OT: freshwater puffer breeding tank.

[balashark21]

i am setting up a nano for indian dwarf puffers(fw). i wanna c if i can get them to breed. what do you guys recomend for a fresh aquarium? aragonite or cc?? it is a VERY small tank but these guys dont get bigger than 1 inch so i sould be safe. i have a filter and i am running carbon. i have the heater, food. hmm thats about it for the supplys. i dont really wanna bye a 15 lb bag of aragonite for sucha small aquarium. and i cant scoop sand out of my saltwatertank because i will cause an ammonia spike in my tank from lifting sand up. i will get the stuff today so what do you reccomend? also do they really puff up?? i would luv to see them puff up.

 

[nas19320]

If they are freshwater I would just use gravel.

 

[murray bmf]

I used to do freshwater fish, and I found that for some reason crused coral keeps getting the PH out of whack, to the point where the fish will die. I would recommend regular gravel, nothing else. Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[balashark21]

any other advise? plz i need all the info i can. i wanna get them to breed. do i need a flat surface to lay eggs?? what do i feed baby freshwater fish? they are carnivore but i dont think there is anything frozen that will work for them.

 

[tiffster]

Use regular ole' gravel. I doubt they will breed in a 2.5 gal. Ill do more research though. Umm...8 out of ten times they will only eat frozen or live foods such as brine shrimp and/ or blood worms. It's really funny to see two of them fighting over one blood worm!! Down right hilarious. Anyway, feeding frozen food may cause a water quality issue in such a small tank, but just keep an eye on it. Trying to think what else to tell you....oh yeah, no I don't think they really puff up never seen it. Very cool little kritters though. I'll see what I can find on breeding.
Tiff

 

[balashark21]

tyty. should i use the slow drip to acclimate them? also should i put plants in with them? y wont they breed in a 2.5?

 

[tiffster]

oh yeah, baby feshies will usuallly eat baby brine shrimp. San Fransisco Bay packages frozen baby brine and so does Hikari, Petsmart should have them both.

 

[balashark21]

and also how did you know i had a 2.5? i dont think i mentioned it in this post... lol just wondering

 

[tiffster]

I found one guy who bred them in a small tank, so it may work, he didn't do anything special they just did their own thing. I would definately get some plants, if you don't have much light I would go for java fern ( a little expensive sometimes, but you have a small tank anyway), Cryptocorynes, maybe bananna plant or two. They should all do fine in low light and give the puffers places to breed and hide. Plus you get snails on plants most of the time and they will eat them! Umm...just a good guess on the tank size, (or maybe I have esp and don't realize it! ) Anyway, good luck let us know how it turns out. Oh yeah, almost forgot, no need to drip acclimate, it wouldn't hurt, but just floating them for 15-20 minutes will be fine.

 

[balashark21]

tyty for all the info. if not drip, how do i acclimate?

 

[balashark21]

and by the snail did you mean the babys will eat them or the adults? if i put the plants do i need caves and rocks??

 

[balashark21]

any other usfull info?

 

[cathbad]

They grow to around 3 inches so a 2.5 may be a bit small, particularly for breeding. They are ture freshwater puffers and come from south and southeast Asia. The pH should be aound 7 and GH around 10dGH and temperature 75-80. By the way they do "puff". When removed from the water they may do so and make a frog-like sound, hence another common name of sea frog. Hope this helps.

 

[balashark21]

hmm thnx for the reply but the puffers i am getting are dwarf indian pufferfish. all my scources tell me that they grow no bigger than 1 inch.

 

[balashark21]

yay 300 posts i am a sohol tang now!! yay

 

[cathbad]

Same fish. Tetraodon travancoricus I presume.

 

[balashark21]

thats the one:Indian Dwarf Puffer
(Tetraodon travancoricus)
Care Level: Moderate
Tank Conditions: 72-82°F; pH 7.0-8.0; dH 5-15
Temperament: Aggressive
Max. Size In Aquarium: Up to 1"
Diet: Carnivore
Origin: Freshwaters of India
Family: Tetraodontidae

 

[j21kickster]

you need to make sure you can feed them something hard- my figure 8 puffers loved snails- but you need to find something hard that they wil eat to keep their teeth worn down- actually it is more of a modified jaw bone but it will grow and with out constant food to keep it worn down- they can die- i kept a 10 gallon tank filled with those annoying freshwatersnails and had a incandescent bulb over it to grow algae- they reproduced like crazy- also dont try to make them puff- its just pissing them off and stressing them out

 

[j21kickster]

also i would trt and do at least a 10 gallon- these fish are always swimming around, 2.5 is pretty restrictive