How many gallons can one freshwater dwarf puffer fish live in?

Question

Also, I have heard that puffer fish are mean and tempremental. Is this true or false? Do they also require a lot of maintenance? What is their diet? Fish flakes?

Thanks All!

Answer 1

i have a dwarf puffer fish!! they are teriiotorial but not tempermantal. they require some maintence such as testing the water and cleaning the water. they eat bloodworms. and the cheapest place to buy em is at walmart or petsmart. also its very hard to breed the female and male. they require a ten gallon and love java moss plants. watch out if they puff they can die. they get stressed so they puff up and if its hungry itll do that. good luck!! =D

Answer 2

I would not go with anything smaller than 10 gallons. I have had Dwarf Puffers for years and bred them. They love java moss and will spawn on the java moss.

Males develop a brown stripe down their belly and will have wrinkles by their eyes.

Lots of plants (real or fake) let them have their own space, plus they love to spy on one another. With the plants they have their own little territories which I have found to keep the aggression down to nil.

I do a 20 percent water change once a week and feed them frozen blood worms and snails from my other tanks.

Answer 3

For a single Dwarf Puffer, I'd recommend 5 gallons.  Though people have very successfully kept them in smaller tanks, this requires much greater attention and careful planning.  These ARE territorial, aggressive fish, but this can be negated with lots of plants and wood as well as choosing mostly females, as they tend to be far less aggressive.  A smaller tank will require more maintenance, but a 10 gallon tank with a few Puffers would only need weekly water changes like any other properly stocked tank.  They will NOT eat flakes.  You will have to trick them into thinking their frozen food is live in many cases.  Using an eye dropper to feed them thawed bloodworms and brine shrimp is perfect, and you'll likely be able to hand feed them eventually.

EDIT: In a well decorated 10 gallon tank, you could comfortably fit 3-4, especially if they are all (or most) females.  Water changes would be no different than any other fish-- 15-40% a week, depending on what you need to do to keep the nitrates below 20 ppm (my personal mark, not a steadfast rule).  The chances of the employees being able to s*x them are pretty low, so know before you buy: males will have a brown stripe down their belly and "wrinkles" around their eyes, while females won't have either.

Male (note the eye "wrinkles"): http://home.earthlink.net/~snebluemoon/I...