# Pea Puffers and shrimp?



## Eldachleich

What are your experiences. I really want a pea puffer. And I really want to do a low light tank. I really want something to eat the snails I find. I really want to do another nano. So it seemed perfect. I've read the brackish ones are aggressive, and pea puffers aren't. But I also read mixed results regarding puffers and shrimp. I really want some shrimp in there, probably some more brightly coloured ones. Such as Cherries , or Yellow. I'm planning on making it heavily planted. Any thoughts? Will they survive? Or is it a no go? Should I put them in first?


----------



## Plantedshrimptank

I think any puffers would hunt down and eat all shrimps. They nip fins of bigger fish so a yummy shrimp would soon be eaten sooner or later. However I'm sure some have kept pea puffers with some success with shrimps. As discussed before the only safe fish with shrimp is the oto. Even my endlers will nip at small baby shrimps and harrass some of the juvies. I'm trying my luck with a single dwarf rasbora to see if they are ok with my shrimps but I know that anything that can fit in its mouth will and can be dinner. Good luck with whatever you decide to do as your milage may vary.


----------



## RandomMan

I know a LFS that keeps his dwarf puffers in the same tanks as his CRS. He claims to have no problems, however the tanks he keeps them in have a ton of Taiwan moss for the CRS to hide in. He says they'll occasionally hover around a shrimp but the shrimp takes off.

My brief experience with one was that he wouldn't eat anything unless he hovered around it for 30 seconds, checking it out and deciding if he wanted to eat it or not. I couldn't get him to eat frozen blood worms, so I gave him back to the store.

So give it a shot if your tank is heavily planted. However if you notice a fat puffer and a few missing shrimp, be prepared to give him back.

I right now keep a tank with a betta and a bunch of cherry shrimp. Everyone says bettas will eat the shrimp, but he doesn't even acknowledge them, even when they swim directly in front of them. So you never know until you get your fish home and see what their personality is.


----------



## Eldachleich

RandomMan said:


> I know a LFS that keeps his dwarf puffers in the same tanks as his CRS. He claims to have no problems, however the tanks he keeps them in have a ton of Taiwan moss for the CRS to hide in. He says they'll occasionally hover around a shrimp but the shrimp takes off.
> 
> My brief experience with one was that he wouldn't eat anything unless he hovered around it for 30 seconds, checking it out and deciding if he wanted to eat it or not. I couldn't get him to eat frozen blood worms, so I gave him back to the store.
> 
> So give it a shot if your tank is heavily planted. However if you notice a fat puffer and a few missing shrimp, be prepared to give him back.
> 
> I right now keep a tank with a betta and a bunch of cherry shrimp. Everyone says bettas will eat the shrimp, but he doesn't even acknowledge them, even when they swim directly in front of them. So you never know until you get your fish home and see what their personality is.


Hmm... I'll give it a try with a few ghost or Cherries. Cheap shrimp. If he/she doesnt go for them I think I'll add some nice ones. If he eats the shrimp I'll just scrap the shrimp. I have a betta living happily with some oto's and shrimp. He accidentally took a bite once, and then spit it out and hid in a corner as if to recover from such a life altering event.


----------



## Eldachleich

Plantedshrimptank said:


> I think any puffers would hunt down and eat all shrimps. They nip fins of bigger fish so a yummy shrimp would soon be eaten sooner or later. However I'm sure some have kept pea puffers with some success with shrimps. As discussed before the only safe fish with shrimp is the oto. Even my endlers will nip at small baby shrimps and harrass some of the juvies. I'm trying my luck with a single dwarf rasbora to see if they are ok with my shrimps but I know that anything that can fit in its mouth will and can be dinner. Good luck with whatever you decide to do as your milage may vary.


Hmm, I think I'm going to give it a shot. Now where to find one that is actually a pea puffer, and not some other kind.


----------



## gtu2004

my dward puffer did not even show any interest in my fire reds wheni put my fire reds in her tank to clean up some algae. 3 days later, algae was gone, no casualties at all, as expected. But these were adult fire reds. Maybe smaller shrimps may not have such luck.

One thing to note is my dwarf puffer only eats live worms. No frozen worms, or brine shrimps, or any other food I have. It could be just her own personality that she doesn't eat anything other than live worms though.\

Edit: And yes, the shrimps were freely swimming right in front of her nose, even trying to land on her nose sometimes, and the dwarf puffer just ran away.


----------



## trixella

I have ghost shrimp in with my 3 pea puffers, my shrimp fight with the puffers over the live worms I throw in and many times the shrimp win those battles, the shrimp also had babies that have been growing up in the tank for about 4 months now with no problem. I might be more cautious with colorful shrimp, they might be more attractive. Snails don't stand a chance in their tank but shrimp... no problem.


----------



## gtu2004

yea, contrary to a lot of posts online, I don't find my dwarf puffer aggressive. It is actually on the opposite extreme; I find my dwarf puffer extremely docile, never once fin nip any other fish or fight with them or chase after shrimps at all. She keeps it to herself most of the times except feeding time, at which point she'll come to the front and beg for worms. Probably one of the best community fish I have. You don't find many fish that run away from fire reds.

I think too many people are confused btw puffers and dwarf puffers.


----------



## Eldachleich

gtu2004 said:


> yea, contrary to a lot of posts online, I don't find my dwarf puffer aggressive. It is actually on the opposite extreme; I find my dwarf puffer extremely docile, never once fin nip any other fish or fight with them or chase after shrimps at all. She keeps it to herself most of the times except feeding time, at which point she'll come to the front and beg for worms. Probably one of the best community fish I have. You don't find many fish that run away from fire reds.
> 
> I think too many people are confused btw puffers and dwarf puffers.


Thats what I've heard!!! Now my biggest concern is buying one thats actually a pea puffer


----------



## Eldachleich

gtu2004 said:


> my dward puffer did not even show any interest in my fire reds wheni put my fire reds in her tank to clean up some algae. 3 days later, algae was gone, no casualties at all, as expected. But these were adult fire reds. Maybe smaller shrimps may not have such luck.
> 
> One thing to note is my dwarf puffer only eats live worms. No frozen worms, or brine shrimps, or any other food I have. It could be just her own personality that she doesn't eat anything other than live worms though.\
> 
> Edit: And yes, the shrimps were freely swimming right in front of her nose, even trying to land on her nose sometimes, and the dwarf puffer just ran away.


I'm used to picky fish lol... My betta's have.. erm.. special needs... Its nice to know that they wont eat the bright shrimp


----------



## Cardinal Tetra

I guess it really depends on the fish. All the ones I tried with shrimp eventually started going after really small babies but left all the larger ones alone.


----------



## Eldachleich

Cardinal Tetra said:


> I guess it really depends on the fish. All the ones I tried with shrimp eventually started going after really small babies but left all the larger ones alone.


Oh I dont mind if they go after the babies. Its the adults I would like to survive...


----------



## MissCoryCat

You probably wouldn't know unless you tried it. Pea puffers definitely each have their own personality. You could always try a less expensive shrimp, like ghost shrimp, and see if they bother with those. If they puffers eat the ghost shrimp at least it will see like an inexpensive snack in comparison to the cherries, and if they leave them alone you can feel more confident introducing the shrimp you actually want.


----------



## Eldachleich

MissCoryCat said:


> You probably wouldn't know unless you tried it. Pea puffers definitely each have their own personality. You could always try a less expensive shrimp, like ghost shrimp, and see if they bother with those. If they puffers eat the ghost shrimp at least it will see like an inexpensive snack in comparison to the cherries, and if they leave them alone you can feel more confident introducing the shrimp you actually want.


Good plan. Ill do that. First I have to save up for a tank and everything.


----------



## MissCoryCat

Hope it goes well. I love puffers but they don't get along with most fish so I decided against them. I heard they often leave oto catfish alone if you want to supplement your tank with anything else though.


----------



## Eldachleich

MissCoryCat said:


> Hope it goes well. I love puffers but they don't get along with most fish so I decided against them. I heard they often leave oto catfish alone if you want to supplement your tank with anything else though.


I've also heard that oto's are a good choice. I'm planning on doing a nano that could only sustain a couple fish as it is, so one active little bugger is a good alternative to me...
If it doesnt go well youll see me complaining about it lol..


----------



## ThinkTank

my pea puffers are in a community tank. They leave the ghost shrimp alone, my juvie platies on the other hand actively hunt for them.

The most difficult part of keeping the pea puffers for me is feeding. They only eat live food, but they're easily outcompeted by the other fish (tetras and platies). I try to feed dry food first so the fish are full when i add the live food, but I guess there's always room for blackworms...

I have to overfeed to make sure they get some.


----------



## Eldachleich

ThinkTank said:


> my pea puffers are in a community tank. They leave the ghost shrimp alone, my juvie platies on the other hand actively hunt for them.
> 
> The most difficult part of keeping the pea puffers for me is feeding. They only eat live food, but they're easily outcompeted by the other fish (tetras and platies). I try to feed dry food first so the fish are full when i add the live food, but I guess there's always room for blackworms...
> 
> I have to overfeed to make sure they get some.


Ahaha, I have to basically blow up my guppies with food so that my poor little cory cats can get some... I have a small "plant" tank lying around. It has about 500 snails in it. I figured I could use that as his food supply.


----------



## wetworks

I have had serious aggression problems with Dwarf Puffers; I had one that I was trying to give away because it has eaten the tails off of two cherry barbs, a dojo loach, and two bristlenose plecos. I would not keep a puffer with anything except for another puffer, and even then I think that puffers should be a one fish per tank species only fish. (A friend of mine who used to own an aquarium store had a horror story about puffers: one of them once ate ALL FOUR FEET OFF OF A BABY TURTLE!!! I did not believe him and got puffers anyway. After seeing this tiny 1/2" fish eat the tail off of a dojo loach that was five inches long, I have no choice but to believe him. I gave him my puffer, which he has in a nano tank by itself.) This is just my experience, and I have read that others have had success with these fish in a community tank, but I strongly feel that puffers and shrimps are a bad thing to mix together. 

PS- I did have the puffer in with two large bamboo shrimps, and the only reason that they were not harassed was that the puffer could not get a good bite out of them. It was not for lack of trying though...


----------



## Mr. Appleton

I've two dwarf puffers in a tank with two nerites and two amano shrimp with out a problem at all. The shrimp have even molted a few times without incidence. 

They lay waste to ramshorn and pond snails, as expected


----------

