Can dwarf puffer fish be put with guppies?

Question

I have two dwarf puffer fish who keep chasing the other fish, is there any way to keep them in the same tank without putting them in a cage or partition?

The answers are great, but I have neon tetras, a lot of guppies, 2 cory catfish, and 2 ghost shrimp. And, i have no snails. The puffers are currently contained in a net but I would like them to be free without nipping and ripping the guppies' tails.

Answer 1

You can try putting more decorations and plants in the tank to try to break up the tank and keep the puffers from seeing the other fish in their territory, but that probably won't help.

The dwarf puffers are a cute and entertaining fish, but they are quite vicious. They can kill fish that are 10 times their size in a short time. You might be able to distract them with snails, but that takes alot of snails. My four puffers will eat 40 to 50 snails at a time when I put them in the tank.
Sometimes you may be able to find some that will do well in a community tank. I haven't risked it since I first got them, and they decided to snack on my cory's fins. In the end, the risk will always be there for them to go after your other fish, so if you want to keep them in a community tank, just make sure you keep a close eye on them.

Here's a couple sites for you to look at if you haven't seen them yet.

http://www.dwarfpuffers.com/

http://www.thepufferforum.com/

Answer 2

I had the same setup, but I didn't have any problems with the puffers chasing the guppies. Now my gold snails... they chewed the crap out of them... not the guppies though. I wasn't too happy with my puffers for that.

Try getting a LOT of snails for the tank. Kinds that people use to feed them, or even kinds that are a little too big for them to eat all the way, if you're a sadist. Then they should leave the guppies alone.

Answer 3

I have a dwarf puffer fish in a tank w. quite a few other fish. It's a baby and smaller than most of the other fish, so there's no problem with him.

I had another larger one that was in my turtle tank, but he got eaten.

As long as he's got enough room, it could be fine. It depends on the personality of that fish and the other fish in the tank.

Answer 4

try a lot of plants. think aquarium jungle. silks will do the trick. puffers are great in this environment especially with lots of baby snails to snack on -- they will spend their days checking the undersides of leaves for snails.

Answer 5

Say goodbye to your shrimp and your guppies fins.