Semi self-sustainable dwarf puffer tank

[WhaleSharkKeeper]

Hi all,

I am a newbie in this forum. I have been keeping a heavily planted 22-gallon dwarf puffer tank with 5 dwarf puffers and 5 amano shrimps for 16 months.

I was keeping them along with a population of snails and some blackworms living in the tank. I brought 10-20 ramshorn snails or pond snails and 1 tablespoon of live blackworms every month-ish. The worms burrowed in the sand and the snails were eating algae. When the worms and snails almost disappear I brought new ones.

I thought the puffers and shrimps generally looked happy, sometimes laying eggs and showing bright and clear coloration.

One of the shrimps jumped out(it was mysterious. My tank has a cover. My guess is it jumped out while I was changing water) of the tank and one was found dead in the tank so far. A puffer who looked weaker than others died about four months ago and yesterday a healthy-looking puffer was found dead. No visible patches or decoloration was found. Thus there are three puffers and three shrimps left. Is this considered normal? I am worried and would like to know if I could improve anything. I wonder if they died because of their age or due to any other reason. Is there anyone who has experience with self-sustaining dwarf puffer fish tank?

Thank you!

 

[Rbishop]

Any tank readings from a good liquid test kit?

 

[WhaleSharkKeeper]

Thanks for asking. Nitrite/ammonia/nitrite 0/0/0-5 ppm each, pH 7.4~7.5, water temperature 24-26C.

 

[the loach]

Define "self sustaining".
The death of your puffers may not have been something that you had control over. Large scale commercial bred ornamental fish nowadays are generally of poor quality. Many species are just a poor shade of what their hardiness and color was a couple of decades ago.
They're not all going to live for years once you buy them, and the fish farms are fine with that, the more they can sell.

 

[WhaleSharkKeeper]

Thanks for your opinion, the loach. I heard mines are commercially bred, which I thought was a more sustainable option than buying wild caught individuals (I read dwarf puffers in wild are considered vulnerable now). Honestly I think I did not ponder deeply on the lifespan and genetic backgrounds (I guess there could be higher chances of inbreeding in commercial farms) of the commercially bred fish. I think your explanation makes sense, particularly because I bought them when they were already about 1.2cm-long. Maybe they were at least 1 year-old.

The term “semi self-sustaining” I used meant a tiny ecosystem that could support its food chain with minimal external intervention. It was one of my goals because I travel often and I wanted to keep my fish healthy and happy even when I am out of town for about a week, and also because of my personal interest and preference. There are a lot of factors and limitations that makes my tank very different from what it is like in an actual natural ecosystem, but it seems like this tank functions close to what I have planned.

Your comment makes me think a lot. I appreciate it

 

[the loach]

You're very welcome, I like your approach but this is generally referred to as a "low maintenance" tank
I suppose you didn't mean you could actually choose between commercially bred and wild caught puffers? That is really rare and a thing of the past. Most wholesalers no longer stock wild caught and commercially bred fish of the same species. Except for non cichlid fish from Africa and 'oddball' fish, about everything is farmed now because it is much cheaper (for the wholesalers, not for the consumer)

 

[WhaleSharkKeeper]

Ooh cool I didn’t know it is called a low maintenance tank! I’m a newbie in this field, it is actually my first own fish tank. It is good to learn it is now mostly farmed fish that are on the market. Thanks for sharing your interesting and helpful knowledge

 

[jm1212]

none of these things live forever. with that said, it's a little unsettling that you have seen the death of both a shrimp and a puffer. I would venture to say that given your feeding habits and the nature of the tank, that they aren't getting enough food and aren't getting enough nutrients. this is especially true with the amanos. you didn't mention any supplemental feeding for them, and I personally don't think that you can have that many of them in a tank that small and successfully keep them long-term without any supplemental feeding. as for the puffer, there are a number of things that could have happened, though I would be inclined to believe it's because that one was not getting enough food as well. puffers form a hierarchy when in groups, and the smallest one was likely the one that died.

 

[OrionGirl]

Dwarf puffers are horrible little monsters that will chase, harass, and kill each other. I had some in a 90--dense planting, fed daily plus snails in the tank, and they quarreled and pecked and left just 2. There may be a trick to keeping them in a school, but it's not easy.

As for the amano--they are sneaky about jumping, and can also climb out up airline tubing or filters intakes.

 

[ustabefast]

What was your male/female ratio with the Puffers?
Perhaps the dominant male made sure he was the only guy left in the tank.