petercaine

hi guys can anyone shed any light on some very small puffer fish brought in the uk the shop told us they would be fine in a community tank but since we have added the fish (which are absolutely stunning) they have started to nip at the others in the tank we have 6 guppies 2 xray tetra 1 bristlenose catfish 9 neon tetra and 5 small puffer fish (about 1inch) most of the other fish have all got bits of the fins missing is there anything that can repair the fins its the first time we have kept tropical fish our tank is a juwell vison bow front 180 litres

Stradius011

Puffer fish nip other fishes and destroy live plants.

petercaine

thanks we are finding that out very quickly will the eat baby fish we have just noticed 4 or so baby guppies in there can u buy anything to repair the fins? thanks for the reply

boff

I was going to get a pair from a woman to put in my community tank,but when she told me that they had bitten her guppies in half i thought better of it .They should only be kept in a spices tank ,they do look nice but very nasty for there size .I don't think there is any thing you can buy to repair there fins, but i read some where that they will grow back in time as long as they don't get nipped again. Do your puffers look like these because these were the ones that i was talking about.

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Butterfly

Good clean water and frequent water changes will help their fins grow back. Keep your eye on them for finrot.
The puffers will continue to nip anything that moves and eat anything that will fit in its mouth. They also will eat snails.
Ccarol

petercaine

yes they are the same as whats in our tank thanks for the advice i will keep my eye on them they are indeed stunning fish and i think we were missinformed about how much they would nip we were told that they would be ok so im a bit gutted because i want to add new fish but am a bit wary of what to put in there now the tank has just gone through its start up and all levels are spot on would you separate them from the others or see how they go ?

petercaine

thanks carol i will indeed keep my eye out for finrot thanks for the advice

Miss Mouse

Yes, dwarf puffers! Nippy little guys...but how irresistable? I actually bought 2 TEENY WEENY babies yesterday - but they have their own tank because I've had them before and I know what they're like

petercaine

im learning very fast about the adorable little ****** bless em would u take them out of the tank then or leave them in if u left them in what other fish would u put with them ? any advice is a massive help
thanks miss mouse

petercaine

by the way miss mouse i love the sound of your marine tank how long have you had it set up 4 and have u any pics yet i would love a marine tank one day but the cost scares the life out of me my missus and kids cost me enough ha ha ha

Gunnie

Puffers usually need to be in a species only tank. They don't eat their tankmates like a normal fish would. They eat them one chunk at a time! Also, I believe all puffers are brackish fish, so they probably should have their own tank for that reason anyway. They might appear to be okay in a regular freshwater tank, but they will not thrive like they would in a brackish tank. Regular freshwater will probably shorten their lifespans if you kept them like that for a long time. They are very cool fish though, and I have always loved watching the little devils at the fish stores. One day I will have a puffer tank!

petercaine

cheers for the adive gunnie they are stunners just wish the shop told us a bit more about them

Miss Mouse

Hey sorry its taken me so long to get back to you! Mine are in slightly brackish water on their own because of their temperments. My old ones were in a freshwater tank with an otocinclus; they tolerated him but I could see them eyeing him like he was something edible!
The marine tank is hard work and expensive! I've had it up fpr about 2 or 3 months now.I lost the Nemo clown fish the other day but I think it was age - I cannot identify any other reason. I've got some pics in the marine tank photos section so have a look. It's still very bare because I'm saving up for an RO kit and a protein skimmer before I add anything more. I cant wait to have a proper reef thing going tho! Just need to watch the pennies I'm so glad with my live rock - i've managed to pick up some amazing little hitch-hikers! I think about 20 baby starfish and a couple of brittle stars I find that every time I look into the tank there's something new - it's wonderous!