into the tank simultaneously. They'd then all be in new surroundings, unsure, and probably would have hung around together until they sorted out their pecking order. If your established fish is male and if any of the new fish are also male, you'd have fights (and they do sometimes kill each other).
2007-01-27 21:46:58 · answer #2 · answered by Inundated in SF 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Dwarf Puffers need places to establish territories. It is a good idea to add multiple caves throughout the tank for them to hide in if and when they feel threatened. Plants are needed to break their lines of sight which in turn will cut down their aggression towards one another. The one thing that is very important with a Dwarf Puffer tank is that no matter what kind of plants you use, you want to use a LOT of them! Another important purpose for the plants is to give the puffers an interesting habitat. If the puffers are bored, they will do a lot of swimming up and down the glass.
2007-01-27 19:50:16 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
Puffers will be aggressive towards their own species, you should only have one in the tank.
2007-01-27 21:54:08 · answer #4 · answered by sunnyD 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
your fish might be acting for territorial purposes...im not sure though, he could also just be an aggressive fish
2007-01-27 19:50:07 · answer #5 · answered by jilllemur 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
try rearangeing the decor, so they all can establish new territories
2007-01-27 20:00:14 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
some are just more agresive and it is possible that they would kill each other
2007-01-27 19:48:06 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Puffers are solitary fish, no tank mates please
2007-01-27 21:33:48 · answer #8 · answered by bzzflygirl 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋