20g Pea Puffer's Paradise

[Duckles]

I set up a tank with an Iwagumi aquascape a few months ago.  Due to FedEx screwing up my order, though, it never got actually planted and then turned solid green.  It wasn't stocked, it only had a few plants in it, and I tore it down and rescaped it.  The new vision is to have a pea puffer tank, but I'm waiting on the pea puffers.  I have one who currently resides in a 6.8g on my nightstand, and as soon as I can find 2 females to go in with him in this 20g, it will truly be a Pea Puffer's Paradise.  Its current inhabitant is a betta named Azumi

Equipment:
Aqueon 20g high
Eheim Jager 100w heater
Tidal 35 filter
Amazon DIY CO2 kit (citric acid & baking soda)

Hardscape:
Spiderwood
Okho Stone (dragonstone)
Fluval Stratum
Estes Stoney River Sand

Plants:
Cabomba Caroliniana
Java Fern
Christmas Moss
Süßwassertang
Anubias Heterophylla
Bolbitis Heudelotii
Bolbitis Heteroclita Difformis (mini)
Bolbitis Heteroclita

We finished scaping and planting it at nearly midnight, so the attached photo is Day 2

[Duckles]

Day 10
Some plants moved around, CO2 injection back up and running correctly.  A little dose of Easy Green.  And greedy betta fed.  Had a bit of a diatom outbreak over the weekend, but that's normal in a new tank so I'm not worried about it.

 

Edited April 20, 2021 by Duckles

[Fish Folk]

7 minutes ago, Duckles said:

I set up a tank with an Iwagumi aquascape a few months ago.  Due to FedEx screwing up my order, though, it never got actually planted and then turned solid green.  It wasn't stocked, it only had a few plants in it, and I tore it down and rescaped it.  The new vision is to have a pea puffer tank, but I'm waiting on the pea puffers.  I have one who currently resides in a 6.8g on my nightstand, and as soon as I can find 2 females to go in with him in this 20g, it will truly be a Pea Puffer's Paradise.  Its current inhabitant is a betta named Azumi

Equipment:
Aqueon 20g high
Eheim Jager 100w heater
Tidal 35 filter
Amazon DIY CO2 kit (citric acid & baking soda)

Hardscape:
Spiderwood
Okho Stone (dragonstone)
Fluval Stratum
Estes Stoney River Sand

Plants:
Cabomba Caroliniana
Java Fern
Christmas Moss
Süßwassertang
Anubias Heterophylla
Bolbitis Heudelotii
Bolbitis Heteroclita Difformis (mini)
Bolbitis Heteroclita

We finished scaping and planting it at nearly midnight, so the attached photo is Day 2

Love it! Hardscape is really lively. The puffers will like it too no doubt. You might consider adding a flat black backing. We like the Elmer’s sturdy foam board from WalMart, cut to fit between the rims. It makes the plants “pop” and gives fish a calming side to back up against.

[Isaac M]

Love the color of the hardscape, cannot wait to see it with the pea puffers and the plants grown in! 

[Duckles]

Just called the local fish store and they said they got their order of Pea Puffers in today, but haven't sexed them.  Dad drove down there to see if they have 2 females since I won't have time after work today.

Cross your fingers for me!  Pea Puffer's Paradise may be coming together finally!

[Patrick_G]

The scape looks great and it looks like the plants are growing well. Beautiful job! Post some video of the puffers when they arrive.

[Duckles]

And I may have a problem.  Dad went to the store and they had one female.  Dad got her.  That now means I have one male and one female to go into a 20 gallon.  I've always heard that you want 2 females to do a trio so that one doesn't get harassed literally to death, so I'm a bit worried now.

If I introduce them both tonight at the same time, do you think I'm going to have to worry about aggression between the two of them or the male just harassing her to death?

Would dither fish help?  And what would you recommend?

[Pete]

No way to know without trying it. I'd introduce them and keep an eye on 'em, just like you'd do if you were introducing a new dog or cat to the existing pets at your home. 

[Patrick_G]

You can also try adding some Hippies (Amano shrimp) for them to chase off the lawn! 

[Duckles]

Well my problem may actually be a different problem than I thought.  After getting the puffer from dad's house and getting home, I don't see the "random spots" that a female should have.  Definitely looks like (s)he has the crease behind the eye.  I think I have 2 males.  The new one is a lighter color, but I think that's just stress.

That might actually be better to have 2 males in a 20g than a pair.  Time will tell.  Right now they're swimming around nicely exploring their new tank.  Both got introduced to this 20g at the same time so nobody has a territory carved out  yet.

[Duckles]

First morning together and things are looking good.  They were out swimming around in the open together when I woke up and looked in at them.  The lights came up and they weren't spooked... still exploring the place side by side.  I gave them a little block of frozen bloodworms and they ate well... no aggression.

I also found two ramshorn snail egg sacks on the glass.  I guess I forgot about the snails I put in there last week to snack on the biofilm that formed on the wood.  At least they'll be fed....

Edited April 22, 2021 by Duckles

[Duckles]

Well I'm back to thinking that IS a female, even though I can't see the spots that you're supposed to use in sexing them.  She's definitely rounder than he is, and he is following her around like a lost puppy dog.  He's not nipping or being aggressive, but he's tagging along.  They ate frozen bloodworms this morning and seem to be getting along well, so that's reassuring.  

Tank is a tiny bit cloudy in a way that looks like a bacterial bloom, but there's no ammonia or nitrite levels showing up.  I think puffers are just much higher bioload than the betta that was in there before and the bacteria is expanding to compensate.  Or it's the early stages of an algae bloom and I'm gonna have a mess to clean up when I get home.  Hopefully it's the former.

[Duckles]

Got back from vacation on Sunday evening and the water was green.  I threw a UV sterilizer in it to knock down some of the algae, so now it's just cloudy.  The puffs are getting along well and follow each other around a lot. They're letting their food take over the tank though, as I now have at least 4 rams horn snails just chilling and wandering around the tank.

I decided to put my camera on the tank and stream it on Twitch so I can show off the puffs to my co-workers today, if anyone else is interested in watching them.
 

 

[Isaac M]

Good to hear the pea puffers are doing well. I imagine the snails will not be lasting too much longer once they get a taste for them. The cloudiness definitely does not look like greenwater, at least not in the livestream, it looks a lot more like a bacteria bloom. 

[Duckles]

42 minutes ago, Isaac M said:

Good to hear the pea puffers are doing well. I imagine the snails will not be lasting too much longer once they get a taste for them. The cloudiness definitely does not look like greenwater, at least not in the livestream, it looks a lot more like a bacteria bloom. 

That just means the UV clarifier I stuck in off to the left of the camera shot is doing its job.  It was definitely green last night.

If you see the light reflections to the side too, I'm ordering some blackout curtains from Amazon right now.  This is the fight I had with this tank before I re-scaped it for the puffs... big algae bloom.  I think I'm getting too much light leakage from the window in addition to the light I'm throwing at it.  Worst case scenario, I still have algae bloom but get a better view with no reflections on the camera

 

[Isaac M]

I see, I think that is likely the culprit and a good solution. I imagine that should be enough to not have greenwater anymore.