Oh...well I guess I can't keep DP's then...
I really wanted them, too. I got cories instead. Perhaps I will add a betta.
I really wanted them, too. I got cories instead. Perhaps I will add a betta.
Dwarf Puffers
- Thread starter WinterWind
- Start date
Okay, thanks.
I just got 2 new cories today (reticulated, albino) and I also have a skunk. I will probably add a panda and a pepperred. And then maybe a betta. Will 5 corries and 1 betta be overstocked for a ten gallon aquarium?
I just got 2 new cories today (reticulated, albino) and I also have a skunk. I will probably add a panda and a pepperred. And then maybe a betta. Will 5 corries and 1 betta be overstocked for a ten gallon aquarium?
I would think that 5 cories is a bit much in a 10 gallon, I'd say 4 and a Betta would Pretty much fill it out. I'm sure you can do it though, but I have a "formula" that I try to stick to to make sure I'm understocked!
Basically my formula is to "square" (as in "Pie-R-Squared") the length of any fish and try to stick to that in gallons. For instance let's take a fish that gets to be 6". Many would err to the inch per gallon rule and say that you can house one of these or six 1" guppys. There is obviously a difference (as has been regularly petitioned against on this site!
) But if you square six, then you come up with 6x6=36.....meaning a 6" fish should have a 36 gallon aquarium (or larger) to live in. This isn't a rigid rule, but rather a framework to work around, and as the aquarium gets larger, I tend to allow other fish to be allowed as well. This rule, more than anything is for the fish to have room enough to move around a bit. An example is my custom made Display aquarium. It is 5'x22.5"x2' (basically 150 gallons) which actually holds about 125 gallons of water, and I house my Blackbelt Cichlid in it. This fish will get to about 1 foot in length (only 9" now). I also "allowed" a Sailfin Pleco in the tank (which is moderately planted, and will become heavily planted), which can reach up to 20 inches length. To be honest, the only reason I added any other fish than the blackbelt was for algae cleanup (and for minor interaction for the fish....Plecos are nocturnal). Anyways, the tank is built as a 150 gallon which supports my "formula" of 12" of fish x 12= 144 gallons. In all actuality, this tank is nowhere near the area this fish needs to live in nature, but I think it will be able to thrive in this tank for the duration of it's life! It is a new setup with moderate to few plants and I never let the nitrates get above 20ppm. Eventually (especially after I add my canopy and extra lights), there will be many plants to take up any pollutants and provide cover for my fish. This setup works well because the Blackbelt is active during day, while the Pleco at night. Also, my 55 gallon houses 8 Florida Flag Fish (averaging maybe 2" topps) and four 1/2" dwarf puffers. I consider this tank fully stocked, already. If I get any more fry out of my FFF, I'll move them to one of my smaller tanks. For argument's sake, I consider the full sise of the fish and 2" average FFF squared is 4" x8 (how many) is 32 gallons. Now the Dwarf Puffers are not fully grown either, and will become 1", but are considered messy fish, so let's double their size (which will square to 4", again) I have four of these fish, so 4" x 4 is 16 gallons. 16 + 32 + 48 gallons, but I also know that male FFF can get to around 3" fully grown, so this tank is fully stocked and very active, anyways! Sorry about lots of info, but just trying to describe my method of stocking.
I will say that a 10 gallon is relatively large in bottom area compared to other common aquariums. It's 20"x10" surface is nice in comparison to a 20 gallons 24"x12" surface. You can almost hold the same amount of bottom dwellers (area-wise) but have half the gallons to deal with waste-production.
Basically my formula is to "square" (as in "Pie-R-Squared") the length of any fish and try to stick to that in gallons. For instance let's take a fish that gets to be 6". Many would err to the inch per gallon rule and say that you can house one of these or six 1" guppys. There is obviously a difference (as has been regularly petitioned against on this site!
) But if you square six, then you come up with 6x6=36.....meaning a 6" fish should have a 36 gallon aquarium (or larger) to live in. This isn't a rigid rule, but rather a framework to work around, and as the aquarium gets larger, I tend to allow other fish to be allowed as well. This rule, more than anything is for the fish to have room enough to move around a bit. An example is my custom made Display aquarium. It is 5'x22.5"x2' (basically 150 gallons) which actually holds about 125 gallons of water, and I house my Blackbelt Cichlid in it. This fish will get to about 1 foot in length (only 9" now). I also "allowed" a Sailfin Pleco in the tank (which is moderately planted, and will become heavily planted), which can reach up to 20 inches length. To be honest, the only reason I added any other fish than the blackbelt was for algae cleanup (and for minor interaction for the fish....Plecos are nocturnal). Anyways, the tank is built as a 150 gallon which supports my "formula" of 12" of fish x 12= 144 gallons. In all actuality, this tank is nowhere near the area this fish needs to live in nature, but I think it will be able to thrive in this tank for the duration of it's life! It is a new setup with moderate to few plants and I never let the nitrates get above 20ppm. Eventually (especially after I add my canopy and extra lights), there will be many plants to take up any pollutants and provide cover for my fish. This setup works well because the Blackbelt is active during day, while the Pleco at night. Also, my 55 gallon houses 8 Florida Flag Fish (averaging maybe 2" topps) and four 1/2" dwarf puffers. I consider this tank fully stocked, already. If I get any more fry out of my FFF, I'll move them to one of my smaller tanks. For argument's sake, I consider the full sise of the fish and 2" average FFF squared is 4" x8 (how many) is 32 gallons. Now the Dwarf Puffers are not fully grown either, and will become 1", but are considered messy fish, so let's double their size (which will square to 4", again) I have four of these fish, so 4" x 4 is 16 gallons. 16 + 32 + 48 gallons, but I also know that male FFF can get to around 3" fully grown, so this tank is fully stocked and very active, anyways! Sorry about lots of info, but just trying to describe my method of stocking.I will say that a 10 gallon is relatively large in bottom area compared to other common aquariums. It's 20"x10" surface is nice in comparison to a 20 gallons 24"x12" surface. You can almost hold the same amount of bottom dwellers (area-wise) but have half the gallons to deal with waste-production.
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Then of course, that completely ignores behavioral issues, which is about 75% of puffer stocking density anyway.
I'm also planning on getting dwarf puffers when I have my 20 gallon aquarium set up all properly like, and I have some questions. Will the DP's attack clams? And if so will they be able to get through the shell? Or will the clams be safe? Or will the attempt hurt the puffers? And I've read all the information on dwarfpuffers.com (very informative) but I'm curious about what other people have found with adding a bit of salt. I've done a bit of reading about all puffers (I wasn't sure what kind I wanted) and with most species there seems to be a lot of disagreement over salt. Some places swear they're freshwater, some insist they'll thrive only in brackish water, and some even suggest going full out marine. So what have people who have kept these done and had success with? Also if I were to feed the puffers baby guppies would the puffers be able to catch them?
Ok I think that's all my inquisitiveness for today.
Ok I think that's all my inquisitiveness for today.
do more research
The best diet, at least from all I've read, is one of blood worms (frozen or alive fed through a cone feeder) and snails which you can watch them hunt. I'm not sure if it would be great to feed them something like baby guppies, though they'd probably nip them to death.
There have been stories of DPs attacking and eating apple snails, which are quite large, but I don't know that they could get to a clam. I've never heard of someone keeping clams with DPs.
As far as tank mates go shrimp such as Amanos and Cherry usually work well so long as you give them some moss or a cave to hide in. Shrimp, as well as ottos, are great because they are also entertaining and will eat your algae.
You don't need to put salt in with DPs and salt can be damaging. The larger freshwater puffers may be brackish but DPs are NOT.
Just as a side note - I was in an LFS yesterday and they were actually keeping the dwarf puffers with guppies! Overheard someone ask if they could be kept in brackish and the assistant said yes just to sell them....sheesh...so many fools... (BTW the guppies had great fins at one point but were in a sad state, lol).
The best diet, at least from all I've read, is one of blood worms (frozen or alive fed through a cone feeder) and snails which you can watch them hunt. I'm not sure if it would be great to feed them something like baby guppies, though they'd probably nip them to death.
There have been stories of DPs attacking and eating apple snails, which are quite large, but I don't know that they could get to a clam. I've never heard of someone keeping clams with DPs.
As far as tank mates go shrimp such as Amanos and Cherry usually work well so long as you give them some moss or a cave to hide in. Shrimp, as well as ottos, are great because they are also entertaining and will eat your algae.
You don't need to put salt in with DPs and salt can be damaging. The larger freshwater puffers may be brackish but DPs are NOT.
Just as a side note - I was in an LFS yesterday and they were actually keeping the dwarf puffers with guppies! Overheard someone ask if they could be kept in brackish and the assistant said yes just to sell them....sheesh...so many fools... (BTW the guppies had great fins at one point but were in a sad state, lol).
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Just one thing with these little guys... be careful how much you feed them and how much they eat... Mine are pigs.. they eat everything, until they are soooo fat that they can't move..lol It is sooo funny but sad. I had to start really watching them to make sure they only eat their share and let the other fish in the tank have some food.
I love these little guys.. I think they are one of my favorite fish every. Great to watch... their little personalities are so interesting and different then any other fish I have ever owned.
Have fun with them
ltldrgn13
72 gallon bow-front:
2 (0.75 in) Red-tail Sharks
1 (2 in) Rainbow Shark
3 (1.5 in) Zebra Danios
3 (.75 in) SwordTails
2 (.75 in) Dalmation Mollies
4 (0.5 in) White Clouds
3 (0.5 in) Green Barbs
3 (0.5 in) Tigar Barbs
3 (0.5 in) Gold Barbs
3 (0.5 in) Albino Barbs
2 (0.5 in) freshwater Drawf Puffer fish
1 (4 in) pleco
29 gallon: (becoming a fully planted tank)
2 black snails
2.5 gallon:
1 Betta
1 gold snail
I love these little guys.. I think they are one of my favorite fish every. Great to watch... their little personalities are so interesting and different then any other fish I have ever owned.
Have fun with them
ltldrgn13
72 gallon bow-front:
2 (0.75 in) Red-tail Sharks
1 (2 in) Rainbow Shark
3 (1.5 in) Zebra Danios
3 (.75 in) SwordTails
2 (.75 in) Dalmation Mollies
4 (0.5 in) White Clouds
3 (0.5 in) Green Barbs
3 (0.5 in) Tigar Barbs
3 (0.5 in) Gold Barbs
3 (0.5 in) Albino Barbs
2 (0.5 in) freshwater Drawf Puffer fish
1 (4 in) pleco
29 gallon: (becoming a fully planted tank)
2 black snails
2.5 gallon:
1 Betta
1 gold snail
