# Pea Puffer / Dwarf Indian Puffer Tankmates?



## GuppyGuppyGuppyGuppyGuppy (Feb 11, 2012)

Would dwarf african frogs be okay with them?


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## Pork Life (Jan 19, 2014)

Otos would be okay. Shrimps will depend on the individual personality of the fish. 
But one thing is confirmed, do avoid fish with long fins and are slow moving, i.e. male guppies and bettas, dwarfs are fin nippers.


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## GuppyGuppyGuppyGuppyGuppy (Feb 11, 2012)

Pork Life said:


> Otos would be okay. Shrimps will depend on the individual personality of the fish.
> But one thing is confirmed, do avoid fish with long fins and are slow moving, i.e. male guppies and bettas, dwarfs are fin nippers.


Would they attack an african dwarf frog?

I've also heard they get along with bumblebee gobies... Those are slow-moving but they kinda stay on the bottom. Would those be ok?


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## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Ive been able to keep mine with any fish really, mines really docile. It honestly really does just depend on the fishes personality.


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## GuppyGuppyGuppyGuppyGuppy (Feb 11, 2012)

lamiskool said:


> Ive been able to keep mine with any fish really, mines really docile. It honestly really does just depend on the fishes personality.


May I ask which fish store you got yours from? Do you know if they're often sold or are they more of a once-in-a-while special fish?

You're located kinda near where I bought mine.


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## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

I got mine from a friend who didnt went to college and didnt want to keep fish anymore, I have no idea where he bought it. I believe msinkzd has some, and she has a subforum on the sponsors section if ur interested.


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## Grah the great (Jul 3, 2013)

As others have said...it depends on the fish, although long-finned fish are probably a bad idea. Frogs do not move very quickly, so they may also not be the best choice for a dwarf puffer tank. Finally, DO NOT keep the dwarf puffers with anything that can eat them!


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## GuppyGuppyGuppyGuppyGuppy (Feb 11, 2012)

Grah the great said:


> As others have said...it depends on the fish, although long-finned fish are probably a bad idea. Frogs do not move very quickly, so they may also not be the best choice for a dwarf puffer tank. Finally, DO NOT keep the dwarf puffers with anything that can eat them!


So basically some fast, short-finned fish? Would inverts like thai micro crabs or cherry shrimp work?

Anyone know of some cool fish? Colorful/small?


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## Rider (Mar 13, 2006)

I have kept dwarf puffers, as well as figure eight puffers in the past. I absolutely love them, but they are generally best in a puffer only tank. I tried ghost shrimp with them and they ripped them apart. Dwarf frogs don't see well and are extremely passive, so they wouldn't see them coming. You never know what their personalities are going to be. Lamiskool was lucky enough to get passive ones, but I have seen them even pick on each other. I wouldn't trust them with any of my fish. You can try it, but be prepared to move them out to their own tank.


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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

I will start by saying I have not owned dwarf puffers yet, but have ready up on them a bit as I am planning to buy some in the spring when it is warm enough to safely ship.

From my reading, I've heard several tales of shrimp being eaten by the puffers, even larger shrimp. The dwarf puffers will peck the claws and each leg, one by one, then eat the crippled shrimp at their leisure. I cannot speak for the density (or lack there of) of foliage/hiding spots in tanks where this has happened to determine if denser cover could allow for shrimp survival. I'd advise against any invert, shrimp or snail (even those with 'trap doors') they seem to end up on the menu most times. But as others have said, its all about the individual fish, some are more docile than others so you'll never know until you try.. just don't put something expensive in for the test run with the dwarf puffer.

Be sure to let us know what stock you pick and how it turns out ^^


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## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Just an fyi, again it depends on the individual fish, I keep mine with amanos and cherry shrimp. He leaves the shrimp alone.


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## amcoffeegirl (May 26, 2009)

The frog may eat the puffer or claw them. Puffers don't have protective scales. If you have 2 males they will likely kill each other. Keep a close eye on them. I always just kept one alone.


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## Grah the great (Jul 3, 2013)

amcoffeegirl said:


> The frog may eat the puffer or claw them. Puffers don't have protective scales. If you have 2 males they will likely kill each other. Keep a close eye on them. I always just kept one alone.


He's talking about the dwarf frogs, not the clawed frogs. Clawed frogs grow to 5 inches and would be more likely to simply EAT the puffer rather than claw it (which is not a behavior I have heard clawed frogs are capable of...they can shovel food in their mouth with their forelimbs, but I'm not aware of them deliberately clawing prey and they certainly would not do so with a 1 inch fish that is too small to be clawed anyway)


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## GuppyGuppyGuppyGuppyGuppy (Feb 11, 2012)

I'm having some issues with the puffers, but only the males strangely...

Yesterday I got 2 males and 1 female, as I said. One male immediately went to the back of the tank when I put him in. The other was swimming with the female. This morning, the male swimming with the female was in the back corner being eaten by a small snail -- it had died overnight. I found the other male around midday laying on the sand breathing heavily, and it later died. However, the female is perfectly fine and swimming around the entire tank.

I assumed it was just sickness or previous poor health, so I went back today and got one male and one female in good condition. They were great in the bag and they were both swimming actively in the bag during temperature acclimation. I started acclimating them to the water chemistry by adding about 1 cup of the tank water at a time. After the 2nd time doing this, the male is on the bottom of the bag sitting, while the female is swimming around in the bag.

Is there a reason the males would be so suck in my tank and the female would be happy and swimming around?

The female I already have in the tank seems really peaceful.... The tank is established, 1.5 years old or so, and I have 9 neons in there. The 4 I got yesterday are doing great and swimming with the 5 I've had for the past 6 months or so...

Any ideas?


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## GuppyGuppyGuppyGuppyGuppy (Feb 11, 2012)

In addition, these are being acclimated with the lights off and with the water flow off as well... It's 350gph in a 29 gallon tank -- shouldn't be too much, but it might be for some fish idk...


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## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

No idea on your males and, with no other info, I could speculate forever.

Mine do not touch Black Moly or guppy fry, seem to ignore ottos (who are constantly hiding) but they did kill off my colony of about 50 RCS in under 2 days.

They only eat live food (I feed them snails and blackworms) and will touch frozen bloodworms only when starving. They do panic rather easily and are good jumpers.

v3


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## GuppyGuppyGuppyGuppyGuppy (Feb 11, 2012)

OVT said:


> No idea on your males and, with no other info, I could speculate forever.
> 
> Mine do not touch Black Moly or guppy fry, seem to ignore ottos (who are constantly hiding) but they did kill off my colony of about 50 RCS in under 2 days.
> 
> ...


I have loads of snails in the tank... It was previously an overgrown neglected tank. I washed the plants yesterday morning while aquascaping and hundreds of freshly-hatched snails were all over the sink.

They'll readily eat those, right? Is it like a rare snack that they do it, or is it one of their accepted foods?


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## Notorious93 (Jun 3, 2013)

They do fine with adult shrimp or crayfish. Its the Frys you need to seperate


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## GuppyGuppyGuppyGuppyGuppy (Feb 11, 2012)

Also, are these guys like ultra sensitive to water quality? I only have an ammonia test kit (and weird fancy test kits from saltwater days for Kh and Calcium) so I can do full tests, but the ammonia reading was between 0 and .15 ppm ... It didn't really match any of the colors on the reading card, so it likely isn't at .15 ppm. It's probably closer to 0...

Also, the tank temperature is in the low 70s, maybe 73-74. I don't have a heater in there, but the pump makes a ton of heat and so do the lights.


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## GuppyGuppyGuppyGuppyGuppy (Feb 11, 2012)

Just an update if anyone cares...

The two male puffers I originally purchased yesterday died, as I mentioned previously, and today I got a male and a female. Now there are 2 females and 1 male, and the male is following the two females around bugging them. They're all three actively swimming around the tank together. I have the lights and pumps turned off so that they stay calm.

I think what did the other two in was the intense lighting and current. Tomorrow I'm going to find the original pump for the tank and put it back in. I upgraded from the original 250gph to a 350gph because this was previously a hard coral reef tank.

I think these three should make it. They look active and happy.


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## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Glad to hear, my puffer is one of my favorite fish that I keep.


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## GuppyGuppyGuppyGuppyGuppy (Feb 11, 2012)

lamiskool said:


> Glad to hear, my puffer is one of my favorite fish that I keep.


Yeah, they're awesome to watch! They're the cutest things ever too. :red_mouth


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