Can dawf puffers be in a freshwater tank with no added salt?

Question

I had someone at a local pet store tell methey could, but i dont believe them really because they just didnt look to ligit and i was wonder if anyone knew more and could tell me

Answer 1

Sure, no problem for a young one. The dwarf puffer needs no salt as a young fish but will require a brackish tank as it gets older and larger.

MM

Answer 2

Dwarf puffers are a freshwater species! There are puffers that can live in freshwater, brackish, and marine environments. Many as babies will need less salinity than adults, but the Dwarf does not require ANY salt.

They do, however, need a large tank - 30 gallons, or so. They like lots of plants, should occasionally have snails to eat (to keep the beaks trimmed), and they can only be kept together (like you see them in the pet store) as babies. These get aggressive and can be very territorial. They have a tendency to nip fins of other fish, so are best kept in a "species" tank. They are very personable, and will come to "greet" you and will follow you around the tank. These are fairly easy to spawn in captivity (you can distinguish the male and female as adults).

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=971

http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/ug.php/v/PufferPedia/Freshwater/C_Travancoricus/
In the second link, click on the picture above "freshwater puffers" - the dwarf is in the second row, center. Click on its picture for more info on the species.

Answer 3

Well, I was going to say no before I read the previous answer... Hmmm... I still think my answer is no.
Dwarf Puffers are technically brackish fish, and should be kept as such if you expect them to lead long, healthy lives. But, I think you actually might like a brackish tank. They don't get nearly as much press time as they deserve, as there are some very interesting fish that would get along quite well with your puffers in a partial-salt environment. Run google searches on Bumblebee Gobies, Mollies, Mono's, and Scats, as all are bona fide brackish fish.
If you are also interested in plants, I recall reading an interesting article about keeping mangroves in salt or brackish tanks. The trees are planted in the substrate and grow up out of the tank like bonsai trees. The only downside with that is that you have to watch for fish jumping as obviously a cover is impossible. If you are interested, more information is to be had here: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/apr2002/feature.htm
Although that article focuses on keeping mangroves in reef tanks, the area where these plants grow are subject to pretty major changes in salinity, and they can easily survive in brackish tanks.
There are also some good pictures of other brackish fish here: http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Tanks/mytank5.htm

Bon chance!
Liszie

Answer 4

Water Parameters
The dwarf puffer is a freshwater puffer and does not require a high pH like their brackish cousins. I keep my water with at least a pH of 7.0, and change 30% weekly. Temperature should be between 24ºC-27ºC as it is a tropical fish. I keep mine at 27ºC (80ºF) to ward off ich or prevent it from occurring in my aquarium.

Dwarf puffers do well in a wide range of water and temperature conditions, but it is best to keep the water slightly alkaline and slightly warm, to prevent ich.

Dwarf puffers are quite hardy and can tolerate a variety of water conditions. For them to be healthy and happy, though, you should try to give them the best conditions possible. Keep in mind that Dwarf Puffers are 100% freshwater fish! They can tolerate small increases in salinity but are at optimum health in pure freshwater.

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Temperature - While they can tolerate a broad range of temperatures, dwarf puffers seem to do best with a temperature of at least 80F (26C).

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PH - A PH of at least 7.0 is best.

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Nitrites and Ammonia - As with any fish, you want to keep these down to 0 at all times.



http://www.dwarfpuffers.com/setup2.htm

Answer 5

Short answer is no. They are freshwater fish. If you mean the cute little vicious spotted ones.

A couple of people above gave you a couple of links. They both have some good info about them.

Here they are again for you.

http://www.dwarfpuffers.com/
http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/

Answer 6

I had about 12 dwarf puffers in my 55 gallon with tropical fish... they lived jut fine... I actually had to take them out and put them in thier own fresh water 10 gallon cause they were eating the fins off on my bigger fish... I figured my big fish would have eaten them but it ended up the other way around..lol... So, yes, they will be fine in fresh water... but, they are really aggressive so watch them with the other fish.

Answer 7

Freshwater puffers actually do better in a brackish water environment, but there are freshwater puffers.