Dwarf Puffers : Native Plants

Native Plants

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/)