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 Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2009 4:57 pm
and i would like to try my hand at puffers again. what type of freshwater puffers are the easiest to keep? and can someone tell me care basics?
what do they eat? last time i had some i fed them frozen cow hearts but i was also taking all the advice that petco gave me, and from my experience with herps petco is the last place you want to take the advice from
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Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2009 7:24 pm
I could be wrong, but I think DPs are the only freshwater puffers small enough to keep in a 10g. They are pretty easy, mine are still healthy and thriving, so I assume I'm doing it right.
In terms of a bioload, you could probably get away with 6 DPs in a 10g. However, they are notorious for aggression and it's suggested you keep no more than 3 in a 10g. Both Lizzy's and my own experiences have been that they aren't as aggressive as everyone says they are, but since that's only two people out of a sea of owners, it's probably the exception rather than the rule.
They like lots of hiding places and plants (fake or real, they don't care). I feed mine thawed blood worms and pond snails, they are also known to like blackworms and I'm going to see if mine will take other frozen foods (time to take advantage of employee discount.)
Species only tank (otos being the only commonly accepted companion). Shrimp are hit and miss, some puffers will ignore them, some will eat them.
There's a website and forum about them at http://www.dwarfpuffers.com
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Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2009 7:52 pm
thanks for the link. to be honest i would be just as happy with only one or 2 if thats all my tank could safely hold
so loads of hides, thats something i didnt know before. they did fine for 2 months then one got really skinny and then they both died. thats literaly all i know that happened. i didnt know about water changes and cycling back then
and thanks for the link
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Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2009 7:59 pm
Lol, you're welcome. According to that website, I should only have 1, maybe two puffers in my tank (5.5g), but my 3 have never shown aggression. They each have a territory and will chase the others away when they're in a mood, but they don't n** or bite at all. Honestly, most of the time they hang out together and swim in a group. But my tank is also heavily planted and I have 6 different "caves" for them to hide in aside from that.
You may have just bought a bad batch of puffers before or they could have had parasites. And of course the beefheart is probably not a good idea either.
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Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2009 8:11 pm
probably
luckily i know to avoid places that use shared filtering. there are 2 huge mom and pop stores that specialize in fish and one also does herps and rodents. both these stores are just an hour away so i go there for everything now. plus they drill me on my animal care which i adore ^.^
i got some rams today from one of those stores and the guy was very helpful, he kept asking me how big my tank was and what type of fish i had.
also he showed me butterfly plecos which i plan on looking into then getting some. they were so cute!
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