dwarf puffers

[PartyAnimal1UK]

Hey guys i've not been around for a while glad to be back. anyway, back to what we do best! i'm looking into getting a pufferfish, i was thinking more along the lines of dwarf puffers. i need to know some info,

a) how many i can keep together,
b) what size tank,
c) any special requirements,
d) tank mates,
e) and tempretures,

also anything else you can help me with thanks guys.

[thom336]

Good to see you again.

Dwarf Indian puffer, carinotetraodon travancoricus.
(a) As many as you can get in your tank - best when 10 or more.
(b) 10gal - could get away with smaller, but your better off going for a 10gal or larger.
(c) Quite undemanding, no special requirements as such - provide snails to keep 'beak' (sure thats not what you call it) trim. Not sure if this particular species prefers brakish conditions...
(d) Best kept as a species really.
(e) General tropical temps - around 25C.

Hope it helps.

[PartyAnimal1UK]

thanks. 10 puffers in a 10gal sounds quite a lot my tank is 24inch by 12 what would i get in that. i also have a 5 gal but that has no filteration. i don't actually have a heater yet would i require one. i'm in the ukso it's quite cold, my tank avergaes from 20-26 in the summer,you put 15c that quite cold, thanks for you reply

[PartyAnimal1UK]

i apologizes you put 25 not 15c. bet i would require a heater then. do you have o keep male and female seperate

[thom336]

(check the edit....lol!).

Also, 10 in a 10 is not alot really, as they grow to under an inch (following 1ins to gal rule), but thats why I put it as as many as you can get in - also as 10gal preferrably larger. You would easily get 10 in your tank. I would get heating for your tank - makes it so much moer stable.

[thom336]

You dont have to keep males and females apart to my knowledge - and you should get a good mix of them both among a group of 10. Maybe someone else knows more - also about the brakish bit.

You've actually brought up the questions I want answering, as I have a spare 10gal at moment, and was thinking about dwarf puffers...

[cdawson]

Originally posted by thom336
(check the edit....lol!).

Also, 10 in a 10 is not alot really, as they grow to under an inch (following 1ins to gal rule), but thats why I put it as as many as you can get in - also as 10gal preferrably larger. You would easily get 10 in your tank. I would get heating for your tank - makes it so much moer stable.

When dealing with puffer fish, you cannot follow this rule as temperment varies between specimens. 4 fem. to 2 males would be good for a 10g. Puffers in general are too rambunxious to use the 1 inch per gal rule. Which should never be used anyways.
Dwarf puffers are strictly FW and cannot survive BW conditions. Make sure you've got alot of plants, or if you're not using real plants provide alot of cover and plastic plants.

[elmj]

following what cdawson has said, they need lots of plants to break up their line of vision or they could easily be fighting sometimes. when you first buy them it's better to ask the storekeeper what he feed them because it can be quite a trouble to figure out what they want to eat. i said want to because different puffers like to eat different things! when i first bought mine, i tried all sorts of food from frozen blood worms to brine shrimp. they refused to eat. and when i consulted my friends they all said that theirs absolutely loved ghost shrimp so i put a few in. and...they became tank mates! :D but my dwarf puffers still refused to eat anything until i consulted the shopkeeper and realise they were feeding live red blood worms to it! and presto. the instant i put them in my puffers were all over it!:rolleyes:

so it would be a good thing to find out what they were previously fed. they are pickly eaters. but other then that they are the most adorable creatures alive. i absolutely love them! and they are quite hardy too.

HTH and all the best for those puffers!

p.s this is an excellent site for dwarf puffers!

http://www.rr.iij4u.or.jp/~kohda/en/en-dwarfpuffer.htm