Hello and welcome to the Dwarf Puffer website!

This site was created to give Dwarf Puffer owners around the world a place to learn about and discuss their wonderful pets. Please take a look around and don't forget to visit the interactive forums!

About Dwarf Puffers

Originating from the inland waters of India (Kerala), Dwarf Puffers (a.k.a. "Malabar Puffers", "Dwarf Indian Puffers", "BB Puffer", "Pygmy Puffers", "Sea Frogs", "Blue-Eyed Puffers", "Bumblebee Puffers", "Pea Puffers", or "Abeni Puffers") were first seen around the mid 1990s in Europe.  It wasn't until the late 1990s that they were seen more often and were available in the United States.  Recently they have gained enormous popularity due to local fish stores and large chain stores like Petsmart keeping them in stock (though it seems that most Petsmart locations have stopped carrying them).

Their relatively low pricing ($2.00-$5.00 U.S.) and the fact that they can be kept in smaller aquariums have definitely contributed to their popularity, with Dwarf Puffers now accounting for the majority of new pufferfish purchased by hobbyists.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scientific Names

This subject is one of great confusion!  If you search for the scientific names of Dwarf Puffers, you will come up with names like: Tetraodon travancoricus, Monotreta travancoricus and Carinotetraodon imitator.

I eventually learned that there are only two species (or variants): Carinotetraodon travancoricus and Carinotetraodon imitator.  This information was provided to me at the Pufferfish Yahoo Group in two particular posts:

LinearChaos writes - "Ebert's book has all three of the dwarf puffers under Carinotetraodon...Carinotetraodon travancoricus (for the usually seen dwarf and the blue green) and Carinotetraodon imitator.

I've never heard of the others and I would stick with Carinotetraodon as a constant for the dwarf."

RTR writes - "To my understanding, the dwarf puffers (both species or both variants, whichever they turn out to be) should be called Carinotetraodon, as they have the keel/crest which is a determining characteristic for Carinotetraodon versus Tetraodon. Most taxonomists consider Monotreta a junior synonym for Tetraodon."

Below are photos of the male and female of each type. We are not quite sure if they are actually two different species:

 

C. travancoricus (male)	C. travancoricus (female)
C. imitator (male)	C. imitator (female)

Dwarf Puffers reach an adult size of about 1inch (2.5 cm), making them the smallest of all puffers.  They have black eyes that turn blue whenever they are in the light, and the eyes can also move independently of each other (like a chameleon).  They can open or close their tail fin depending on if they're stopping or going.  They will also "curl" their tail sometimes, which has a variety of meanings; from showing discomfort or sickness to being a form of easing maneuverability.  Every now and then you will see them open their mouths up wide as if they're "yawning".  Their spots/patches are different colors and shades, from bluish green to black, from light to dark.  Depending on their mood, they can change how dark or faded their spots are.  I also think that each Dwarf Puffer may have its own individual pattern of markings... kind of a "fingerprint".... no two are the same it seems.

 

 

Sexing

Determining the sex of Dwarf Puffers when they're young is very difficult since most of their secondary sexual characteristics do not show up until they reach adulthood.  Most of the Dwarf Puffers sold in stores are juveniles, so picking out how many males and females you're getting can be next to impossible.  Most owners won't know until their dwarves are grown.  When they are old enough, however, it is easy to tell the males from the females:  The males have a dark line that runs down their belly (their bellies have more yellow coloring as well).  The vertical line on the males darkens with sexual maturity and during spawning.  The males also have lines or "wrinkles" behind their eyes that the females do not have. The C. imitator male is identifiable by a "keel" and "comb" created with the ability to erect their dorsal and ventral ridges.  Finally, another way to determine the sex of a Dwarf Puffer is to look at its body shape.  The female's body will be much rounder than the male's.

 

Male	Male's Lines	Male's "wrinkles"
Female	Female (left) and Male (right)

 

 

Breeding

We have several members here on the Dwarf Puffer Site who have successfully bred their fish and are currently raising fry.  To learn more about breeding Dwarf Puffers, please visit the "Breeding" section of the Dwarf Puffer Forum.

One of the best accounts of Dwarf Puffer breeding that exists on the internet is Ren's Dwarf Puffer page.  I can't thank him enough for providing such a valuable resource!  Also be sure to check out the archive of Ren's Posts.

 

 

 

 

Personality

Dwarf Puffers are very interesting, intelligent and active fish.  They learn to recognize their owner and will come to the glass to see what you're up to whenever you're in the room.  They also will beg for food (they even learn what the container looks like) or follow your finger around the glass.  If you put your hand in the tank, they will have to be right by it at all times.  It's as if they have to know exactly what you're doing!  You also have to be careful when siphoning water from the tank, because their curiosity will sometimes lead them a little too close to the siphon tube!  I've sucked one up a time or two and had to rescue them from the bucket!  These little guys have tons of personality and are by far one of the most fun fish to own :)

 

 

 

Tank Size

The great thing about Dwarf Puffers is that their small size allows them to be kept in smaller fish tanks.  You can have all the fun of owning puffers without having to setup the larger tanks that most other puffer species require.  The majority of dwarf owners keep theirs in small setups of 5 to 20 gallons (19L to 75L).

Even though they are small in size, dwarves need roughly 5 gallons per fish to have adequate space.  They will become aggressive to one another if cramped too tightly together.  They also become more aggressive as they age, particularly with sexual maturity.  Make sure to keep this in mind when choosing your tank size as well as stocking it.  

If you are able to tell the gender of your Dwarf Puffers, then arranging them based on their sex would be beneficial.  Most people will keep 2-3 females to every 1 male since the males will be less aggressive this way.  Male Dwarf Puffers have been known to fight each other to the death, especially during mating season.

 

Dwarf Puffer Tank

 

 

Equipment

Dwarf Puffers do not need any kind of special equipment for the most part.  There should be a heater to keep their water around 80F and enough wattage in the hood lamp to nicely illuminate their tank (and grow your plants if you're using live ones).  

The only area that you do not want to skimp on is the filter.  Dwarves, just like all other puffers, are messy eaters and produce a lot of waste, therefore a good filtration system is essential.  Power filters such as Hagen's Aquaclear series or Marineland's Bio-Wheel series are excellent for Dwarf Puffer tanks.  If your puffers are very small, make sure to cover the filter intake with some type of foam to protect them from getting sucked into the filter.

AquaClear

Bio-Wheel

Filters come with various types of media which usually consists of a pad or bag full of activated carbon, and sometimes a foam block.  The carbon is useful in cleaning up the water but also makes it more difficult to treat the water with medications, supplements, etc.  It is advised to remove the carbon altogether and just use good maintenance habits to have clean water (it's really up to the hobbyist, though).  Pufferpunk uses a stacking method on the filter media in her puffer tanks that works very well:  

"As far as the stacking method: Aquaclear filters come with a foam rectangle. That goes on the bottom of the box. It is used for mechanical filtration & is rinsed every week. Next, is a 1" layer of filter floss. This "polishes" the water & leaves it crystal clear. I rinse it every week & toss it every month. On top goes a bag (I use an old fishnet stocking) of Bio-Max. This is for biological filtration & is lightly rinsed every month."

Plants/Decorations

Some people use fake, plastic plants and decorations.  Some people use some fake decorations and some real decorations.  Still, there are others who will only use live plants and real decorations.  This is really up to the hobbyist since the puffers don't care either way.  The one thing that is very important with a Dwarf Puffer tank is that no matter what kind of plants you use, you want to use a LOT of them!  

Dwarf Puffers need places to establish territories and will do best in heavily planted tanks.  The plants also break their lines of sight and will cut down on their aggression towards one another.  The other purpose that the plants serve is to add complexity to their environment.  In a more interesting habitat, the puffers' curious and explorative nature can really be seen.  They won't spend so much time swimming up and down the glass out of boredom.

It's also a good idea to add multiple caves/hiding spots throughout the tank.  This will give the puffers a place to escape if they feel threatened.

 

Live Plants

Dwarf Puffer In Plant

 

 

Tankmates

Dwarf Puffers are definitely not community fish and are best kept in a small species setup.  Some people do keep them in larger community tanks with success, but it is not recommended.  Dwarves are vicious little critters and will nip the fins off just about any other fish.  They are capable of killing tank mates much larger than themselves with their relentless picking and nipping.  Also, their small size can cause them to be eaten by larger fish.  If you're going to keep dwarves, plan to provide them with their very own tank.  There are a few tank mates that can be successfully kept with dwarves, though, and are worth mentioning:

• Otocinclus - Known as "otos" in the aquarium trade, these little guys are an excellent addition to a dwarf puffer tank.  Almost everyone who has tried them has successfully kept them in a dwarf tank with little to no problems.  They remain small and do not attract much attention to themselves.  They are also algae-eating machines!  Learn all about them here.

Otocinclus

• Shrimp - It's basically a gamble with shrimp.  Some dwarves don't even notice them, while others will rip them to shreds within minutes!  I have had a great deal of success keeping Amano Shrimp with my Dwarf Puffers so far, but I know that as soon as the puffers find out the shrimp are tasty, that will be the end of their peaceful coexistence!  I would suggest buying some ghost shrimp from the local fish store and giving it a shot.  Ghost shrimp are a very inexpensive feeder food, so if your puffers eat them, you're not out much money and the dwarves have gotten a great meal out of it.  If they don't eat them, then the shrimp will make an excellent "cleanup crew" for your puffer tank.... scavenging the bottom and cleaning up any leftover food.

 

 

Cycling

Whatever you do, make sure that your tank is cycled before adding Dwarf Puffers to it!  They will not survive the cycling process and you need to have everything balanced out before adding them.  There are a few methods for cycling your tank:

 

• Bio-Spira - This is by far the fastest and easiest way to cycle an aquarium.  This stuff is just incredible!  Check around your area for it.

Bio-Spira

 

• Fishless Cycling - This is also an effective method, it just takes much longer.  Two great articles on fishless cycling can be found here and here.

 

 

Maintenance

Regular maintenance and upkeep is very important in a Dwarf Puffer tank due to their messy nature.  Weekly vacuuming of the substrate and removal of all uneaten food should be done, as well as inspecting/cleaning the filter and other equipment.  Water changes of 50% per week should be done to maintain a healthy puffer tank.  

I know what you're thinking... "50% water changes?!?!?!?"  Yes, 50%!  I was rather shocked the first time I heard about this also, but I found that most veteran puffer owners follow the 50% rule.  Due to the high pollution generated by puffers, changing 50% of their water each week will ensure that their tank stays clean and healthy.  50% water changes also keep water parameters consistent and eliminate stress and immune system deficiencies.  This gives the Dwarf Puffers a stronger resistance to bacterial and parasitic infection.

 

 

 

 

Feeding

Dwarf puffers can be easy to feed as well as difficult.  Some of them are still collected from the wild (though most aren't), so getting them to accept prepared foods can be a chore.  Others, however, will eat just about anything you put in front of them.  The best way is to try various foods and see what works.  Please note that it is common for them to not want to eat for the first few days you have them in your tank.  They will eventually come out of their shyness and begin to eat, though.

• Frozen Foods - Bloodworms (midge fly larva - probably 90% of Dwarf Puffer owners use these as the main meal for their pets), Brine Shrimp, Mysis Shrimp, Daphnia, Tubifex Worms, Glass Worms (mosquito larva), and Krill.  Remember that when feeding frozen food to your puffers, you should always thaw it before putting it into the tank.  A great way to do this is to put the food, along with some water from the tank, in a small cup or shot glass.  Then you can pour the food into the tank when it's thawed.  Also, pouring the food through a brine shrimp net or other fine-meshed net will remove a lot of the extra "junk", causing less unnecessary pollution in the tank (thanks to RTR for that tip).

Eating Frozen Bloodworms

• Live Foods - Blackworms (commonly available, will stay alive in the refrigerator for a few weeks), Brine Shrimp and Snails.  (Note: Brine shrimp are lacking in nutritional value and should not be a staple food source, but instead a treat)

Eating Live Worms

• Snails - Dwarf Puffers are molluscivores just like many of their relatives and should have snails in their diet.  Not only are they a natural food for the puffers, but they also help them practice their hunting skills.  Most snails are too large for them to "crunch" in the manner that other puffers do, but they will definitely take on a snail of any size. Regular pond snails are best because they have thinner shells and they are easier for the puffs to get to. As far as Dwarf Puffers needing snails in their diet to "wear down" their teeth, it has been agreed upon by most in the forum that they are not necessary for this. Dwarf Puffers seem to have no problems at all with overgrown teeth (unlike almost all other puffer species).
  
  As for feeding the snails to them, all you have to do is drop them in the tank.... the puffers will hunt them on their own (quite fun to watch). They stick their head into the shell and start thrashing around. It looks like a dog with its head stuck in a cardboard box!
  
  Make sure to give them snails every now and then as a treat.  Your local fish store will usually give snails to you for free, or you can raise your own.  Two great articles on raising snails for puffers can be found here and here.

Hunting A Snail

• Flakes, Pellets and Freeze-Dried Foods - While some people have had limited success with these types of foods, the majority have not.  The dwarves will usually completely ignore these.  If flakes are taken, they should not be a staple food source as they are lacking in nutritional value. 

Water Parameters

Dwarf puffers are quite hardy and can tolerate a variety of water conditions.  For them to be healthy and happy, though, you should try to give them the best conditions possible.  Keep in mind that Dwarf Puffers are 100% freshwater fish!  They can tolerate small increases in salinity but are at optimum health in pure freshwater.

• Temperature - While they can tolerate a broad range of temperatures, dwarf puffers seem to do best with a temperature of at least 80F (26C).

• PH - A PH of at least 7.0 is best.

• Nitrites and Ammonia - As with any fish, you want to keep these down to 0 at all times.

 

 

Diseases and Treatment

Most pufferfish are prone to diseases and infections and being that they are scale-less fish, they are very sensitive to what medicines/treatments you administer to them.  It is best to be prepared ahead of time to properly handle any problems you may encounter.

• Ich - Aquarium salt should be used for ich treatments as well as a healing aid.  Please note that this is the freshwater "aquarium salt" not "marine salt".  Please refer to Pufferpunk's article: Puffers with Ich for information on diagnosis and treatment.

Aquarium Salt

• Fungal Infections - PimaFix is an effective, all natural anti-fungal remedy that is safe for puffers.

PimaFix

• Bacterial Infections - MelaFix is an effective, all natural anti-bacterial remedy that is safe for puffers.  It is is also good for scrapes, wounds and torn fins (great for fin regeneration and less scarring of wounds).  Improvements can be seen within a few days of treatment.

MelaFix

• Internal Parasites - There are a variety of medicines effective in treating internal parasites in pufferfish. If a puffer's belly looks "sunken in", then it most-likely has internal parasites.  Make sure to avoid these puffers when selecting one to purchase at your local fish store.

 

Please note that NO COPPER-BASED MEDICINES should ever be used with puffers!  They are too sensitive to handle these or any of the other more harsh chemicals.

Ren's Posts

These posts were made by Ren in the Yahoo Pufferfish Group from 1999 - 2002. They are in chronological order but are not organized otherwise. I hope that some of the information contained in these posts can be helpful to other Dwarf Puffer owners.  Also, Ren is Japanese and had to make all of his posts using a Japanese-English dictionary, so please keep that in mind.  He calls it "Renglish".. LOL!

---

My dwarf puffer's egg hatched today's afternoon.
The egg is founded at 10/4/'99 night, so his/her gestation period was 4
or 5 days. It was forever for me.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have 5 puffers and some thier eggs and some fry.
I have kept 6 puffers last half year, but one of them died suddenly
yesterday. I don't know why she died. I buried her with a block of
bloodworms yesterday.

The puffers I have kept are dwarf puffers (Carinotetraodon
travancorius). I have not kept any other kind of puffers.
I have 2 tanks for my puffers. 2 puffers has living in the first tank. 3
puffers has living in the second tank.

>I read that puffers have only been bred in captivity successfully once?????
No, They have bred repeatedly. I have found many eggs in last 12 days.
That is as follows:
[In the first puffers' tank]
10/04 1 egg
10/06 5 eggs
10/11 7 eggs
10/13 6 eggs
10/15 1 egg
[In the second puffers' tank]
10/11 11 eggs

Some of these eggs got whitish, laziness eggs, so I removed them.
Some eggs (maybe 7) has been hatched.

I have kept these eggs and these fry in thier own tank.
2 fry died at last 2 days (10/14 and 10/15). They both died on a heater.

Eggs are transparent at the first time. They gets pretty brownish next
day. The Brownish parts has been increased day by day and they are
hatched. Their gestation period is 4 or 5 days.

Fry keeps quiet at the first time. They starts moving at 4 or 5 days
after. Now some fry has already swimming around and has eating something
small creatures that grown naturally in the tank. I have trying to feed brine
shrip babies to them everyday, but they has not eatten it.

I uploaded some pics of them to pics folder on the file area of this
list.
See them! :)

Ren.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When my puffers became a sick (white spots apears on the body; Is it
called "ick"?) in the past, I tried liquid vitamin (and raised water
temp. to 30 degC). What I tried was Tetra Reptosol (for Reptiles,
includes vitamin A,D3,C,B1,B2,B6 and B12). The white spots disappeared 2 days
after. I don't know how much the liquid vitamin worked, but I think it maybe
gave my puffers energy and some resistance to the sick. I give my
puffers it once in a while even then they are not the sick.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi jason,

>thanks a bunch ren. does the black line rule apply to other species? b/c my
>peruvian named jeff has one. i do hope so, b/c maybe i can find him a nice
>female to settle down w/ eh? this is really exciting.

I'm sorry I don't know about any other kind of puffers because I've
never kept them and I did'nt learn about them. At the time I bought my
puffers - I bought my 6 Dwarf puffers last April, - I couldn't sex them.
I didn't know how to sex them at that time and also they were not
adults yet. but I thought it's rare case (2 of 64) that either all of
them are males or all of them are females. As they grown and could be
sexed, Fortunately, I found I have 2 males and 4 females. I hope you
will have a pair puffers.

>do they care for or eat their young?
I've never seen both they care for fry or eggs and they are eating
youngs. But as Ian told me on this list in the past, I think males are
protecting thier fry and eggs. Why I think so is because males always
goes around a mass of Willow moss (where they lays eggs in) as if they
were patrolling, and males attack females hardly when the females come
around there. But on the other hand, A Japanese aquaristic magazine
says that "the parent puffer have ate the fry".

>please tell me as much as you can about this.
Yes I'm willing to tell you and all in the list. I'm sorry, it's just my
problem,but I need much time to read/write e-mail in English (with looking up a
word in a dictionary and sometime with help of machine translation :)).
But I'm taking pics of eggs, fry and adults continuously, and I'm
uploading it on the file area of the list. And also I have my personal
web page there are some pics and poor descriptions about my puffers,
eggs, and fry. please check it out!(<http://www.rr.iij4u.or.jp/~kohda/>).
But ofcourse I'm trying to answer you with mailing too.

>where did you find a dwarf? is it fresh?
I bought them from a local fish shop in Tokyo (I'm Japanese living in
Japan). Dwarf puffer is one of popular kind of puffer here as well as
fig8 or green spotted. Yes Dwarf puffer is fresh water puffer (I think
your peruvian puffer jeff is so too, right?), so I planted many plants
in thier tanks. Being many plants in thier tank, I think, is good for
my puffer because females can hide behind it when the females being
attacked from males.

Ren.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

>does it have to be willow moss?
>could they lay eggs in something different but bushy?

As far as I saw, my puffers always lays eggs in a mass of Willow moss. An
article of breeding dwarfs of AquaLife(Japanese aquaristics magazine)
says that they laid eggs in "Itotanukimo" moss (Latin name(maybe) :
Utricularia exoleta R.Br.). I think they laid eggs in/on a narrow space
they can hide and can spawn and ejaculate safely. So I think, Willow
moss is just one example. I've never seen they spawning any place but
bushy Willow moss bed, so I can't say they don't spawn in a place but
bushy, but I can say bushy place is well.

Ren.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please read this (my experience) if you would consider to keep dwarf
puffer as Liz suggested : I had kept 6 dwarf puffers (Carinotetraodon
travancorius) about half year in 17L(4.5USgal) tank. At the first time
they were 1-1.5cm long. Sometimes they did petty fight that is just
pecking each other. Except this fight, They were peaceful as far as I
saw. But one day a half year pasted, I saw serious fight between male
dwarfs. One bit the other as if he bit off the other. Bite mark remained
on his belly. After the day, I bought the other tank and moved 1 male
and 2 female to the new tank. New tank is 21L(5.5USgal) tank. A few days
after, Ones leaved in old tank did spawned. some week after, one of
females in old tank died. I could'nt found a cause of her death. Ones
moved to new tank did also spawned. And for now, spawning is on going in
each tanks. Male is attacking hard females when she come around eggs
place since they got into spawning period. I found bite mark on a female
belly. Their size now is about 2cm long. That's all. That's objective
facts.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Does anyone on this list have any experience with keeping these
> puffers with Otos? The tank they were living in when I bought
> them included 3 or 4 Otos, but this was a 50 gallon tank.
> I'm worried that the confined space make them more nippy than
> they are in larger tanks.

I keep 2 adult dwarf puffers with 1 Otocinclus in 17litter tank and also
3 adult dwarf puffers with 2 Otocinclus in 21litter tank. When I
introduced these Otos into puffers tanks, Dwarf puffers had nipped
tail fin of Otos. But gradually Otos would swim away when puffers come
around thier backward (I think ... Otos studied...). Now, they are
living peacefully together (or ignoring each others) and Otos doing good
job.

> 2) What should I feed these guys? The fish store claimed that they hadn't
> been fed in weeks! I threw a bunch of pond snails into their little net and
> they jumped at them. The dried krill I offered (my green spotted loved it)
> was completely ignored. My fish store said to feed them the krill, so I'm
> at a bit of a loss as to what to feed them. I bought some frozen brine
> shrimp today that I haven't tried yet.

I usually give them frozen bloodworms (midge-fly larvae). And also I
occasionally give them live tubifex worms. I have once gave them some
other foods but they ignored. These are frozen brine shrimp baby, live
brine shrimp baby and flake foods. I have no experience giving them any
other foods.

> 3) Can I keep plants? I planted their future tank with microsword, green
> hedge, and a few stems of cabomba and hygrophilia. Is there anything I
> should know about puffers and plants? If I have ID'd these guys correctly
> they are true freshwater fish and I won't have to add salt to the aquarium,
> so that shouldn't be a problem.

I planted many plants in their tanks. They don't hurts plants as far as
I see. I can't found any problem with this exept the inconvenience for
cleanning gravel.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello all,

I just want to tell you about my dwarf puffers.
About fry : The bigest ones are now 7mm long or so. They started to eats
small frozen bloodworms. The number of them is now about 30.
Many fry dead due to bad water condition. A few weeks ago, I checked NO2
and it was 0.5mg. I recovered it by daily water change - 2 litter
(about 1/5) a day. Another fry dead by another reason. They were bited
by bigger fry. Now I separeted bigger ones and smaller ones. Yet another
reason is by accident. For example, Some of them were pinched between
tank face and breeding box.
About adult dwarfs: A male and a female living in a 17litter tank is
fine, no hard fight has been found for a month and they keeps spawning.
A male and two female lived in a 21litter tank had a problem. The male
had attacked females very hard. One day I found bite marks on the belly,
back and FACE of females. I decided to move them to a larger tank. I
keep guppies in 60x30x36cm tank (56litter) that largest tank in my six
tanks. At the day, I moved the female has bite mark on face to the tank.
She seemed fine even with guppies. A few days after (day before
yesterday), I moved the male and the other female to the tank. They
were fine too and the male started the courtship activity soon.
Yesterday, I found the male chasing each females. Females got away, but
the male did'nt attack them hard. Then I was out of home for a few hours.
When I came home, I found one female dead. She had bite marks on her
belly, and where around the bite marks was swelling.
That's the recent stories about my puffers.

I want to ask you a question about very different subjects.
Does anyone know something about types of Carinotetraodon travancorius?
In Japanese fish-keeping magazine, It says that there are two types of
travancorius, one is smaller type being imported from Srilanka and the
other is bigger type being imported from India. It does'nt means the
difference between travancorius and imitator. And also, Manuera told me
that there are two types (colour variations) in travancorius on the list
before, so I know it. I think what I ask is another criteria because the
point of what the magazine says is smaller/bigger. How much small/big
does not mentioned and also any other infomation is'nt provided on the
magazine.
Any infomation is appreciated.

Thank you!
Ren.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello Jason,

Well, I'm not sure what did actually made dwarfs spawned. I guess
that was just a beginner's luck...
I'll tell you some parameters of my tank that I had kept 6 dwarfs in
it until they started spawning.

Tank : W30cmxH30cmxD20cm 17 litters
Filter: undergravel filter and corner overflow filter (?)
Filter media: wool matt, BIOMIX and sand
Lighting: one 8W light, turned on about 10 hours a day
Substrate: a few mm large Oiso sand (Japanese normal sand) thickness
is about 4cm
Temp: 27degC - 29degC (31degC once in a while in summer)
Water condition: pH: 7.0-7.2, GH: 8deg dH
Plants: Anubias nana, Limnophila sessiliflora, Willow moss and
something has name I can't remember.
Another decolations: two 10x10cm stones and sometimes Binchotan
(Japanese stone-like charcoals has effect of cleaning water)
Water change :once a week for 1/3 (dechlorinated tapwater: tapwater
dechlorinated by Tetr_ Contra Chlorine and conditioned by Tetr_
AquaSafe)
Tank mates: two Otocinclus
Foods: frozen bloodworms (I gave them it once/twice a day until they
don't eat more), Occasionally another foods.

I occasionally put a few drops of Tetr_ Reptosol (liquid vitamin) on
the tank. I cleaned the whole tank twice in a half year for cleaning
sand due to the undergravel filter. And I often rearranged the
decolations and plants in the tank.
That's all I can remember now. Let me know anything else you want to
know.

By the way, Is my filter "corner overflow filter"? It is called "upside
filter" here in Japan, but I don't know what the name of this in
English. That filter is a box mounted on the lip of a tank, has a
chamber laying some layers of wool mat in it and has a meshed plate
under the wool mat in the chamber. Water is pumped up from a tank
through a pipe, drops onto the face of the wool mat layer in the
chamber, drops further through the meshed plate, trickles through the
bottom of the chamber from left side to right side and drops into the
tank through a hole on right side of the box.
In type of Mine, the pipe is connected to undergravel filter.
I found the name "corner overflow filter" in the Internet, but I'm
not sure that's what I means.

I'm sorry that this is not puffer talk, but anyone please tell me
what do you call this? And ... Is this not popular filter in your
country?

Thank you,
Ren.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jason,

> i guess i was the only one us of lucky enough to find a puffer that doesn't
> eat the snails i give him. will river shrimp also help w/ filing the teeth?

My dwarfs doesn't jump at snails too. I'm not sure whether if mines
were eating snails or not.... But I have found no snails in their
tanks for now, so they may have eating snails after.

My child dwarfs do eats snails. I saw that the kids were eating
antennae of a pond snail!!

Ren.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Jason,
I ate Fugu yesterday. I'm still alive for now. :)
I just tell you it because I said I've never ate Fugu in the past.

Ren

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have been keeping otocinclus in my dwarfs tank without problem.
I also added the two kinds of shrimps in dwarfs tanks about a month
ago and could not find any problems. These shrimps can be kept with
dwarfs without problem.

- Caridina japonica (Amano shrimp)
- Caridina leucosticta

FYI
Ren

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Melody & all,

> what have you found to be their favorite foods?

This might not be an answer of your question, but the list below is
all kind of dwarfs foods in my experience.

-Frozen bloodworms : The best favorite food. They really hop to eat
it. It's main food of my puffers ever since I started keeping them.
-Live bloodworms : They love to eat it. but live bloodworms I can
get is pretty bigger for thier mouth than frozen one, so they slowly
eat it as widely open thier mouth. I buy it from a finshing shop.
-Live tubifex worms: They love to eat it. They pull it out from a
meshed basket and eat it. But I stopped feeding it due to the
bacterial infection risk.
-Baby brine shrimp: They ignore it even I feed it under thier nose
with a pipette. I had never fed it when they were small. It's too
small for my puffers today to eat enough amount of it.
-Snails (over 3mm): I saw they ate meaty part of such a snails a few
times.
-Baby snails (under 3mm): I saw they ate the whole body (including
shell) of such a snails a few times (crushed pieces of shell seem to
be spitted out). I'm going to make it regular food of my puffers.
-Staple food (TetraMin): They ignore it.
-Tablet food (TetraCorydoras): They ignore crushed tiny pieces of it.
-Spirulina (Sera spirulina tablet): They ignore crushed tiny pieces
of it.
-Frozen clams: I'm idling to finding it. A couple of my favorite LFS
(not deal with marine fish) hasn't it.
-Water mites: I'm going to find it for a few weeks.

> how big should the puffers get at full size?

They only get an inch long. I've never measured it exactly, but mine
are about an inch long (eye measured). My dwarfs were more small when
I got them, but they got such a size for a half year. And I think
they recently have not been getting larger any more, or the speed of
growth became very slowly.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sorry, I just want to correct my previous message.
The following message I posted is only about "adult" dwarf puffers.
A combination of baby brine shimps and frozen bloodworms is the main
diet of my dwarf puffer fry (or maybe should call as juveniles).
These young dwarf puffers love to eat it.

Thanks,
Ren

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By the way: what do you feed your baby puffs? I remember that you had a lot of

> problems with the first ones (nearly all died), but how is it now?

I'm feeding brine shrimps and frozen bloodworms to the juvenile puffers.
The biggest ones are nearly 1cm long now. The smallest ones are ...
7mm long or so. The biggest ones mainly eats bloodworms. The
smallest ones mainly eats brine shrimps. The number of baby puffers
now is 27. I think adult puffers spawned at least 100 eggs (or 200?).

My dwarfs once stoped spawning at middle of Nov. 1999. I've checked
willow moss for a week, but no eggs found. So I've thought the
spawning season has gone. But recently, I found fry by accident.
They've been started spawning again. I have been keeping 4 adult
dwarfs, 1 male and 1 female in 56 liter tank, 1 male and 1 female in
17 liter tank now. I found fry in 56 liter tank, but I couldn't find
fry or eggs in 17 liter tank. I bought 2 20cm cube tanks for the
restarted spawning season because the early fry can't survive in the
juvenile puffers tank (Maybe the early fry would be food of
juveniles). And I introduced the fry into the one of 20cm cube tank
with the water of parents tank. But the fry all died next day. Water
condition of the cube tank is pH=7.2, NH3=0mg, NO2=under 0.1mg,
NO3=under 25mg, and temp.=26 degrees C. I couldn't find any problem
about water. And they are not moving yet, foods are not needed, so
they didn't die by starvation.
I'll keep posting about the new spawning season.

Ren

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Melody,

When my dwarf puffers are young, I usually feed them twice a day.
Recently, I usually feed them once a day. Sometimes twice a day.
And I occasionally don't feed them. I don't have a regular schedule.
Personally, I don't think feeding once a day is bad as a frequency while
you feed proper amount.

As for amount of foods, I feed them until they wouldn't eat no more,
and a little amount of bloodworms would be remained at that time, but
they eat them up after a while. They seem to have no problem. That's
just my manner. I like plump puffer :), so I feed them enough amount
of foods.

Ren

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Jason,

Sorry, I have not discovered what make them spawn. I moved them to
larger tank and then, after a few months, moved them to smaller tank,
but they don't spawn recently. I now think the templature might be
related to spawning. I set thier tank to a bit high templature and will
see what will be occured.
The other thing I think is an amount of food. They had been eating
plenty of food when they spawned in the past. But excess of food is bad
for puffers as discussed in this list sometime in the past.

In my message board of my homepage, two Japanese persons but me posted
thier success of breeding dwarf puffers. They also don't have an idea of
what makes dwarfs spawned. But I realized, at least, about dwarf puffer,
spawning is not so so so rare even in the captivity. If your male dwarfs
are chasing female dwarfs, it might happens some day :)
I hope you get the luck!!

Ren
Chiba, Japan

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My dwarf puffers had been nipping corydoras's fins.
I think it's hard to keep dwarf puffers and corydoras together.

Ren

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In case she hasn't get quite well yet :
My suggestion is liquid vitamin. What I've used is Tetra Reptosol. It is
for Reptiles, but can be used for puffers.

I give it to my puffers as the following way:
- Dilute a few drops of the liquid vitamin with the tank water in a small
container,
- Suck the diluted liquid up with a pipet
- and put it out near the snout of puffer.

This method is popular with the members of a internet puffer forum in
Japan. Some members including me do it when own puffers looks bad.
I've tried it twice. The first time was when my puffers got ick. The
second time was when one of my puffers was hanging out on the bottom. In
both case, they got well after doing this method.

I hope she get quite well.

Ren
Japan

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

would puffers get along with a male betta and 2
>African dwarf frogs, or would the puffer want to eat
>them?

I've once got dwarf puffers and guppies together, next day, I found the
fins of all guppies became rags. I think betta will end up getting such
trouble... I heard someone in a message board keeps frogs with dwarf
puffers, I'm not sure if the frogs are African dwarf frogs or not, but I
heard they are getting along with dwarfs.

>Would two dwarf puffers be okay in a 6 gallon tank?

Okay. I keep two dwarfs in 17 liter (4.5 gallon) tank, and also keep two
dwarfs in 21 liter (5.5 gallon). Both are running without any problem.

>Or, if a dwarf CAN get along with a betta and a frog
>or two, could they all go in a 6 gallon tank together?

I don't know about this...

Good Luck!
Ren

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Petra,

<<I will keep you informed about the Courtship of my dwarf
puffers and hopefully of the spawning and fry. If you have
any suggestion, feel free to give them to me.>>

In case of my dwarf puffers: I saw the courtship of my dwarf
puffers, and I put Willow moss in thier tank. Next day, they
laid an egg in the moss. The other person who has succeeded
in the dwarfs spawning said they laid eggs by a bogwood.
A magazine that reported dwarf puffer spawning says they laid
eggs in the other kind of moss (I don't know the English name).

I recommend you to put a mass of some kind of moss into the
tank or make a place the pair and eggs can be hide. The eggs
are very tiny (1 mm or so) and transparent, so you may need
to be careful to find it. In my case, they had been spawning
in the moss, so I put the moss into a container (of course,
with the water), shaked the moss in it and looked into the
bottom of the container carefully. Male seems to protect eggs.
But the magazine mentioned above says female ate fry. Because
of that, I recommend you to move eggs to the other tank that
is exclusive for breeding dwarfs babies.

Shannon and Joanna, thank you for the recommendations of my homepage.
Petra, I'm grad if you get any idea about spawning & raising fry from
it.

Good Luck!
Ren

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is my experience about the deadly fight : I once saw two of my
males fought when they all (6 dwarfs) were in a 17 liter (4.5 gallon)
tank. I parted 3 of them to the other 21 liter (5.5 gallon) tank. 3 in
the 17 liter tank were 1 male and 2 females. 3 in the 21 liter were 1
male and 2 females too. Just after I parted them, they started spawning.
It started in both tanks. But also, each males started to attack
violently to females. And one female in the 17 liter tank dead. After
the female's death, the male in the 17 liter haven't attacked violently
to the other female. I moved 3 in the 21 liter to a 56 liter (15 gallon)
tank because I thought the 56 liter is enough for the females to run
away from the male. But I unfortunately saw female's death again. After
the death, the male in the 56 liter also have not attacked violently to
the other female. I *suppose* that a dwarf's male in breeding season
kills other fellows until only one female remains.

But, but, but ..., I heard on a Japanese pufferfish board that some (at
least 2) peoples keeps 10 or more dwarfs in a 60 centimeter tank (maybe
56 liter one) without seeing such fights. And one of them already
suceeded in dwarf's breeding.

If you keep only one, you will never see the deadly fight and such
female's death as Manuela mentioned. If you keep two or more in the tank,
you need to prepare to see such fights, setup additional tank(s) or at
the worst see such a death. But on the other hand, you may see spawning...

That's what I know.
Finally, I couldn't tell the best number of dwarfs, sorry.... I hope
this doesn't throw your decision into confusion...


Ren

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just want to tell you all my puffers update.
My dwarf puffers started spawing again yesterday!!
I found some eggs and fry when I was doing water change and checked the
willow moss. The tank is 17 liter (4.5 gallon) (I have been keeping a
pair of dwarfs in the tank for some months). The temperature is 28-30
degrees C. pH 7.4, GH 4, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 25 when I checked
last time. The female has bad eyesight, but she is lively and eating
bloodworms so much. The male are chasing her everytime.
I moved eggs and fry to a 20x20x20 centimeter tank that have a bubleup
sponge filter, a heater, no substrate and a little amount of willow moss.

Ren

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Petra,

Thank you for the reply!

The eggs being held in pregnant female can not be seen from the
outside. And dwarf puffers don't hug thier eggs under the body nor
the fins. They just scatter eggs.

I guess you can't find eggs in the tank while you are trying to find it
>from the outside of the tank because it's really small and
transparent. Try to vacuum around where they're courting. And put
the water and garbages around there into a see-through container
and search the garbages very very thoroughly for eggs. You must
shout when you found it :)

Good Luck!!!!

Ren

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Petra,

>I am now sure that they are spawningt. They keep still for a
>while in the moss and shake their bodies.

I guess it's very spawning!

>Do you know how many they drop when they spawn? When you vacuum
your tank, how many eggs to you find mostly?

I don't know how many eggs they drop at once. The number of
eggs I found per one vacuuming was between 1 and 14. But most
time, I found 2 - 5 eggs.

>They were also differente in colour, from seethrough to a little brown.

It must be the eggs spawned 2-4 days ago.

>Have you ever raised any fry in your 'normal' tank

They can hatch in the parents tank, but I think, they can't be
raised enough.

>or did they all got eaten by their parents or other fish?

No, not all, but some, I think. I used to find many fry in the
tank. I have never seen the parents or others eats eggs. It's
just a possibility. But I have never found grown fry, all what
I found was 1-week old or more younger ones. I guess a fry
can't grow in the parents tank. I'm not sure the reason, but I
guess the reason is that they get eaten by thier parents (maybe
male don't eat eggs, male seems to protect eggs) or can't find
enough foods.

>I asked that because I havn't seen any fry in my tank and I
>pretty suren now that there are eggs.

Did you check the moss? First 4 days, they still most of time,
but they can swim a bit. After 5 days, they start to swim here
and there, so they can hide any place.

Good luck!

Ren

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Congratulations, Petra!!

Didn't you shout?? I shouted when that time. :)
I think the breeding preparations you did is completely correct. And I
want to help you with some other points from my experience. An egg will
hatch 4-5 days later after it was spawned. A newly hatched fry is hardly
move. A fry still for 3 days. From 4th day, they gradually start to move.
In 5th day and 6th, they move around tank. From 7th day, they start to
eat live brine shrimp. I recommend you to put a pinch of moss into the
fry's tank because there may be some small creatures that can fit to the
fry's mouth in a moss. And you need to prepare newly hatched brine
shrimp (frozen one doesn't work) by the 7th day.
If you find a whitish egg, maybe it is a laziness egg (I don't know if
this word is right expression or not, I mean, an egg that was NOT
fertilized), so you remove it from the tank because a laziness egg will
go moldy and it can infect to other normal eggs. A normal (fertilized)
egg is trasparent or orange or brown in color partially. The early fry
that can not swim freely yet may sit on a heater and may be burned, so
you notice the position of a heater. Not to set the heater horizentally,
set it slantwise, and if it can, set it on a place where the waterflow
is stronger. I think it may help a fry not to sit on the heater. Or if
your area is enough hot even in night, remove the heater from the tank.

Maybe Adam and Eve continue to spawn again and again for a month or so
and you will find many eggs!

Good luck!!
Ren

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Sarah,

I think keeping only one dwarf in a 5 gallon is okay. I keep two in 17
liter (4.4-4.5 gallon US) tank even now, they are spawning now. I have
once put a divider in the tank when I kept six dwarves because I saw
male-vs-male's serious fight. The divider was there for only one night
because I moved 3 of them to a new tank next day. At that night, I saw
2 males were trying to fight again and again even they had been
separated by the divider. The divider was transparent, so one could see
the other. If you use a divider to aviod male-vs-male's serious fight
and avoid thier stress from trying to fight, I guess you take a opaque
divider (I don't know such a divider has been sold or not...). If you
use a divider to aviod male-to-female's serious attack, .... I'm not
sure, female may feel stress from just seeing male though a divider...
or female may get used... or male may give up... But anyway, I think 5
gallon is enough for one as a space, and if you can get a opaque
divider, you can clear the worry of fighting. But to raise fry in the
parent's tank is very difficult, I think. When yours spawned, as you
said, you need other tank... But smaller tank can be used as a breeding
tank. I've used 11 liter (2.9 gallon US) tank as breeding tank for some
months.

Good luck!!
Ren

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Petra!

>What is the minimum temperature for the eggs and fry. Maybe I can
leave the heater out of there. The watertemperature stays above (at
least) 20 degrees Celsius.

I'm not sure the minimum temperature for them. My breeding tank's
temperature is between 27 degrees C and 30 degrees C. I think 20 is too
low for the eggs and fry.

>Did you see this to when you moved your dwarfs?

Yes, they seem to need a time to get used a new tank. I see they fade
the color when I move them to another tank, when they wake up, when
they feel stress and when they sleep.

>How often do you vacuum the parents tank for eggs?

Every 3 days or so.

>Do you put all the eggs in the same eggtank?

Yes, all.

>How is everything going with your dwarfs? They are also spawning you said. Any
eggs or fry yet?

I already got some eggs and fry.
If you like, see the photos on http://www.rr.iij4u.or.jp/~kohda/
That's Japanese page, sorry, but I want you just to see the photos.
The two photos in the square colored pink is of the recent fry!
The first photo is the fry just after I found, maybe he is only one day
old. I took the photo through a magnifying glass :) The second is the
4-days-old fry, he already swim around the tank.
They all are now in a 20x20x20 centimeter tank with a heater, a bubleup
sponge filter with heavy aeration, two thermometers and a pinch of
willow moss (and I hope there are the great number of micro-organisms).
the temperature is 27-29 degrees C. They already started to eat
brineshrimp. I found and removed 3 laziness eggs and 1 dead fry by
yesterday. I clean a bottom of tank by using a pipet everyday. I add
water drop-by-drop method into the tank when the water get decreased by
the cleaning or an evaporation. the drop-by-drop method I said means the
adding water very slowly, one drop per one second. I use a PET bottle (2
liter Coke bottle) for it. That's a cheep hand-made one. I made a hole
on the cap of the bottle, inserted a air line junction into the hole,
put a air line to each side of the junction and put a paper clip on the
air line for adjusting the ammount of water drop. Normally, adding water
to the tank with this needs an hour or more. That's for fry to prevent a
shock of water change.
See: http://www.rr.iij4u.or.jp/~kohda/etc/images/etc-diy-009.jpg

>Do you also have a separate tank again for the eggs/fry?

No, because fry don't eat eggs. But I'm considering now about another
new tank to separating fry. A tiny fry bites and kills another very tiny
fry. Consider a new tank or a tank divider!

Good Luck!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ren

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For the time you found fry in the parents' tank: I recommend you to
acclimate fry *slowly* to the fry's tank when you move fry from the
parents' tank. What I do is that : I put fry into a small container
with the water of parents' tank, let it float on the water in the fry's
tank for 30 minutes, drop a bit of water of fry's tank into the
container and let it float again for several minutes, repeat it 2 or 3
times and release fry to the fry's tank. I think this procedure must be
needed for fry to prevent the shock caused by the different water
conditions.

>Yesterday I saw a little snail (a had put in a few in the fry tank) eat
>at an egg. I got so pissed I took him out of there and in to the tank
>of Adam and Eve, were he was immediatly eaten by 'dad'. I also removed
>the other snails and Adam and Eve were very happy with them.

Thanks for telling your experience.

>You would
>have a great laugh when you see me lying down in front of my
>tank to see if anything has happened yet.

I know another one who often do that :)

>I vacumed the tank again today and found several eggs. Also put them in
>the seperate tank. Accidental I crushed one of the eggs. It can be any
>day now that some of the eggs will hatch.

I think I've also lost some eggs when I changed and drained the water of
the parents' tank although I'm looking into the water for it. And also,
I think some fry I couldn't find has gone in the parents' tank.

To make them hatched nicely, I think strong (or not weak) aeration is
necessary. I've read that an egg need a stronger aeration to hatch in a
Japanese corydoras' website. Maybe puffers (and another fishes) too, I
think. How do you think?

>My eggtank is 50x30x30, so a little bigger than yours. I would like a
>smaller one, but I don't have one.

Oh, maybe you need more time to clean the tank than me, but I guess
that's better for your fry because water conditions of a larger tank is
more steady than that of a smaller tank.

>How do you clean your bottom with a pincet. I think it would be very
>difficult to do that on a surface of 50x30. Is there another way to
>clean the eggs/fry tank?

No, no :), I meant that I use a 'pipet' to clean the tank. It means a
tube to suck and drop liquid. Maybe you call it 'spuit' in Dutch? I use
20 centimeters one.



Good Luck!!

Ren

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Petra, again, Congratulations!!

>From the wateredge he slowly went down again. He stayed very still at
>the bottom.

Yeah, they do that!! The first time I saw that, I was surprised and
worried because I thought the fry might dead :)

>I have become a puffer mummy!!

Exactly, you are. You need to make brine shrimps day after day after
day after day ... Yeah, me, too. I had never made a brine shrimp until
the first time I got fry. Maybe you know how about brine shrimp, but I
try to squeeze any other knowledge or something by force out of my
boiled brain :p ...

That is:
I heard baby brine shrimp just after hatched is rich and the nutritional
value of baby brine shrimp gradually decreased according as they grow.
How many brine shrimp hatcher do you have? I recommend you to prepare
at least two because 24 hours is needed to hatch brine shrimp and fry
eat it everyday. It's helpful to run a hatcher from every even-number's
day and the other from every odd-number's day. It's not neccesary to
feed very-newly-hatched brine shrimps to fry, but maybe it's ideal.

What kind of hatcher do you use? I use a cheap hand-made one (I like
D.I.Y.) :) That's just a reversely standing Coke bottles given some
handiworks by using air lines, junctions and so on. Yours too?

>I have immidiatly started to breed brine shrimp. Ren: any feeding suggestions?

- Do not feed brine shrimp until 7th day because they can't eat it
within the period. You don't need to start to make brine shrimp hatched
today right away. But 7th is only from my experience, it could be
varied in case of yours. How about starting to try feeding from 5th day
or 6th?

- Do not overfeed, or you should take more time to clean uneaten and
dead brine shrimp babies.

hmm, that's all for now.


Later,

Ren

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Petra,

>I am just so glad with your experience. You have gone throught it one
>time, so at least you know a more than me. I won't be angry at you if
>something goes wrong. We are on different sides of the world and it is
>just great we can help eachother.

All right, thanks!

>Thanks. If I'll find any in there, I will do this. I saw now how small
>they are and am thinking they will be very hard to find in the parents
>tank. Maybe if they are a little older? Did you find just hadched fry
>or a few days old in the parents tank?

I've found both in the parents' tank accidentally. But I couldn't catch
most of them. Normally, I caught fry in the small container which is
filled by water drained from the parents' tank. And also, it has a
willow moss ball that I take out of the parents' tank when every
fry-seeking time.

> What a great idea!! I think I have somewhere one, but if I don't I
>will buy one on Monday. How on earth do you know that we call that a
>'spuit'. Really great, I knew right away what you mean.

Because, in here, we call larger one pipet and smaller one spuit :)


Good Luck!
Ren

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Petra,

I'm too late, but sorry for your lost and sorry that I couldn't help you
on it. I have lost many fry. My lame excuse is that it should be more
severe for them to servive in the wild...

For the second group :

You said you are going to get fry out of the breedingcontainer and move
them to the tank where the breedingcontainers are floating in. I
recommend you to do that (or move them to another breedingcontainer)
before the bigger fry get to bite smaller fry. I lost some smaller fry
by this reason in the past, and these days again :( The bigger fry I
mean are about 3-weeks-old ones. They completely faded orange colored stripes
>from the body and have milky colored translucent body with many little
black dots and unclear big spots. They bite to kill smaller fry.
And also, more bigger fry do the same against bigger fry. So I recommend
you (and I too should do) to decolate or plant *heavily* to the bigger
fry's tank.

Thanks for telling about your brine shrimp. 5 days aliving is great.
I'm going to try it when the winter has come here. It's really hot these
days in here even in the night $(

Thanks,
Ren

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Petra,

Wow, Don't praise so highly :) Thanks so much! I just take maaaany
pictures and pick up a few good ones from many blurred ones. I use a
digital camera, don't need to buy a film, so I can press and press.
Or if you use a single-lense reflex, this might be useful readings, I
think :

http://www.nikon.co.jp/main/eng/photo_world/kumon/index.htm

I'm not an English speaker as well, so a picture is really helpful for
me to tell about my puffers.

>Ren, how many times a day do you feed the fry and how much?

Once a day. I feed brine shrimp until fry's belly get orange coloured
and rounded. I use 3 ml spuit to put brine shrimp in the tank. Most time,
Putting it twice is enough amount. I'm keeping 10 or so now.

>The other fry are most of the time very still. There are a few who are
ready to start to swimm around. I have now 12 fry. About every other day
new fry is born. Still finding eggs in the moss in the parents tank. Not
many lazyness eggs, just one in the last few days.

I'm happy to hear everything yours is going well!

>It almost looks like Adam is also interested in the second
female dwarf.

You are keeping the other female with Adam and Eve, aren't you?
In my experience, a male hurts and kills one of two females. I
unfortunatelly saw that twice. And Manuela have a similar experience on
his dwarf puffers. I'm supposing that a male in breeding season drives
away another fellows exept one female from his territory, but if he
can't drives away them, then he hurts and kills them. Maybe the
territory is wide in wild, but in a tank, of course he can't drive away
anyone from his territory because of the size, so he needs to kill another
fellows as a result.

Apart from my assumption (or daydream), be careful in Adam's behaviour.

Ren

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi all,

One of my dwarf puffers got a accident these days. It was a little funny
thing at last, but I was scared at that time.
I saw she was holding a snail on her mouth. No problem itself, but the
problem was that she was holding it for a while. She had the problem she
couldn't take off the shell of the snail by herself. I thought maybe the
shell sticked and locked on her mouth. I brought her out of the tank and
take off the shell by my fingers. She got a injury around her mouth, but
it already healeded up now, and she's looking for snails :)

Ren

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

>As I understand Ren's dwarfs stopped for a while and started again. I
>believe they have stopped for the second time now.
>Any ideas on this. Maybe it is the size of the tank.

Yes, they are not spawning these days.
The last spawning was just about a week long.
The secound last spawning was about a month long.
I don't know why...

Ren

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Petra,

Thanks that you care about my dwarf puffers spawning.

>How long do they stop spawning at a time?
>How many times they start and stopped spawning.

I have 2 pairs. One has not been spawning for a year, they stopped
spawning on Oct. last year. The other pair stopped spawning on Oct. last
year too. But they started spawning again on this June, and soon they
stopped. The female of this pair had been dying one day. She was sitting
on the bottom and didn't move for a while (a half day or a day). I gave
her vitamins. She got well next day. But I found she partially lost her
eyesight because she couldn't go straight toward her bloodworms (but she
could eat bloodworms only when it came just in the front of her snout).
I think she is gradually getting her eyesight back again now. I'm
wondering if this affected her spawning.

>Is their behavoir different then?

I don't see the courtship behaviour when I can't find any eggs. Female
run away when male get closer. As far as I see, I can't find any other
difference. Their appearences aren't different too.

>Do you know why they stop or start again?

No, I don't.

>First I thought there would be a spawning season for dwarfs, but maybe
>they (can) keep on doing it for a long time and they don't really have
>a spawning season, just start spawning when the time / conditions are
>right.

Thanks for the info and the idea. I too was wondering if their breeding
season is related to something like a dry season or rainy season of
thier habitat, though it was just an imagination. But now I learned from
your info that dwarf puffer, at least in captivity, seem to spawn every
seasons of the year if they are ready.

>Any ideas about the size of the tank.
>Could it be also a reason.
>What do you think?

Yes, I too think it could be a reason.
But why do you notice the size of the tank especially? Because I think
there are other things that could be related to thier spawning..,
temperature, some other water parameters, decolations or even thier
moods. I'm afraid I don't have any clues on it. I'm just waiting for
spawning again :)

Thanks,
Ren

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Petra,

>I think that might be affecting her spawning. I think they will only
>spawn when they are healthy. I probably takes a lot of energy.

I think so too. But I was just so glad she recovered her health :)
Reversely, I think spawning may affect their health too. To tell the
truth, the other female is not fine. She lost weight and got skinny
several months ago, and has not been regaining her original rounder
shape. She's now living seperately from her partner. I don't think
spawning itself harmed her health, but I think some other incidental
things such as males excited acts are affecting.

>Sometimes I think that Adam and Eve don't spawn anymore. I don't see
>the courtship behavoir at that time. Probably because I don't look at
>the right time. When I think that they have stopped I keep a closer
>watch for a while. When I do that everytime I see the courtship
>behavoir again. I have to mention that I have stopped collecting the
>eggs. I am trying to raise the fry that I have now (8). I couldn't find
>the time anymore. I will try to raise fry again in the future.

Don't you find they usually perform the courtship at early evening, I
mean, between around 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.? I used to see it at such a time
of evening.

>Well, I don't know if they do it every season. I only have them since
>may. The future will tell if they keep on doing it this winter and
>spring.

Sorry. But I think it's entirely possible at least in a captivity.

>Do you also have different colored females? It would be great if we
>could get some more answers on this.

Both of my two females has black spots though lighting might be
affecting..

http://www.rr.iij4u.or.jp/~kohda/puffer/images/puffer-086.jpg
She has big spots and no small dots. She changes the colour of her back
>from vivid yellow to light brown to non-clear brown.

http://www.rr.iij4u.or.jp/~kohda/puffer/images/puffer-088.jpg
She has relatively small spots and plenty of small dots. The colour of
her back changes non-clear gold to light brown to non-clear brown.

I've once thought the secound female might be a Carinotetraodon
imitator, but I'm not sure so far.

>At what temperature do you keep them? Do you have any saltinty in your
>tank? What kind of plants, decoration do you have in you tank?

Temperature is between 27 degrees C (spring-winter-fall) and 31 degrees
C (summer). I've never put salts in thier tanks, totally freshwater.
About plants, sorry, I don't know English name of my plants except
Anubius nana. Not much decorations are there. You can see photos of my
tank in the 'tank' page of my homepage:
http://www.rr.iij4u.or.jp/~kohda/en-index.htm
These were taken last year, but nealy the same even now.

Later,
Ren

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Petra,

>Sorry it took so long for me to reply, but I am having some problems sending /
receiving
>e-mails.

No problem. And if you have a problem with Micro$oft's mail software, (I
don't know much about the software) but the following link might be
something help :
http://search.support.microsoft.com/kb/

>I have seen them do it all throught the day, mostly in sessions. Eve
>let's Adam get closer, they snuggle up for a while and then she doesn't
>want to be near Adam. Later they will start again. Sometimes they 'rest'
>for a few minutes, sometimes a few hours. I havn't seen in much in the
>early morning or late evening.

Thanks for the info!

> I have Adam and Eve in the community tank. This tank is a little
>brackish (not more than 1.005).

How about plants in the tank? One reason that I don't put any salt in
my tank is because I worry if my plants get molten. And I believe dwarf
puffers' tank need to be much planted or decorated for preventing thier
fights. But maybe 1.005 or less is no problem for plants and an
effective prevention of puffer's sick?

>How old is the fry from last year? Are they already spawning or do they
>have signs?

They (6 puffers) are about 12-months old, and I can say some of them
already are adults because some of them have the black line on the
bellies and have wrinkles behind the eye. They all are as the same size
(or bigger) as ones sold around here, so I think ones sold in shops at
least around here are 1-year old ones or younger. They (mine) all are so
much plumpper than ones sold around here, but for now, they have not
been showing the courtship behaviour yet. I'm wondering if I should
introduce ones has other bloods because some of mine certainly are
brothers or sisters, but I can't so far. 3 of them have the line and the
wrinkles, so they definitely are males. 2 of them does not have those
features, females. And the smallest one have the wrinkles, but don't
have the line. I guess the one will get showing the line as he grows a
bit more.

Later,
Ren

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd question: My puffs are about 3 motnhs old. None of them have
>stripes. Does that mean they're all females or is it too early to
>tell?

Yes, I think it's a bit early to tell. My male dwarf puffers got the
stripe on belly when they are about a half year old.
By the way, how did you know they are 3 months old?

Ren

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Petra,

>I notice that they are not really friendly to each other. It seems that
>every little puffers has his own territorium in the tank and will chase
>others away from there. They can't really stand being close to each
>other. They are now about 3 months old, but I see this behavior for some
>time now. I can see nothing yet that can tell if they are male or female.
>Will this behavoir get worse as they get more mature;
>keep male and female apart in the future; can same gender stay together
>or will they fight.

All of my dwarf puffers do the behaviour, swimming quickly toward the
others. Matured ones do, younger fry do too. That's not a problem as you
know.

But keeping matured males together may cause a 'violent' fight. I saw
the male's violent fight before. One bit the other violently.
Fortunately, the male bitten by the other seemed not to have a big
problem but just only a slight injury, but maybe the fight can be a
death match.

I lost two females until now. Both females died due to an attack by
male. Either cases happened when I was keeping 1 male and 2 females
together in a tank and they were in the spawning period, males were very
aggresive. So, I think it's possible that a dwarf puffer's male kill
females being in the same tank when they matured.

Among females, I haven't seen/heard any serious fight or attack.

Only from my experience, I should recommend you to keep males apart from
other males and keep only one female together at a male when they
matured. But on the other hand, some people on my message board have
been keeping over 10 dwarf puffers together. If you keep many dwarf
puffers together, they might be not able to attack or fight because
maybe they can't concentrate to one's 'target' or give up one's
territory?..., I don't know the reason... Well, well, I hope this would
not get you confused :), but I think the best male-female conbination
and the best number is depending on many factors even thier
indivisualities.

Ren

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi everyone,

A bit late to tell, but I unfortunately lost my female dwarf puffer
which was thin though I was getting helpful informations and
encouragements from you folks. When I got home from 1 week trip, she was
not in the tank. I looked for everywhere in the tank and around the tank,
but finally she wasn't found. I was a bit ready for the result, but had
a hope she survives even in no care for a week. She was one of my first
puffers.

I hope David's mbu will get well soon.

Ren

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi everyone,

I found an article about dwarf puffers in a Japanese website. It is
described in English :
http://www.aquajapan.com/colum/outside/000001/000008.html

I had an oppotunity to mail to the author these days, and I got an reply
>from him. I was surprised at the range of temperatures in their habitat,
so I quote the part of his mail :

----
The habitat is subject to slight variation only in terms of temperature. I
have observed a temperature range of 18- 36 degrees celsius. Between
November to March the temperature can vary between 18-34 and the rest of the
months from 22-36 degrees.
----

Maybe he is talking about the atmospheric temperature, but I beleive the
water temperature can be the similar range. I was surprised at the lower
side (18 degrees C!!). I think a heater might be not needed for dwarf
puffer's tank though I'm not going to remove it.

FYI

Ren

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rainbowsky,

>1. How many eggs are usually produced in each "batch?"

In case of mine, I can't say it exactly enough. I used to get the eggs
mainly by vacuuming gravel of the tank, and I didn't it every day. I got
1 egg one day, 15 eggs the other day. I didn't count the number of all
eggs I got within one breeding period, but the number of eggs in the
first period (the last year) and the second period (this year) was
definitely different. In the very rough estimation including my guess,
the first = 200~300 and the second = 20~30.

>2. How many of those eggs become baby dwarfs, on average?

If the above assumption can be allowed, I raised only below 1/20 of them.
I raised 6 of the first period ones to adulthood and now raising only 1
of the second period ones. Don't take it as 'average'. This results are
just from lack of my experience in this hobby.

>3. What do you do with the babies when they have reached adulthood(do
>you sell them, put them in with their parents, or what?)

I'm keeping my last-year-born dwarf puffers in thier own tank,
this-year-born fry are his own tank too. The parents also have thier own
tank. If I had very successful breeding and had many, I had to adopt
some out.

Ren

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yesterday, I found eggs in my last-year-born-dwarf-puffer's tank. All
the puffers in the tank are about one year old, so they matured enough
to spawn in one year.

Ren

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks Petra,

I'm going to be careful all the things. I saw the spawning itself before
I found eggs. They are doing the spawning behaviour everyday. This time
there are 2 plumpy females and 2 relatively larger males and 2 smaller
males in the tank. I see 2 or 3 males are doing the stalking at 1 female
at once. That's so funny to see :)

Ren

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

- move a pair (on your guess) to another tank to avoid male-vs.-male
serious fight and male-to-female attack.

- or, plant more plants or put more decolations in to provide more
hiding places.

- put vacuumed water in small container as you do water change, look
into the water carefully and you might find eggs!

That's from my experience on dwarf puffer.

Ren

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Petra,

>I was just curious how everything is going with your 3rd generation. Is
>everything going well? Are there any fry yet?

They hatched about a week or two ago and started to eat baby brine
shrimp. This time, their tank is a jungle of willow moss, so I can't
observe well. But maybe they are ok.

>I find that most of my fry of this year is hiding a lot and doesn't
>swing around much. Is this normal behavior and will they swim more
>around when they are older? Would appriciate your thoughts on this
>matter.

Do you have any idea of stress matters? pH change, temperature change,
other water conditions, larger rearrange of decorations, etc etc. Mine
was inactive after a big rearrange.

I'm not sure this can be associated with your anxiety, but I'm feeling
my 2nd generation dwarf puffers are a bit less aggresive as compared to
my 1st generations (probably wild ones). I suppose that it might be a
characteristic of captivity-bred ones.

Ren

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi,

>feed babys? If anyone could contact Ren and forward this message

I've been lurking for long time...,

>the breeding tank where to put the eggs and hatch it, what kind of
>filteration system, heater and anything else needed? Also what to
>feed babys? If anyone could contact Ren and forward this message

I used sponge buble-up filter for my breeding tank, but any other kinds
which does not suck fry can be used. And if you can, putting large
amount of plants is good for the filteration. Heater is a must. I found
young fry dead on a heater. So I beleive it's possible they can't feel
the heat-up and dies by burning. Setting your heater virtically is a
idea to prevent that.

Fry just after hatched can't eats any normal foods due to the size. Maybe
first they consumes nutrition in thier own yolk-sac, and then they
eats very small creatures in the tank. All(?) of my fry survived this
no-normal-food period. But if you find fry seems to starve, you can try
to culture paramecia as fry food. You can find Manuela's message
explains details of culturing paramecia in the archive.
After 5 days or so, they becomes to eat brineshrimp.
After a month, they becomes to eat tiny pieces of bloodworms and snail
babies. Of course that's just from my experience. I think these timings
are depending on how much they ate and grew in the period...

If you don't mind the looks of your fry's tanks, I think it's the best
to put large amount of moss in the tanks. That's good for keeping good
water conditions. for raising tiny creatures (foods!) natually, and as a
shield which prevent fry from fighting each other.

My dwarf puffers have not bread after my last message. But 3 baby dwarf
puffers lives in my moss-ful tank. They are doing well.

Good luck,
Ren

P.S.
>because I can't seem to contact him because of some error of somesort.
Sorry, my home page once disappeared due to a machine trouble of my
provider. I uploaded the whole of them again. Thanks

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And I recently found my dwarfs do eat a tiny grain of an smaller orange.
I believe feeding it occasionally is a good idea also for all other
puffers to prevent a lack of vitamin C or other nutritions.

Ren

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shannon,

Thank you for your time for my unexpected question. That was just a
curiosity to me (just a hopeless aquarist)...

May I boast? I found a "star" on the back of my puffer!!
http://www.rr.iij4u.or.jp/~kohda/images/puffer-105.jpg
She might bring something lucky... hehehe :)

Thanks,

Ren
Japan

Native Plants/Biotope

The following is a list of aquarium plants that are native to the India/Sri Lanka region, which is the homeland of Dwarf Puffers.  The purpose of this list is to help someone design a Dwarf Puffer habitat using vegetation that would be found in their native areas.  This list is not by any means complete, but it may provide helpful guidelines for planting your Dwarf Puffer tank.  Please note that the light requirements listed are only the optimum lighting levels for the plants....  most of them will do just fine at lower intensities, they just may not reach their full potential.  The light requirement is shown as "Watts Per Gallon" or "wpg".  Click on the Scientific Name of each plant to see a photo:

Scientific Name	Common Name	Light Requirement	Difficulty
Aponogeton crispus	Crinkled or Ruffled Aponogeton	3.0 wpg	Easy/Medium
Aponogeton ulvaceus	Compact Aponogeton	2.0 - 3.0 wpg	Medium/Challenging
Aponogeton undulatus		2.0 - 3.0 wpg	Easy/Moderate
Cryptocoryne beckettii	Beckett's Cryptocoryne	2.0 - 3.0 wpg	Easy/Medium
Cryptocoryne walkeri var. lutea		1.0+ wpg	Easy
Cryptocoryne parva	Tiny Cryptocoryne	4.0 wpg	Challenging
Cryptocoryne undulata	Undulate Cryptocoryne	3.0+ wpg	Medium/Challenging
Cryptocoryne wendtii	Crypt Wendtii	2.0 - 3.0 wpg	Easy/Medium
Cryptocoryne willisii		3.0 wpg	Easy/Medium
Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides		3.0+ wpg	Easy/Medium
Hygrophila corymbosa	Giant Hygrophila	2.0 - 3.0 wpg	Easy
Hygrophila difformis	Water Wysteria	3.0+ wpg	Medium
Hygrophila polysperma	Dwarf Hygrophila	3.0 wpg	Easy
Limnophila aquatica	Giant Ambulia	3.0+ wpg	Medium/Challenging
Limnophila sessiliflora	Dwarf Ambulia	3.0+ wpg	Easy
Microsorium pteropus	Java Fern	1.0+ wpg	Easy
Nymphaea lotus	Tiger Lotus	3.0 wpg	Medium/Challenging
Nymphaea stellata	Red and Blue Water Lily	3.0+ wpg	Medium
Rotala indica		3.0 wpg	Medium
Rotala macrandra	Giant Red Rotala	3.0+ wpg	Challenging/Difficult
Rotala rotundifolia	Dwarf rotala	3.0 wpg	Medium
Salvinia natans	Salvinia	3.0 wpg	Medium
Vallisneria tortifolia	Twisted Vallisneria/Dwarf Vallisneria	3.0 wpg	Easy
Vesicularia dubyana	Java Moss	1.0+ wpg	Easy

 

Biotope

For those of you who would like to take it one step further and create an actual Dwarf Puffer Biotope, the following article may be helpful to you:

Southeast Asia Back-Water By: Robert Paul H. Southeast Asia is home to many of the fish which are in most demand by hobbyists today. The backwaters of southeast Asia are both slow moving and thick with vegetation. Both above and below the waterline live many ferns and bamboo. The streams are packed with organic matter and stained brown by the iron rich red rocks that cover the bottom. You can  recreate this environment with the following guidelines: PH: 6.0 to 6.5 Hardness: 100mg/liter CaCO3 Temp: 75 to 79 degrees Plants: Bamboo Plant, Blyxa japonica Giant Hygrophia, Nomaphila stricta Recommended lighting: 3 watts per gallon of water  Substrate: laterite sand red gravel multi colored stones pebbles Suitable Fish: Tiger Barb, Barbus tetrazona Siamese Fighting Fish, Betta splendens Clown Loach, Botia macracantha Zebra Danio, Brachydanio rerio Honey Gourami, Colisa chuna Dwarf Gourami, Colisa lalia Pearl Gourami, Trichogaster leeri Paradise Fish, Macropodus opercularis Red Tailed Black Shark, Labeo bicolor (Dwarf Puffers!!) The bottom layer of the substrate should contain iron rich laterite for the plant growth, topped with a mixture of sand and red gravel accented with larger stones and pebbles. Seachem's Flourite is a red clay gravel very suitable for this. To make things more interesting you can alternate to have some exposed areas of sand as well as gravel or rock, however the overall look of the substrate surface should be dark with a lot of red color. Broken pieces of red clay flower pots also make a nice accent. The over all look you are striving for is tall, bushy plants in the background and sides, and a rocky foreground. This simulates the plants growing close to shore while the outer areas are littered with rocks.

 

(For more information on planted tanks, please visit: http://www.plantedtank.net/)