need some advice please

[Newbiepuff]

Im picking my dwarf puffer up on thursday, I was thinking about getting two just so they had some company...should I just get a bottom feeder (Id really like to put in a bumblebee goby with him) or would he be happy alone? also @ petsmart they told me to feed him some sort of flakes and everyone has been saying live food....he also told me I needed to put aquarium salt in the water? can someone help me I want his new home to be up and ready

 

[Fuzz16]

he might get eaten....and a bumble bee goby isnt a bottom feeder, either.
you shouldnt feed flakes. at least from what i know you shouldnt. they dont get enough nutrition from them.

dwarf puffers are brackish, meaning they will need sea salt in thier aqaurium as they get older to help them live longer and healthier.

how big is your aquarium?

 

[MissFishy]

Dwarf puffers are not brackish, bumblebee gobies are brackish. The two are not compatible in the same tank. See your other post.

 

[kristalAK]

I read that DP's like baby snails, whether or not this is true I have no idea.

 

[Limi310]

What size tank? If a 10gal or larger, I would go with at least 3 dwarf puffers to spread out aggression. There is a chance that with only two, they will pick on each other. Dwarf puffers are 100% freshwater. People (including myself) have sucessfully kept dwarf puffers with little otto catfish. Other then that they are pretty much species only.
Bumblebee gobies would not be compatible.
You can try feeding frozen bloodworms and snails - that is all mine would eat. I never tried live food other then snails.
Some info here: Freshwater Puffers

 

[Steph_D]

My dp ate frozen bloodworms and snails. I tried enriched frozen brine shrimp but he didn't like them too well. For bottom feeders, besides for an otto, you can get ghost shrimp. They'll clean up the dp's mess nicely and are cheap if they end up becoming a snack.

 

[Newbiepuff]

so I dont add the aquarium salt they made me buy? someone said yes and smeone said no lol which is it? hehe the tank is a little 5 gal (I will be getting a bigger tank for xmas hehe) I figured if he can only be by himself I shouldnt get a huge tank....

 

[f8fan]

No to the salt.

 

[Fuzz16]

well i feel dumb.

i was wrong
awww im sad now

 

[Newbiepuff]

since its a small tank I should keep him solo? sorry for all the questions but I was getting bad answers from the pet store......grrrrr i will make sure I pick up a healthy looking puffie

 

[homebunnyj]

Best thing you can do is read, read, read about the species you are getting. That way the annoyingly ignorant among the lfs folks (no offense to the actual intelligent, well-informed lfs folks) will not be able to mislead you into doing something that will kill your fish. Easy for them to say 'buy this, buy that'... they don't have to scoop dead fish out of your tank.

 

[f8fan]

since its a small tank I should keep him solo? sorry for all the questions but I was getting bad answers from the pet store......grrrrr i will make sure I pick up a healthy looking puffie

Yes, I'd keep him solo in a 5 gallon.

Actually - this will be a great learning experience/experiment for you, since you are getting a larger tank for Christmas. Try out the dwarf puffer - research & learn all about them, and then at Christmas you can set up your larger tank and buy a couple more.

I agree with homebunnyj - most LFS people aren't the best source of true information. They are getting paid dispense advise and it isn't all that productive to say "gee whiz, I don't know"! so a lot of the time they just talk to, well, talk.

Us MFT-ers won't lead you astray!!!

 

[MissFishy]

In general...DON'T take fish store employee advice, no matter how well informed they sound, they are good at selling you stuff you don't need or want. Best thing to do is your own research on the web and ask questions on MFT.

Also, NO to the salt, take it back to the store and tell the store owner you did some research and found out the dwarf puffers should not have it. Then ask for a refund. Even better if you can print out an info page and give it to them, maybe they won't give someone else bad advice and make another dwarf puffer suffer.

 

[Newbiepuff]

thank all of you so much, very helpful. I will definatly be letting people know about this site to further help beginners. I did do some research on the puffer before thinking of buying him, it was just the confusion like maybe I missed something and F8fan yes I do hope this will be a great experiance and after xmas I hope I can have a very cool fish world going on I dont want to breed them just bond *JOY* hehehe thanks again all of you for your helpful information!!!

~also I will keep posted about his arival and pictures as he grows just to share with all of you

 

[YahooFishKeeper]

im glad youve done some research. just thought i would let you know that puffers are more sensetive to ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates than other fish so you should make sure to keep your water quality in check. i reccomend buying your own test kit for home use.

 

[Katie217]

Is the tank set up and cycled yet?

 

[Newbiepuff]

yea my tank has been up and running for 5 days, I tested the water again today everything looked great so I went ahead and got my little guy or girl and the lil puffer is eating already I had him in his bag for about 30mins snd then he was a little shy, bout 20mins or so he began to swim up and down the front glass so I dropped a flake or two in and also some bloodworms....they didnt last long (I got the frozen ones since they look kinda real in the water) I hope I will make a good puffer mommy LOL XD

 

[YahooFishKeeper]

just because your tank sits doesnt make it cycle. you have not cycled your tank. now that the puffer is in there it will cycle. you need to keep an eye on your parameters.

 

[Newbiepuff]

here is the newest addition: "GIR"

And he looks to be a ham on camera LOL This is his Castle! good hide-away

 

[homebunnyj]

Might be a very, very good idea to go read the stickies at the top of the freshwater beginner forum. Could make the difference between life and death for your adorable puffer.