Zac Posted November 11, 2021 Share Posted November 11, 2021 I’m thinking of getting a pea puffer for my last fish in my 29 gallon. I have 5 lemon tetras, 8 ember tetras, 7 king blue tetras, 4 Pygmy corys, a clown pleco, and a cockatoo cichlid. It’s a decently decorated tank with a heavily planted side and then a bit more of an open side. I know they won’t bother the tetras but what about the cichlid? Also, how can I make sure he gets food from the faster moving fish? I was thinking of feeding flake food first to the other fish and then throwing in a little bit of brine shrimp or blood worms after for the puffer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JettsPapa Posted November 11, 2021 Share Posted November 11, 2021 My experience with pea puffers is limited to two of them that were given to me six months or so ago that I put in my similarly planted 40 gallon breeder tank, with pearl gouramis, serpae tetras, pristella tetras, and Corydoras trilineatus. I feed blood worms occasionally. One of them will eat one occasionally, and the other one never has. They both seem healthy, but since half of the tank is a mass of guppy grass that's loaded with snails and shrimp I assume they get plenty to eat. I haven't noticed mine bother any of the other fish at all, but I understand that they often do. Apparently they're similar to bettas and some species of gouramis; some will tolerate tank mates just fine and others will kill anything else in the tank. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leo2o915 Posted November 11, 2021 Share Posted November 11, 2021 On 11/11/2021 at 7:58 AM, Zac said: I’m thinking of getting a pea puffer for my last fish in my 29 gallon. I have 5 lemon tetras, 8 ember tetras, 7 king blue tetras, 4 Pygmy corys, a clown pleco, and a cockatoo cichlid. It’s a decently decorated tank with a heavily planted side and then a bit more of an open side. I know they won’t bother the tetras but what about the cichlid? Also, how can I make sure he gets food from the faster moving fish? I was thinking of feeding flake food first to the other fish and then throwing in a little bit of brine shrimp or blood worms after for the puffer. If it’s heavily planted you should be good but they are predators if you have shrimp and snails it will eat them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zac Posted November 11, 2021 Author Share Posted November 11, 2021 On 11/11/2021 at 3:22 PM, Leo2o915 said: If it’s heavily planted you should be good but they are predators if you have shrimp and snails it will eat them Yeah I have a quarantine tank with shrimp in it so I might have to skip quarantine. They’re fake plants too but I’m slowly exchanging them with live plants. I just want to make sure the fast fish don’t out compete it for food and that it won’t nip at my cichlid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leo2o915 Posted November 11, 2021 Share Posted November 11, 2021 On 11/11/2021 at 1:31 PM, Zac said: Yeah I have a quarantine tank with shrimp in it so I might have to skip quarantine. They’re fake plants too but I’m slowly exchanging them with live plants. I just want to make sure the fast fish don’t out compete it for food and that it won’t nip at my cichlid Do you have snails in that tank ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zac Posted November 11, 2021 Author Share Posted November 11, 2021 On 11/11/2021 at 4:34 PM, Leo2o915 said: Do you have snails in that tank ? Nope no snails. My main concern is that they will overpopulate. Are there species that a puffer could keep in check? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leo2o915 Posted November 11, 2021 Share Posted November 11, 2021 On 11/11/2021 at 1:42 PM, Zac said: Nope no snails. My main concern is that they will overpopulate. Are there species that a puffer could keep in check? Pretty much any snail they would go to town go with either pond or Ramshorn 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zac Posted November 12, 2021 Author Share Posted November 12, 2021 On 11/11/2021 at 6:45 PM, Leo2o915 said: Pretty much any snail they would go to town go with either pond or Ramshorn Cool. This is my setup. Would this be okay for 1 puffer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leo2o915 Posted November 12, 2021 Share Posted November 12, 2021 On 11/11/2021 at 6:59 PM, Zac said: Cool. This is my setup. Would this be okay for 1 puffer? Yeah should be good like I said puffers are different you don’t know How he would act 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted November 12, 2021 Share Posted November 12, 2021 I would setup a 5 gallon tank to keep a snail colony going with bladder snails or Ramshorns so you have a ready supply of food on hand before getting your pea puffers 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer V Posted November 13, 2021 Share Posted November 13, 2021 On 11/11/2021 at 9:37 PM, Colu said: I would setup a 5 gallon tank to keep a snail colony going with bladder snails or Ramshorns so you have a ready supply of food on hand before getting your pea puffers Excellent idea! I did exactly that for my puffers. @Zac pea puffers are tricky little fish with a great deal of requirements to keep them happy and healthy. There is a Facebook group called Pea Puffer Enthusiasts Worldwide that I would check out before you get yours. It's extremely helpful and will give you everything you need to know to keep them. I wish I had known about it before I got my sweet little puffies because I've made a lot of mistakes that could've been avoided had I found the group sooner. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eatyourpeas Posted November 13, 2021 Share Posted November 13, 2021 On 11/11/2021 at 3:45 PM, Leo2o915 said: Pretty much any snail they would go to town go with either pond or Ramshorn Having snails will ensure the pea puffer gets his meal without anyone else fighting for it. 🐡 Mine won't eat any frozen food, only live food. Be prepared, they can be picky eaters. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odd Duck Posted November 13, 2021 Share Posted November 13, 2021 Ah, pea puffers! I love them and they make me crazy! I’m not a big fan of keeping them solitary. They are a shoaling species, so a group seems to be best for their mental health and stability. Check my signature link for Bad Pea Daddy’s story. It absolutely is possible to keep them as solitary peas, but you never know if you’re going to get one that will be OK with other fish, or not. They are well known for nipping other fish and it’s been documented that other fish in the wild with them will have puffer nips out of their fins and bits of fish fin have been documented from their stomachs (I wish I had saved a link to that study!). So, you’re definitely taking your chances and need to have a back up plan if you decide to try a solitary puffer. If you decide to get a puffer, you really need to at least have a bladder and/or ramshorn culture(s) going strong first! Or steady availability of other live foods. A constant diet of only frozen blood worms is a guaranteed slow, lingering death. Most adore whiteworms, blackworms, Daphnia/Moina, or other live foods. They’ll do best with a good variety of live foods. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra the fish rookie Posted November 16, 2021 Share Posted November 16, 2021 For my pea puffer (Gazoo), I have a 2.5 gallon just for snails.. it has a sponge filter and little heater and some live plants. Its lovingly known as "Gazoo's lunch box" 🙂. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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