Anyone here have pygmy puffer fish?

[Sayra]

I was in the fish shop at the weekend and saw some of these wee guys, apparently they have great personalities.

I have a tank already with 8 white cloud mountain minnows (although 5 are gold!), a nerite snail and a cherry red shrimp. My next fish is going to be a betta (siamese fighting fish) and I am going to pick one up this weekend.

The pygmy puffers were so cute so now I fancy buying a new tank and setting it up as a puffer tank so wondered if anyone else had them and do you like them? Also, do you did that they are very territorial or are they ok in a well planted tank?

 

[s4sugar]

They are evil little blighters and IME cannot be kept with any other species unless in a very large tank for their size ( 100 litres plus) when they can coexist with corydoras. They are ok as a trio in 40 litres but they need frozen or live foods and TBH are a waste to tank space. I did breed them just for the experience but they are so small & not a patch on alternatives.
If you get a second tank make it 120 litres plus and look for the less common Colomesus asellus (or Amazon puffer). A better pet fish and will live in a group of three to five. Don't get conned into buying one of the brackish species.

BTW a Betta is not really compatible with WCMM. The Betta is a true tropical whereas white clouds are a cooler water species.

 

[Sayra]

I just lost my first reply!!

Anyway, I said (before I some how deleted it!)

The betta isn't going in with the wcmm he is going by himself as I've never seen then in with anything else? Do you know of something that they can live happily with?

Also, I am not set on having puffers but if I did it would be a single species tank anyway but from what you say it sounds like they wouldn't add much to the tank if they were there themselves (I'd just be looking at plants!! )

First reply was longer but can't remember what I wrote!!

 

[s4sugar]

Bettas can be with many other fish, just not with each other if male. Females can be kept in groups and make great pet fish.
I currently have a five years old Betta in a 200 litre corner tank with tetras( Glowlights, cardinals & pristellas) platies various small botias & corydoras ( and bristlenoses as my adults keep breeding so nearly all my tanks gave some baby bristlies in them)
The tanks often sold for Bettas are not suitable for them to thrive - I would not use less than a 30 litre tank if it is to be heated seperately as smaller is difficult to keep stable. The easiest tankmates iMO if you have a 50 litre plus tank are black neons. One of the hardiest tetras and swinm in the lower levels leaving the Betta with the top of the tank. There is a lot of crap misinformation about Bettas - basically they hve teh same needs as Dwarf gouramis apart from the males fighting.

 

[Sayra]

Well I've got a 60 litre tank which was my first tank before I bought a bigger one for the wcmm (100 litre) and I've always really liked bettas so thought I would get one.

I hate the fact that you ask in the fish shops and then they give you differing advice and then you never know what is right! I am fairly new to fish keeping (after having the usual childhood goldfish, which I now feel terrible about) and am still learning!

So do you think that the betta could go in the 60 litre with tetras or females in a group? I had heard that females were ok to live together but wasn't sure if my tank was big enough for them?

Sorry I am now asking you 20 questions!! Thank you for taking the time to reply

 

[s4sugar]

The 60 litre would be ideal for a Betta with a small shoal of 5 or 6 tetras - black neons or glowlights - or you could have cherry barbs.
Is it cycled? If you are not sure ....it isn't!

How long ago did you swap tanks?

 

[Sayra]

Yeah its been cycled, I set it up 6 weeks ago as then I was planning on buying my betta online from Kesgrave Tropicals as the only shop I knew of near me was Pets at Home and I don't want to buy one from there.

Swapped the tanks over ages and ages ago, I think February last year!! The other tank has just been sitting around, at one point, after I got the shrimp, I set it up in case they bred as everywhere I read said that they would breed really easily. They didn't! So then put it away again and then had a hankering for another fish. I go through stages of really wanting to get another but I don't have loads of space for a huge tank. I am now going to get my fish from a fish shop I just found - its really nice and fish are beautiful, I spent 2 hours on Saturday looking around

ETS: I saw some glowlights on Saturday and really liked them so they might be a good option

 

[s4sugar]

What did you feed the cycle with?

 

[Sayra]

Ammonia - just ammonia from the lab I work in. I also put a bit of the media from the filter in my wcmm tank into the new filter as I thought that might help too. There is a guide on the practical fishkeeping website/forum that I followed.

 

[s4sugar]

That is fine but as you have another tank running you could have just seeded it from your other filter. Have you seen the ntrite spike?

All too often peopl say they have cyced the tank when all they have done is let the filter pump run or added Nutrafin Cycle which is useless.

 

[Sayra]

Yes, I just wasn't sure if doing that was enough so added ammonia and tested just to make sure. I know, that is one of the things I learnt quite early. When I got my first tank I googled to see if there were any small cold water/temperate fish I could have in my tank instead of goldfish (I didn't want them but at that point I was as aware about goldfish welfare/care as I am now) and found the PFK website.

I know end up telling so many people at work that they can't really keep a goldfish in a bowl and "surely I could have a couple of goldfish in there".

 

[s4sugar]

The PFK site is pretty good. I don't go on it much - usually lurk on Aquahobby.com as I like the International mix there.

Too many fish get abused still. We had practically got rid of goldfish bowls & then Biorbs came along & starte d the trend up again. I could scream every time one is shown on TV with half a dozen baby goldfish in 30 litres.

 

[shadeofshyness]

Too many fish get abused still. We had practically got rid of goldfish bowls & then Biorbs came along & starte d the trend up again. I could scream every time one is shown on TV with half a dozen baby goldfish in 30 litres.

Same here. I have got into so many bowl-related arguments.

Koko's goldfish world is another good forum.

 

[Serephin]

We have a tank solely for pygmy puffas. We had three, but sadly one died recently, was about 2 years old.

They are fascinating little creatures and watch everything we do. They curl their tails if they are curious about something. They shark about begging for food. We feed ours blood worms, both frozen and live.

If you have an extra tank they do make interesting pets, ours are in the kitchen so there is a lot going on for them to watch, and they do watch, which really freaked us out to begin with!