Dwarf Puffer question

it must be an individual thing. as long as you have somewhere nice to put him if all goes wrong, which you do, than it should be fine. good luck
 
Hmm... I was thinking of getting two females for my male dwarf puffer, but the lfs I got them from only had one female left...

Anyways, here is some pics of my dwarf puffer and a pic of the overall tank (will be upgraded to a 30 gallon very soon, hence the mess of hornwort and other plants in the tank right now...lol)

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Just a quick update on my dwarf puffer. I upgraded to a 30 gallon tank and everything is great. My dwarf puffer put on a lot of weight and has grown a bit and is pretty peacful for the most part. Everyonce in a while if the tetras go into his territory he might chase them away and maybe barely nibble on their fins but nothing major. My dwarf gouarmi is deffinitely more aggressive than he is.
He's also learned to eat pretty quick and can easily keep up during feeding time with frozen bloodworms (he only needs about three pieces before his belly gets huge).

I guess the only bad thing is he is a very very good hunter and eats most of my new born cherry shrimp (doesn't matter cause I have a shrimp only tank of cherries and rainbows and always put some adults over as a clean up crew if the population looks a little bare)
 
the shrimp are a nice food source for the puffer. hes probably quite happy
 
Last update with my dwarf puffer for this tread. I've had him close to a year now in my community tank (30 gallons heavily planted with dwarf gouarmi, garra, 6 cardinal tetra, 4 rasbora, 2 peacock gudgeon, and various shrimps) . He is doing great, getting along with everyone and feeds very actively now, even competing with my tetras and rasboras with no problem. Aggression wise, he is just as aggressive as any other fish in my tank. I would say on par with my dwarf gourami. He bothers the tetras every once in while but nothing major (just very slight tail nips). By far my favorite fish out of the tank and a favorite of anyone who sees him! He just follows you everywhere and has this super cute puppy face when hungry. In my oppinion he is a better community fish than some of my other current fish right now in the same tank!
I have been to multiple LFS that carry dwarf puffers and have observed them closely.
It seems like aggression levels are VERY evident and different between batches. There were these one batch that came in and they seemed a little darker in color and were still juvis. These guys were very aggressive and already before being mature were tail nipping/chasing each other. Then there are other batches were all of them seem very docile and nice. My best advice for anyone trying to add a dwarf puffer to an aquarium tank is make sure you have a spare tank just in case it doesnt work out and observe very closely at the particular puffer before buying it. Temperment varies greatly!

I know my tanks stocked pretty full right now, but was wondering from other members if they have had any luck with introducing female puffers in with the males? My lfs got in a batch of puffers that seem very docile so far and I was considering getting two females perhaps to see what will happen. They are full grown for the most part already. Does the male get super aggressive or anything with females present (because of breeding or anything in general?)
One of my theories is there multiple subspecies of dwarf puffers and maybe some people are getting the really aggressive ones? Its amazing how different differnt batches act...
 
I'm glad you updated this! I just reread the thread and it's nice to hear a successful story like this. I think it's a good reminder of how individual fish can be.

ps... picture updates are always fun :dance:
 
you still have to watch when introduceing a female this in itself trigger the male agression, and like wise the female can be the mean one i had one of those also,.. and it can come out when m/f mix is triggered,.. so i'd say have a spare tank,
these fish are very social and i loved mine way more than other fish,.. but they are demanding little buggers like a lab trying to get your attention,..lol

if all is happy and healthy then don't fix what isn't broken
usually when a docile male is around there is a change the female will bbe a b*tch,.. as in the human experience some one has to step it up so to speak,..lol
 
As a kid - naive and didn't know what I was doing- I had some dwarf Puffers (can't remember if 3 or 4- and didn't know the sex) in a small community tank.

I know now this was a stupid and risky thing to do- but didn't at the time.

Just to go along with the each fish is different theme though- these puffers were very gentle and docile- I don't recall them ever bothering any of the other fish.

I'd be very carefull about where I would introduce puffers in the future- and certainly wouldn't keep multiple in a small community tank again... but I did have peace and harmony... at least whilst the fish lived... I never had very long-lived fish as a kid. I did everything wrong back then and feel quite bad about it now I'm an adult and know better. :(

Still- SOME dwarf puffers CAN live peacefully with small fish and each other... it's just a gamble each time.
 
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