# indian dwarf puffer



## Johnny579 (Aug 22, 2014)

Today i purchased a 5.5 gallon glass tank, a tetra filter rated up to ten gallons, 10 pounds of natural gravel, and put in an order for an amazon sword, marimo moss balls, and an indian dwarf puffer. The plants should be here friday and the puffer will be here in about two weeks. I have already set up the tank and got the filter running for the fishless cycle. This is my first puffer so any advice would be appreciated. 

Ive heard of people having success with purposely putting malaysian trumpet snails in the tank and letting them become a self sustatining food supply, any truth to that? And are these little guys jumpers? 

Thanks


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

DP's are fantastic little creatures! They don't jump normally unless you really scare them. It takes quite a while for them to get used to you and what they think is food. I suggest you have a good population of Bladder snails going as that is the easiest food for them, MTS tend to have too much armor compared to Bladders but they will get eaten, yes. It's best if you can have more or less a mix of them and then some frozen foods like Bloodworms, Brine Shrimp and Mysis Shrimp for them to eat.

I suggest tons of plant cover in a few areas of the tank, like if you could plant the entire back of the tank for a nice dense 'forest' feel, the Puffer would feel more comfortable. They don't like the big open spaces at first so it will help them settle into the tank if they have more hiding spaces until they know you and are familiar with their surroundings. Some DP's are immediately outgoing and you may just get one like that and he or she will immediately swim to you and interact while others may be very shy. They are a lot like Betta's when it comes to their personality, each one is different!


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## n25philly (Dec 5, 2013)

Good idea to get the cycle started right away, dp don't have scales and can be sensitive to a tank that isn't cycled. Plant and decorations are good as they are intelligent fish and will get bored if there aren't decorations around.

MTS can work as dp do not crunch into snails, they slurp them out. It can take a little time for them to get how to eat them as they have trapdoors and the dp needs exposed flesh to eat them. That might work as a long term plan, but I wouldn't count on them as food on day 1. Also for that to work you need to feed the mts as they would multiply enough without a food source, so it's not going to keep you from having to feed the tank completely. You can get stuff like frozen blood worms and baby brine shrimp that they will eat as well.


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## Morgyn (Mar 7, 2014)

I've been thinking about getting a DP too. Thought substrate needed to be sand? Also heard snails good food source but shouldn't be only thing they eat (like Bettas).

The only hesitation is they're collected from the wild vs tank bred- at least all the ones I've found for sale are. Dexter, one of my Bettas, died last weekend, eventually would like to put something in his 10gal. For now researching. DP would be good as other Betta Vighnesh's tank has snails (must have come in on a plant- ugh). Think whatever it is I want to be a true rescue from a person vs store or breeder. Also would medicate whatever fish first as a precaution (wish I did that with Dexter). Medications are harsher on DPs I've read since they don't have scales. Definitely good you're cycling tank. Did you add Seachem Stability of Fritzyme to speed it up?


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Doesn't need to be sand but I feel it looks nicer  

It's very hard to breed DP's in the aquaria, well you can breed them easy but the fry tend to be very canabalistic which is why most of them are wild caught. If you get them from a trusted store then there shouldn't be much of an issue with them. Actually a lot of aquarium fish are wild caught, still plenty of algae eaters and some cichlids are all wild caught along with killifish.


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## Morgyn (Mar 7, 2014)

Thanks. Oh, I thought they might dig in the substrate looking for snails- gravel could tear skin. Substrate in 10gal is gravel right now, if I get a DP probably will switch - or not- I don't know. Do you have a trusted source of DPs please? Or maybe I'll just wait for someone who gets one and then realizes they're adorable yes but too aggressive to be with anything else. 

I keep going back and forth which is why there's no rush.


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## n25philly (Dec 5, 2013)

As far as I know DP don't borrow in the substrate, and I don't know if mts would change that. The only issue I possibly see is that they are messy eaters so gravel might be a bit tougher to clean but otherwise there shouldn't be any issues.

Can't help with sources. I am considering getting my first dwarf puffers soon, but I have lfs that stock them that I trust.


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## Morgyn (Mar 7, 2014)

Ahh k thanks.


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## Morgyn (Mar 7, 2014)

The source is still a big concern for me on any fish. I rescued both my bettas from stores/tiny cups. Then realized after the fact yes I rescued them individually but enabled and encouraged stores to keep selling and mistreating them. The stores don't seem to care about their welfare. I don't know it's a hard choice and maybe I'm over thinking it.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

I do actually have a trusted source and I wouldn't mind sending you one along. I think they're less than 5 dollars and 6 dollars for Priority 2 day shipping (I ship fish a lot lol). I can even attempt to sex them if you prefer a male over a female or vice versa. You can PM me if you decide you want one 

Yeah, they don't burrow that I've seen at least. But it is easier to clean the sand since the gravel would really trap all the stuff BUT you can deep clean gravel where you can with sand but it's a little more difficult is all. I feel like they show up better with sand because of their markings though. I actually have a little section where I have FloraMax gravel and he tends to blend in there and I can't find the little bugger some times lol.


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## Morgyn (Mar 7, 2014)

Thanks, I may take you up on that. Sand sounds like the best, if I get one want to switch substrate, and give the plants time to recover. I'm sure the Crypts would "melt" a little. 

I think my biggest hangup is yes I do have two stores in the area I "trust" but they're still stores and they make their money selling a living thing. Maybe overthinking it maybe over emotional since Dexter just died. 

Thanks for all the help and explanation.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

I do think you are over thinking it a little, just my honest opinion though and I don't mean any offence by it >.< All fish stores are out to make a buck though usually local stores still care about their live stock since they have more invested in it than most chain stores do. So if you have a LFS that you know takes care of their stock but still wants to make a buck, I'd say just go for them since it will help them and you'd still get a healthy (presumably) fish. That's my opinion at least but either way, let me know when you're ready or if you don't want to support those stores or whatever it is you want to do lol!

Crypts can be sensitive but generally a simple change of substrate won't cause them to melt ^_^ It's more just when you change tanks or water chemistry that they'll melt, though, some are more sensitive over others. I find my Wendtii is much less sensitive than my Undalata is ^_^


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## Morgyn (Mar 7, 2014)

Thanks. No offense taken. Will do. Have Wendtii too.


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## Johnny579 (Aug 22, 2014)

Thanks guys. Im pretty set on starting an mts population in my tank and for now my lfs stocks tons of different snails for the puffer to eat until he learns the mts. I plan on feeding it a good variety of foods but the mts would theoretically save me money on buying live snails. Im thinking a java fern forrest would be a good addition and i have a root cave ornament that should make for a great place for him to play.


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## n25philly (Dec 5, 2013)

All good choices. The snail colony will give him a chance to hunt. I've heard mixed things about dp and caves, but I think it's a good choice and the duckweed is good as they prefer diffused light.


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## Johnny579 (Aug 22, 2014)

I am really looking forward to my little puffer getting here. Everything is ordered and the tank will include mts (i was surprised when my pet store said they would order them for me) one amazon sword, java fern, moss balls, duckweed, my root cave ornament and the things listed in my other post. The little puffer should have plenty to explore and play in and the mts should turn into a good sized population before he can ever completely deplete them. My next question is acclimating him because ive heard they can be pretty sensitive.


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## n25philly (Dec 5, 2013)

I wouldn't worry too much about acclimation. They are not that sensitive about things like ph. It's funny that this thread came up as I picked up three dp's last night.
The acclimation was easy despite one of them getting stuck in the back for at least a minute after pouring the water into my small acclimation tank. These guys were really small even for dp's so it I had a hard timing finding him in the bag.

I did a couple of hours of acclimation (mainly because I was working at the same time and wasn't paying much attention, not because I was doing that much)

The main thing is that it's probably best to move the using a cup, not a net. If they get scared they might puff up and if they do that out of the water they might have a hard time deflating and could die.

It's much more important to make sure the tank is cycled and the water quality stays good. That is what they are sensitive to.


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## Johnny579 (Aug 22, 2014)

The tank will be well cycled and ready to go before i ever put him in, and the plants should help make that easy. Ill post a pic when i have everything completed.


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## n25philly (Dec 5, 2013)

Yes, sounds like you've got a great setup coming together there. Good luck with it and looking forward to the photos


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## Morgyn (Mar 7, 2014)

Also looking forward to pics and hearing of your experience with!


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Just because you think they might be not as sensitive, this doesn't mean you shouldn't skimp on acclimation. Any fish, even Betta's should be acclimated slowly and carefully because that can really deter health if you acclimate too quickly or not well. But yes, water quality is important with these guys.


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## n25philly (Dec 5, 2013)

lilnaugrim said:


> Just because you think they might be not as sensitive, this doesn't mean you shouldn't skimp on acclimation. Any fish, even Betta's should be acclimated slowly and carefully because that can really deter health if you acclimate too quickly or not well. But yes, water quality is important with these guys.



I meant that they don't need extra consideration, not that it should be rushed or anything like that.


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## Jonthefish (Jun 16, 2014)

Oh puffers are so cool !!!  can't wait for pictures !!!


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

n25philly said:


> I meant that they don't need extra consideration, not that it should be rushed or anything like that.


Okay, the way you wrote it made it seem like you were saying that they didn't need much acclimation. Just wanted to clear that up ^^ but yeah, they can pretty much tolerate any pH level as long as acclimated properly :-D


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