Pea Puffers. The grumpy old men of the fish tank.

[Rick Bunn]

19 hours ago, Dipink said:

Okay, I have a 7 gallon planted cube, with 6 pygmy cories, 1 juvenile pea puffer, and several snails, intentional and unintentional.  I was debating about whether I should have another pea puffer in there, because it is tiny and seems like there is room for more, but I was told by the place where I got her that I shouldn't put another one in there.  She spends a fair amount of time surfing in the outwash from the sponge filter, also some glass surfing, and I was worried that she is not having enough enrichment (can hunt all the snails she wants, ignores the corries.  I'm stuffing a few more plants in there for cover, but should I get another puffer to be social with?  It's a new tank, so I want to be careful about stocking, I did actually put more fish in it sooner than I would have liked, but it seems to have settled down now, no ammonia no nitrite.

In a 7 gallon personally I would not add another one. I wouldn't be worried so much about water quality in a heavily planted tank, what would worry me is the available space to spread out and get away from each other when they decide they just need  a few minutes to themselves. If you do add another I would recommend having a backup plan if things get violent, so you have some place to move one quickly.

Please let me know how it goes if you do add another.

[Rick Bunn]

On 12/2/2020 at 11:31 AM, teenage fish said:

So can you keep more than one male? Or is that a big no no 😂

I really would not recommend it unless you have a very large tank for them and are keeping them in large groups with multiple males, so it is not a one on one battle constantly.  They would have to have ample room to spread out and each male establish its own territory. Could it work? possibly. But it could just as easily become a total blood bath.

[SardineRN]

Thank you for starting this topic. I have always read and heard peas are aggressive fish that need to be kept alone. I've often thought my girl, Beatrix Puffer, is bored. I think I'll try her in one of my community tanks and see how she does. Unfortunately, peas are hard to source right now or I'd be buying more.

[Duncans and Sons]

Is the Easy Green okay to use with them??

 

[Sandy]

13 minutes ago, Duncans and Sons said:

Is the Easy Green okay to use with 

Yes. I use Easy Green in my puffer tank.

[Marnol D]

@Rick Bunn wait can they eat guppy fry? this is a game changer i need about 20 of them now.

[Jdogtrainer]

12 minutes ago, Marnol D said:

@Rick Bunn wait can they eat guppy fry? this is a game changer i need about 20 of them now.

Ours do not eat guppy fry...i tried.

[Marnol D]

@Jdogtrainer Welp now i only need 4 more of them then. My bala sharks nor my other guppies will eat fry for some reason (i guess i feed them to good) the only fish i had that would eat fry like it was their last meal was swordtails but i have since given all those away as i didnt enjoy them. 

[Rick Bunn]

23 minutes ago, Marnol D said:

@Rick Bunn wait can they eat guppy fry? this is a game changer i need about 20 of them now.

I have a couple that will definitely eat guppy fry, and others that won't even look at them.

[Larrimore]

Crap...after this thread, I've got to go buy another tank🤪

[JettsPapa]

10 hours ago, Larrimore said:

Crap...after this thread, I've got to go buy another tank🤪

I would if I could find a place to put it.

[Rick Bunn]

5 hours ago, JettsPapa said:

I would if I could find a place to put it.

You could always make a rack over the one end of the bathtub, Makes it convenient for water changes and you can enjoy your tank while you stand in the shower.....lol 

[JettsPapa]

1 hour ago, Rick Bunn said:

You could always make a rack over the one end of the bathtub, Makes it convenient for water changes and you can enjoy your tank while you stand in the shower.....lol 

 

Maybe if I had a bathtub, but I don't.  Nothing but shower stalls in my house.  I guess I could put a tank in the shower, but I don't know how I'd keep soap out of it.

Edited December 11, 2020 by JettsPapa

[SardineRN]

On 12/10/2020 at 8:54 PM, Marnol D said:

@Rick Bunn wait can they eat guppy fry? this is a game changer i need about 20 of them now.

My angelfish do a great job of controlling the molly population. A week after they've scarfed an entire spawn of mollies they're still patrolling the tank looking for more.

[dublicious]

I've had 2 in a 9gal fluval flex for probably almost 6 months now... After reading the post linked below, I was convinced to move them up to a larger tank and get some friends. I just picked up 6 more, who are the first in the 20L, where they'll quarantine (and maybe grow out some) before I add the 2 I have. According to their stocking recommendations, at ~75L in 20gal, I could have 7.5 puffers, though I've rounded up to 8, in the interest of the last puffer 😄

One of the 2 in the 9 gal is definitely the dominant one, often chasing the other to cover. I think square footprint is not as conducive to line of sight obstruction as the 20L will be. In the 20L I saw all 6 shoaling together, moving single file through a hole in the driftwood. It was one of the cutest things I've ever seen in an aquarium!

There's definitely some light protection of some areas when I put in bbs, but when they're just on the prowl for snails or derping about, they seem to get along fine.

 

Pea Puffer Care Sheet

WWW.PUFFERFISHENTHUSIASTSWORLDWIDE.COM

---

The pea puffer is by far the most commonly kept species of pufferfish, owing to their full grown size of just 2.5cm (0.98 inches). They are very popular among beginner keepers and demand for them has only continued to...

 

Edited December 14, 2020 by dublicious

[SWilson]

I’m a newb and currently obsessively watching/reading fish profiles fantasizing about stocking options while tank cycles and this thread has me interested in dedicating my planted 55 gallon to a species-only (or species-mostly?) pea puffer tank once it’s cycled. I already thought they were adorable! Thanks for all the info! 

Edited December 15, 2020 by SWilson

[dublicious]

15 minutes ago, SWilson said:

I’m a newb and currently obsessively watching/reading fish profiles fantasizing about stocking options while tank cycles and this thread has me interested in dedicating my planets 55 gallon to a species-only (or species-mostly?) pea puffer tank once it’s cycled. I already thought they were adorable! Thanks for all the info! 

That sounds ridiculous (in a good way) and I wanna see it! 😄 

Edited December 15, 2020 by dublicious
clarity

[SardineRN]

Three months after Rick Bunn started this topic I've gone from one puffer in a 5g to eight puffers in a 29g. As of right now they all appear to be female, but that may change as they mature. Turning my lone puffer into a colony has added a whole new dimension to puffer keeping. Watching them group up, explore, rove around like girl gang and then have a spat and split apart is endlessly entertaining. Sometimes I just grab a drink and pull up a chair in front of their tank. This week I added seven neon tetras to their tank after another tank sprang a leak and they're doing well, so far. Highly recommend the puffer colony!

[Lemon]

1 hour ago, SardineRN said:

Three months after Rick Bunn started this topic I've gone from one puffer in a 5g to eight puffers in a 29g. As of right now they all appear to be female, but that may change as they mature. Turning my lone puffer into a colony has added a whole new dimension to puffer keeping. Watching them group up, explore, rove around like girl gang and then have a spat and split apart is endlessly entertaining. Sometimes I just grab a drink and pull up a chair in front of their tank. This week I added seven neon tetras to their tank after another tank sprang a leak and they're doing well, so far. Highly recommend the puffer colony!

video or it didn't happen 😆

[grayabyss]

Hey, this is a SUPER interesting read. I have a 20 Long I want to make into a pea puffer tank, one male and multiple females, and my plan is to have a lot of driftwood and a lot of plants, even if it is just species only. 

I’m currently considering the possibility of making it a community tank. My current thought is having a nice carpet of dwarf sag for snails and potential babies of all species to hide, and kuhli loaches and/or neon tetras in there. I’m a little worried regarding the kuhli loaches and flow, but I could make a real long cave area in the back with a pump to give them that... 

I want to gather opinions, so- what do yall think!

[Jennifer V]

@Linebeck Aquatics in the three months that I've had my puffs -- I have one male and three females in my heavily planted 10g -- I've observed that some are mellow and will tolerate non-puffer additions to the tank, while others are extremely feisty and will either kill any other critters or pick at them until they die. It's kind of a toss up as far as personality types you end up with, so although it can be done, I wouldn't personally recommend a community tank unless you're comfortable taking the gamble and have another tank you can move non puffs to if need be. 

[grayabyss]

29 minutes ago, Jennifer V said:

@Linebeck Aquatics in the three months that I've had my puffs -- I have one male and three females in my heavily planted 10g -- I've observed that some are mellow and will tolerate non-puffer additions to the tank, while others are extremely feisty and will either kill any other critters or pick at them until they die. It's kind of a toss up as far as personality types you end up with, so although it can be done, I wouldn't personally recommend a community tank unless you're comfortable taking the gamble and have another tank you can move non puffs to if need be. 

I do indeed have a spare bin!! I’ll also be putting in all the non-puffers before the pea gang. These guys are just sounding more and more like bettas that can chill with others of the same species the more I learn lol. 

[Rick Bunn]

On 4/30/2021 at 11:07 PM, BIG GREEN said:

Love it, nice set up and the Pea puffers look great. May I ask what are you feeding your pea puffers. The 2 I have in a 10 gallon tank want nothing but ram horn snails and my pop of ram horn is getting low, even though I have another 10 gallon that I raise them in.

BG

I have one male that I have been struggling to get to eat anything other than snails, until just recently, when I discovered a nice population of Daphnia in one of my outdoor tubs. He and all the others, go crazy for them. 

[WaFfLe]

i just setup a 15 tall cube with 4 puffers and 6 lambchops, its still day 3 of the combination and it seems everyone is mostly minding. the only in fighting im starting is between the peas establishing their territories. id like to know by anyone watching's experience, does adding Chichlid caves help?