# Thinking of getting puffers got some questions...



## ilikefish (Mar 10, 2008)

I have a 65 gal tank sitting empty now and thinking of getting puffers. 

1. Do they need salt in the water, if so how much?
2. what is the difference with pea , dwarf and regular puffers?
3. What do puffers eat?
4. how many can i put in my tank and can i put other species also?

thank you!!!


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## Fish_Man (Apr 9, 2010)

ilikefish said:


> I have a 65 gal tank sitting empty now and thinking of getting puffers.
> 
> 1. Do they need salt in the water, if so how much?
> 2. what is the difference with pea , dwarf and regular puffers?
> ...


1. Depends which puffer you get, I've read some need brackish water.
2. Pea and dwarf = same thing. Regular puffers are larger than pea/dwarf
3. Snails and bloodworms (tho some have been successful on feeding other things)
4. Depends which ones you get and your tank is big enough to have other species too.

So I guess narrow it down to what you want exactly first


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## GuppiesAndBetta (Jul 27, 2009)

ilikefish said:


> I have a 65 gal tank sitting empty now and thinking of getting puffers.
> 
> 1. Do they need salt in the water, if so how much?
> 2. what is the difference with pea , dwarf and regular puffers?
> ...


When I had GSPs, they were one of the most interesting fish I have ever owned. They were very interactive and responsive.

1) Most species require a brackish or marine environment when they are mature except the dwarf puffer. As to how much, that would depend on what type of puffer you get.
2) I do not think there is a difference. Hopefully another poster can clear this up. 
3) Puffers rarely take flakes. I fed my GSPs bloodworms, market shrimp, fish fillets, snails. Snails or other crustaceans are important because it helps to trim down their teeth (which is required for survival).
4) Usually puffers are recommended for a species only tank.


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## carmenh (Dec 20, 2009)

Join "The Puffer Forum", and search the pufferpedia there for info on the types that interest you. Puffers can be fresh, brackish, or marine. Some start out fresh and go higher brackish or marine with age. If you go brackish, you NEED to use marine salt, not aquarium salt. 
They tend to do best as single fish, with some exceptions, and require a more specialized diet than "normal" fish. Most puffers teeth continuously grow and require hard foods to stay short.
That said, they are wonderful fun  They are friendly, quirky, and more interactive than most other fish, and with proper care, can live well upwards of 10-15 + years...
They are highly addictive


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## ilikefish (Mar 10, 2008)

i have a 65 gal tank so i couldnt put a whole bunch of puffers in?


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## Twiggles (Jun 6, 2010)

Dwarf Puffers all the way!! lol naw but they're all awesome. With a tank that size you could have practically any kind of puffer really (I'm assuming you're aren't going with marine), which one you find the most interesting is up to you. If you go with dwarf puffers you could have like 15 or 20 of them .. which would be so awesome!


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## dl88dl (Mar 8, 2010)

If you want a wonderful single specimen aquarium fish then the FW Fahaka is a very beautiful and friendly pet and this puffer will look great in your 65gal tank and they can grow as big as 17"


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## carmenh (Dec 20, 2009)

I agree with Twiggles. If you plant heavily (to break up line of sight) , you could get a whole bunch of DP's and it would be a fun, active tank. A Fahaka would be cool but you would need (sooner rather than later) a tank almost twice the size of what you have. 
Puffers are messy (and very sensitive to pollutants such as ammonia), so for their size they require larger tanks, better filters, and more heavy and frequent water changes than average. Going with a smaller than recommended tank will lead to stunting and health problems...


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## Darkside (Sep 14, 2009)

For a 65 gallon tank I think that 6 SAPs would make a better display. They're a non-dwarf strictly FW (Are occasionally found in low salinity brackish) schooling puffer. If you have a lot of room, 180 or larger then I also like the Fahaka puffer, they're an amazing fish!


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## GuppiesAndBetta (Jul 27, 2009)

Not to derail thread but are red eye puffers FW or brackish?


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## AquaNekoMobile (Feb 26, 2010)

carmenh said:


> Join "The Puffer Forum", and search the pufferpedia there for info on the types that interest you. Puffers can be fresh, brackish, or marine. Some start out fresh and go higher brackish or marine with age. If you go brackish, you NEED to use marine salt, not aquarium salt.
> They tend to do best as single fish, with some exceptions, and require a more specialized diet than "normal" fish. Most puffers teeth continuously grow and require hard foods to stay short.
> That said, they are wonderful fun  They are friendly, quirky, and more interactive than most other fish, and with proper care, can live well upwards of 10-15 + years...
> They are highly addictive


Tom_G on this forum has a pea puffer in a community tank. I think he has a 30-35gal tank. You may want to ask him how or what he did to get his puffer to work with his setup. Then again it is also the personality of the puffer. If the puffer is aggressive then likely it'll only do well in a species only tank. He has a pea puffer. From what I've read pea puffers min spacing was 3gal/each but do well in 5gal/each. If you have more then one puffer make sure you plant the tank or have decorations that break up the line of sight before getting a few puffers. That way it can cut down on the aggression.


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## AquaNekoMobile (Feb 26, 2010)

Ahh 65gal. Just reread that. Well with that space you may want to test out if a DP with some other fish can work together. Given I've only read some stuff online and see that Tom_G has one I think a solo DP may work out if you go with a community tank.


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## ilikefish (Mar 10, 2008)

ok now i have to read wat the diff is with brackish and marine. 

so for reg puffers how many can i do in my 65gal


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## chagoi99 (Feb 26, 2010)

GuppiesAndBetta said:


> Not to derail thread but are red eye puffers FW or brackish?


red eye puffers are FW


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*puffer*

hey there , i just read the posting and saw my name ,lol well i do have a puffer and he is in a 38 gal comunity tank. dont want to jinx him but he is doing great , the tank is planted i have two agels in the tank , with some rosy barbs and 2 bolivian rams . i have had no probs with him , im actualy wanting to do a heaviliy planted tank with tonnes of them in it , meaning prob around six but i have not got there again . hes done an awsome job of cleaning up the snails , awsome to watch him in attack mode on the snails .
love watching him swim im not sure what kind of puffer i have i think i got him as a dwarf puffer , hes abuot the size of a kidney bean maybe a little smaller 
i had a pea puffer in with my angels and black ghost knife , MIA i think the knife had him or the angels
anyways thanks for mentioning my name aqua.
feels good to be able to help someone out
tom


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## AquaNekoMobile (Feb 26, 2010)

tom g said:


> hey there , i just read the posting and saw my name ,lol well i do have a puffer and he is in a 38 gal comunity tank. dont want to jinx him but he is doing great , the tank is planted i have two agels in the tank , with some rosy barbs and 2 bolivian rams . i have had no probs with him , im actualy wanting to do a heaviliy planted tank with tonnes of them in it , meaning prob around six but i have not got there again . hes done an awsome job of cleaning up the snails , awsome to watch him in attack mode on the snails .
> love watching him swim im not sure what kind of puffer i have i think i got him as a dwarf puffer , hes abuot the size of a kidney bean maybe a little smaller
> i had a pea puffer in with my angels and black ghost knife , MIA i think the knife had him or the angels
> anyways thanks for mentioning my name aqua.
> ...


How long have you had the puffer in there? The more experienced puffer people could go by that and guage based on time/size if you have a pea or a larger one.


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## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

I have 2 pea puffers in a 10 gallon with a pair of Swords and have no issues for over a year. No plants but I put some ramshorn snails in with them they are really tiny mine are not bigger than a pea. will eat flake and pellets. Brine shrimp and bloodworms on occasion. Pretty cool little guys.

Recommend them.


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## AquaNekoMobile (Feb 26, 2010)

TBemba said:


> I have 2 pea puffers in a 10 gallon with a pair of Swords and have no issues for over a year. No plants but I put some ramshorn snails in with them they are really tiny mine are not bigger than a pea. will eat flake and pellets. Brine shrimp and bloodworms on occasion. Pretty cool little guys.
> 
> Recommend them.


Oh man.. how did you get yours to eat flakes? That is awesome and handy should you need to go on vacation if they will nosh on flakes it is way easier to feed them while away.

That is one of the holding points for me to get them was the feedin thing.


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## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

AquaNekoMobile said:


> Oh man.. how did you get yours to eat flakes? That is awesome and handy should you need to go on vacation if they will nosh on flakes it is way easier to feed them while away.
> 
> That is one of the holding points for me to get them was the feedin thing.


I put flake in the tank same day I got them from Ba's Hamilton and they ate it so I continued to feed it. You can get just about any fish to eat anything you want as long as you don't give in and feed them something they like better.


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*puffer*

i have had the puffer in the community tank for over a year


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## coldmantis (Apr 5, 2010)

I keep a green spotted puffer and 2 pea puffers in a 10 gallon tank that's not planted for like 8 months now and I have no problems with them being together, unless I feed them house hold centipedes then the gsp gets greedy.


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## ilikefish (Mar 10, 2008)

so for reg puffers how many can i do in my 65gal/ ? i guess only the pea's can be mixed with other species?


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## AquaNeko (Jul 26, 2009)

TBemba said:


> I put flake in the tank same day I got them from Ba's Hamilton and they ate it so I continued to feed it. You can get just about any fish to eat anything you want as long as you don't give in and feed them something they like better.


What specific formula and brand of food are you feeding your puffers with? I'd like to try that as well. Wished stores would offer sample sizes for same of food. Say 1-2 pinchs for 50cents so you can test if the fish like it then being stuck with a large size of food if the fish won't eat it.


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## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

AquaNeko said:


> What specific formula and brand of food are you feeding your puffers with? I'd like to try that as well. Wished stores would offer sample sizes for same of food. Say 1-2 pinchs for 50cents so you can test if the fish like it then being stuck with a large size of food if the fish won't eat it.


Generic Flake food I got from "The Tropical Fish Room" in Brantford Nothing fancy. Jerry buys it in bulk and puts it in his own clear containers. Everything I have eats it.


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*puffer*

they will nip at fish with long fins , ihave cauught mine chasing tails .lol


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## Twiggles (Jun 6, 2010)

ilikefish said:


> so for reg puffers how many can i do in my 65gal/ ? i guess only the pea's can be mixed with other species?


you keep saying "reg" puffers ... do you mean dwarf or not dwarf? If you mean non-dwarf, something like a green spotted puffer, I guess you could have like 6 or 7 (?). If you mean dwarf puffers you could have like 15-20.


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## carmenh (Dec 20, 2009)

ACKKK, NO!!!! At most, 2 GSP's, they need 30g each minimum...and some get significantly bigger than average so will require more...


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## Darkside (Sep 14, 2009)

I think SAPs make a better fit for larger aquariums!

http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/library/puffers-in-focus/sap/


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## Twiggles (Jun 6, 2010)

My apologies, I had no idea they got that big ... that's why I had that "(?)" cuz I wasn't sure  I think SAPs may have been the ones I was thinking of


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## AquaNeko (Jul 26, 2009)

tom g said:


> i have had the puffer in the community tank for over a year


I think it's because you have a 38gal and there is enough space for the DP to mellow out but I could be wrong. I have heard that large spaces makes the DP less likely to attack in a community tank but that could be just the personality of the DP or that the other fish are fast swimmers. IIRC the DP is a slow swimmer but a determined hunter.


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## AquaNeko (Jul 26, 2009)

TBemba said:


> Generic Flake food I got from "The Tropical Fish Room" in Brantford Nothing fancy. Jerry buys it in bulk and puts it in his own clear containers. Everything I have eats it.


I wonder now... what if you got another tank and put a few other DP's in as an experiment or a species tank with your flake eating DP. Can DP's learn off each other? If so I think you can make some side cha-ching with having DP's that eat flake food in combo with life/frozen treats. I know I'm interested in your DP already.


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## AquaNeko (Jul 26, 2009)

Hmm... puffer petting? LOL. Love the comment about 'put you d in it'


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## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

AquaNeko said:


> I wonder now... what if you got another tank and put a few other DP's in as an experiment or a species tank with your flake eating DP. Can DP's learn off each other? If so I think you can make some side cha-ching with having DP's that eat flake food in combo with life/frozen treats. I know I'm interested in your DP already.


Start out by feeding a pinch of flake with the frozen. do it for a week they should start eating flake. If not then feed flake only for one day of the week. If that doesn't work feed flake 2 days a week keep adding an extra day for every week they don't eat flake until they are eating flake. Simple


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## carmenh (Dec 20, 2009)

Sorry, didn't mean to make you feel bad. Most gsp's require a minimum of 30g per fish but even that is imho a really bare minimum. I have a GSP that I acquired when he outgrew the 55g tank his previous owners had him in 



Twiggles said:


> My apologies, I had no idea they got that big ... that's why I had that "(?)" cuz I wasn't sure  I think SAPs may have been the ones I was thinking of


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## AquaNeko (Jul 26, 2009)

TBemba said:


> Start out by feeding a pinch of flake with the frozen. do it for a week they should start eating flake. If not then feed flake only for one day of the week. If that doesn't work feed flake 2 days a week keep adding an extra day for every week they don't eat flake until they are eating flake. Simple


How can I be sure if the DP will eat the flake coming out of a auto feeder if I was away? Do DP's only eat the flake if a human is present? I'm thinking if I had a drilled tank I'd silicone a tube to the drilled tube leading to day a 5-10gal bucket loaded with snails then cover the tube in the main tank so only the snails can go in and out and the DP can't fall into the bucket. That way I have a large supply of snails that can enter the tank when they want and puffy can eat when they want. Assuming that works.


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## Twiggles (Jun 6, 2010)

carmenh said:


> Sorry, didn't mean to make you feel bad. Most gsp's require a minimum of 30g per fish but even that is imho a really bare minimum. I have a GSP that I acquired when he outgrew the 55g tank his previous owners had him in


Lol no worries, I was just being polite ... frown face probably wasn't the best emoticon to use..  How big can they get like inch wise?

To comment on the feeding thing, I've never actually tried feeding mine flakefood. I just assumed they wouldn't touch it, that and it would end being uneaten food but perhaps I'll try it sometime .. I just went right to bloodworms and they love'm, they really go nuts for the little pest snails tho. And to AquaNeko, that actually sounds pretty cool, I think I get the jist of your idea. It could probably work too, but it might be hard to feed them anything else if they have a constant supply of snails but who knows. Personally I just grab a few out of my 9 gal every couple days and drop them in, they get devoured of course lol. One time I even saw one of the females eat one whole , lol and it wasn't so small either which surprised me


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## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

well in the case of the Pea puffer and it's the only puffer I have had and still have is that they eat snails but I doubt they can or will eat adult ramshorns snails. Just get some and they will breed and will clean up the flake food. Produce babies and the puffer will feed on them and I have found Pea puffers don't completely clean up all snails. Remember do not feed very much they need a small amount of food like a betta.


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## carmenh (Dec 20, 2009)

I'm not sure how long he is, maybe 8" but his girth is the issue. He's probably almost as wide as the opening made when I touch thumb to thumb and index finger to index finger. On scallop day, he can almost hoover a whole large one by himself...



Twiggles said:


> How big can they get like inch wise?


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## ilikefish (Mar 10, 2008)

can u put discuss with the DP or GSP?


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## GuppiesAndBetta (Jul 27, 2009)

^ No. Puffers are pretty nippy in general.


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## ilikefish (Mar 10, 2008)

but people have mixed them with other species??


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## Twiggles (Jun 6, 2010)

Yeah but puffers love to nip at the long fins of slow moving, colourful fish no matter the size really .. and besides discuss is from the amazon, dwarf puffers are from India/Asia along with some of the other puffers. 
You should look at this site if you haven't already, it's pretty useful; 
http://www.dwarfpuffers.com/


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## ilikefish (Mar 10, 2008)

Darkside said:


> For a 65 gallon tank I think that 6 SAPs would make a better display. They're a non-dwarf strictly FW (Are occasionally found in low salinity brackish) schooling puffer. If you have a lot of room, 180 or larger then I also like the Fahaka puffer, they're an amazing fish!


interesting i will look for some..


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## carmenh (Dec 20, 2009)

Just remember...a lot of people find that SAP's require regular dentistry because even if fed the proper crunchy diet, their teeth tend to overgrow...


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## AquaNeko (Jul 26, 2009)

I know zebra danios are fast swimmers. Can they hold thier own with pea puffers?


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## ilikefish (Mar 10, 2008)

how about figure 8 puffer they are large correct? and what water type are they?


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## carmenh (Dec 20, 2009)

They're low end brackish, meaning aragonite sand, marine salt, a hydrometer, and not really much on the way of real plants... And crunchy food served reguarly...

My F8 tank is my only goofy, not-natural tank...


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## ilikefish (Mar 10, 2008)

how big do the F8 get? i guess i cant put them in with guppys (like how some people are mixing in the peapuffers)


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## carmenh (Dec 20, 2009)

Max 3"...they will eat your guppies and either terrorize or be terrorized by any other fish... In your 55g, you could try 2 f8's, if you get juvies together, that will usually work but you'll have to keep right on top of the water changes. Or you could try an F8 and a bumblebee goby or 2...


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## Fish_Man (Apr 9, 2010)

carmenh said:


> They're low end brackish, meaning aragonite sand, marine salt, a hydrometer, and not really much on the way of real plants... And crunchy food served reguarly...
> 
> My F8 tank is my only goofy, not-natural tank...


That is an awesome tank!  
Would like to see what your other tanks look like too


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## carmenh (Dec 20, 2009)

I'll try and get some good pix this weekend...the last couple of weekends I've been swamped so I haven't done anything more than basic quick water changes for a while


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## darb (Mar 29, 2010)

with 65 gallons, you could go with a Dragon Puffer also. they max out at 8 inches and are a semi active puffer. largely though your choices are going to be limited by availability which unless you are going to have one shipped to you means the LFS. if you want to order a dragon, Grey at the Wetspot in Portland has them right now, but I don't think that he ships to Canada ....


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