PPK9110

First of all, i'd like to tell you guys, i don't know much about puffers keeping, i used to have two of them about a year ago, i wasn't sure what kind they were, unfortunaly they passed away.
Well anyways, i have a 20g long fresh water tank, recently my cichilids passed away, so i'm pretty much left with an emputy tank, and i kind of want to get a puffer tank, if i do..i don't know what kind of puffer i should get, from what i've read on this page, dwarf are the most common ones, so here are a few questions:
1. How many can i keep? ( I sort of want a school of them)
2. What do they eat? (besides bloodworms and snails)
3. Will they get alone with each other (I'm only gonna have dwarf puffers, nothing else)
4. What sort of enviroment do they like, rock stock, plant stock, or just emputy.

THank you guys.

Amorinthe

There is some great information in the other sections of this forum - it's always a good idea to skim other threads...and there is a link to a strictly puffer forum.

armadillo

Hi PPK. 20G is a great size for some puffers. I'd say 1 male, 3 females. The rule of thumb for dwarf puffers is 1 inch of fish per 3 gallon. They're huuuge polluters.

1 thing to really watch out for with puffers when you buy them is that they are indeed dwarf (some get sold as dwarf and are not) and they are indeed fresh water (same reason, even worse consequences).

Another thing is watch out for internal parasites, the nr 1 puffer killer. They eat live food, so that's a bit of a pain too. I'd breed the food myself if I were you, as shop-bought runs the risk of internal parasites, to which they are prone.

Oh, and they're scaleless, so you'll need to bear that in mind if you ever want to medicate for one reason or another.

And another thing to think of: they can be pretty aggressive tank mates, so most people recommend otos or kulhi loaches as tankmates.

PPK9110

what are the chances of them fighting themselfs, and do they like rocks or plants, thank you!

armadillo

The chance of in-fighting is quite high. They can be aggressive little fish towards each other too, but I think if you give them a chance to establish a pecking order (1 male, several females), it doesn't have to be a problem. That's the setup of many puffer owners: either a group, or just the one fish.

PPK9110

armadillo , thanks a lot, you helped me on advises on life and fish, i don't know how to thank you.
maybe i'll be better off witha school of neon tetras, i like those little guys. but i never had good method to keep them healthy, the previous time i had them, they're always seem scared and although they're in a group, there still aren't much monment, they just swim still at one spot.

armadillo

All that counts is that you continue to feel better. Any time at all.

I would agree with your reservations on DPs. In my experience, they've not been 100% easy fish to keep what with the eating live feed, the frequent parasite scares, the potential aggression. They're cute, don't get me wrong, but I also don't feel we've found a good routine with them yet either. I find that hard to do with them.

PPK9110

ummm...3 female puffers with 1 male puffer, or a school of neon tetras...
i think i might go with the tetras...perhaps i should do more research about them first.