Pea Puffer or Betta?

[FrozenFins]

Hey,

Should I do a pea puffer or a betta?

are there any tank mates for pea puffers in a 5gallon??

[Lizzie Block]

Pea puffer in a 5 gallon? nah probably no tank mates. Betta in a 5 gallon? probably can have tank mates like snails / shrimp or something small and not flashy

I vote Betta.

[RovingGinger]

I have done both in a 5-6g (not together, at different times) and find the betta to be a lot more outgoing. My puffer mostly hid. He is cowardly, whereas I think the betta believes he could take me in a fair fight.

I think I had 1-2 amano shrimp in with the puffer as his messy eating habits and lack of snails made the tank a mess.  I wouldn’t really have tried another fish in there, but in a larger tank he does fine with other fish. 

[FrostiesFishes]

I keep a betta in a 5 gallon with 3 concolor corydoras. And my betta could care less about the corydoras. 

[FrozenFins]

1 hour ago, Lizzie Block said:

Pea puffer in a 5 gallon? nah probably no tank mates. Betta in a 5 gallon? probably can have tank mates like snails / shrimp or something small and not flashy

I vote Betta.

 

1 hour ago, RovingGinger said:

I have done both in a 5-6g (not together, at different times) and find the betta to be a lot more outgoing. My puffer mostly hid. He is cowardly, whereas I think the betta believes he could take me in a fair fight.

I think I had 1-2 amano shrimp in with the puffer as his messy eating habits and lack of snails made the tank a mess.  I wouldn’t really have tried another fish in there, but in a larger tank he does fine with other fish. 

 

1 hour ago, FrostiesFishes said:

I keep a betta in a 5 gallon with 3 concolor corydoras. And my betta could care less about the corydoras. 

Do you guys think i could do neon tetrad with my betta in a 5gallon?

[ange]

I really don't recommend them with bettas unless it's at least a medium sized school. Neons are very active and commonly fin nip, especially in smaller groups. A similar sized alternative is ember tetras or brigittae rasboras.

[Lizzie Block]

If it's only 5 gallons, I would probably go like peaceful bottom dwellers or maybe inverts. Way more options if you go bigger and depending on the betta.. 

[tolstoy21]

On 11/3/2020 at 6:56 PM, James Black said:

Hey,

Should I do a pea puffer or a betta?

are there any tank mates for pea puffers in a 5gallon??

I had a pea puffer in a 5 gallon for about 2 1/2 years. Don't recommend it.

Why?

Because it could have no tank mates (and I tried), so the tank required more maintenance for algae and what not. I spent more time on that aquarium than any other.

Also because mine would only eat live/frozen food, and it wouldn't eat food once it hit the substrate. So I either had to raise food for it (snails and adult brine shrimp), or dangle frozen blood worms from a pair of aquascaping tweezers, one at a time, for it to take them. Basically I was hand-feeding it. That got old fast.

The fish was also very skittish and often got spooked by any movement and would jump. And yes it had places to hide and what not in the tank to try to make it fee secure. It got this way over time for some reason, and that got worse.  I didn't have a lid for the tank, so I put floating plants in there to act as a lid, to make the puffer feel more secure, and to help control algae. Then one day it jumped up between  through a small gap between two pieces of water lettuce and got stranded on top of the plant. No more pea puffer.

Not a fish I'd keep again. Just my experience. I'm sure people love them. But not for me.

Edited November 5, 2020 by tolstoy21