interested in getting a pea puffer-looking for more concrete info

[marionmaymay]

I've given some consideration of getting a 5 gallon for a single pea puffer. I just adore them and been wanting now for a while. I do have a 10 gallon community tank but I'm not risking putting one of those in with the honey gouramis and the platies.

anyway, I now seem to be finding conflicting information online regarding good pea puffer care. what I was finding initially when I first looked into getting a pea puffer was that one in a 5 gallon would be fine, but now I'm noticing some sources of information state that they should be in groups of minimum of 3-5(?) I also initially read that they only eat frozen and live foods, especially snails and bloodworms. while the snails is very consistent and a given, I recently read that bloodworms can actually be rather unhealthy for them and make them sick?

can anybody provide solid information as to the best possible type of care they should receive as far as diet and tank environment? 

anything is much appreciated! thank you!

 

 

[H.K.Luterman]

From what I've read, juvenile pea puffers shoal in groups, and then once mature, the males typically go off and stake out a territory alone. But like you said, there's conflicting information and you get a lot of personal opinions on the internet (and I'm certainly no pea puffer expert, I only have my experience with my one to go from). I've kept a solo male in a 5 gallon for 3 years now. I made a lot of nooks and crannies for him to explore, and he has live plants for cover. Mine is fed almost exclusively snails from my other tanks, though sometimes I'll catch mosquito larvae for him in the warmer months. I've never heard of bloodworms making a pea puffer sick, though I have heard of the regular sized ones being too big for them to eat; I did try giving mine a worm or two off a frozen block when he was younger, and I had to cut them up for him. 

[marionmaymay]

9 minutes ago, H.K.Luterman said:

From what I've read, juvenile pea puffers shoal in groups, and then once mature, the males typically go off and stake out a territory alone. But like you said, there's conflicting information and you get a lot of personal opinions on the internet (and I'm certainly no pea puffer expert, I only have my experience with my one to go from). I've kept a solo male in a 5 gallon for 3 years now. I made a lot of nooks and crannies for him to explore, and he has live plants for cover. Mine is fed almost exclusively snails from my other tanks, though sometimes I'll catch mosquito larvae for him in the warmer months. I've never heard of bloodworms making a pea puffer sick, though I have heard of the regular sized ones being too big for them to eat; I did try giving mine a worm or two off a frozen block when he was younger, and I had to cut them up for him. 

what is the difference between "shoaling" and "schooling"?

[Sandra the fish rookie]

I just got a Pea Puffer about a week ago. I purchased a 5 gallon just for one, knowing I would only have one, and that they are fin nippers. I give him blood worms, as currently don't have any pest snails to give him yet. He is large enough for me to sex him, he has the very obvious dark straight line down his belly. 

I have a lot of plants, and just added a few more, and some rocks, wood etc. for him to zoom around in. Initially he was nervous, and stayed in the back of the tank. Over the weekend, he is really coming out and when I go visit him he comes right to the front of the tank to see me.

I tried to give him some frozen brine shrimp.. but he was not a fan, but the blood worms he enjoys. I found that if I leave them a bit frozen (I do cut a bit off a cube because he is only 1 little dude), as they thaw and drop, he likes to hunt them. 

I feel once you have one.. you can't be without one. Like Corydora cat fish.. GOTTA HAVE EM! 

I am no pea puffer expert whatsoever, and come to the forum for everything fish related. Like you, I saw one in a LFS and I was hooked. Had to get one. 

[FrozenFins]

6 minutes ago, marionmaymay said:

what is the difference between "shoaling" and "schooling"?

Shoaling is like loose schooling. Fish that enjoy eachothers company.

 

Feeding frozen blood worms every day can be bad for any fish. This is just because they are so fatty, and can be hard to digest. if feeding him blood worms once or twice a week, you should be fine. A cheap option to feeding him is starting a snail colony or shrimp colony in one of your other tanks, and feed him the babys. Others have also succesfully fed Hikari Vibra Bites to their pea puffer.

[Sandra the fish rookie]

4 minutes ago, JamesB said:

Hikari Vibra Bites to their pea puffer

I tried these over the weekend.. he didn't touch them. My other community tank went NUTS!! Seriously.. like they have been fasting for months.. 

I just purchased a bunch of new plants.. fingers crossed I can get some snails out of that! 

[Kirsten]

Yup, another 5 gallon single pea puffer here and I think he's doing great! Ditto on the many nooks and crannies, plants and driftwood and crevices to inspect. Ditto on starting a snail colony or two in the tank for at least a few weeks before introducing it to give them a head start. I recommend malaysian trumpet snails and ramshorns for being able to reproduce asexually. Also ditto on the frozen bloodworms as an occasional treat, slicing off about a quarter of a cube and plopping it in frozen for him to hunt as it thaws and the worms drift down.

One thing I will add is that make sure the tank is accessible and frequently seen close-up. They're really small and so much fun to watch, not to mention very intelligent and like to look at you and see what's going on outside their tank. So it's good to be able to get some facetime in every day.

I think online guides are good to point out that they do enjoy being in small groups in a big, big species-only tank, but it's not necessary for their health and happiness.

[Sandra the fish rookie]

@Kirsten So true about tank location/accessible. I have him in a busy area where we pass by him all the time. He can also see the big TV, and I swear he watches it.. LOL.. especially hockey (Canadian's fan here).  They are so smart, and intelligent. So much fun to have one. Don't get me wrong, I love all my fish. Pea puffers are just such a different fish and as a newbie I find them so fascinating. He pays attention to everything. I have been inside the tank to clean, and I will move plants and rocks around to keep him on his toes.. LOL.. he stay's out of the way and is very calm when I am in there. They are such a blast! I could totally see how people have a few in a larger tank.. they are cool! 

[JettsPapa]

You might enjoy this discussion:  

 

[marionmaymay]

1 hour ago, Kirsten said:

I recommend malaysian trumpet snails and ramshorns for being able to reproduce asexually. Also ditto on the frozen bloodworms as an occasional treat, slicing off about a quarter of a cube and plopping it in frozen for him to hunt as it thaws and the worms drift down.

how many snails do you feed your puffer every week? (or do you feed him snails everyday? if so, how many?) I also don't know how often you're supposed to feed them, once a day? twice a day? (thank you for the info!)

[Kirsten]

Varies a lot. I basically scoop out a small handful (I'm guessing 10 to 20) of small ramshorns from my livebearer tank once or twice a week, whenever I see some close to the surface, and toss them in the puffer tank. Ziggy the puffer will slowly hunt them down over the course of the next few days. But usually a couple remain as he's getting lazy and picky.

But I don't think I needed to feed him at all for at least the first few weeks I had him. I had enough trumpet snails established that he was able to pick off the unwary ones whenever he felt hungry. I could probably go without feeding him indefinitely, but I had too many snails in other tanks, so I figured I'd give the trumpet snails a chance to rebound.

[Sandra the fish rookie]

@Kirsten I get worried Gazoo will get lonely too.  I have to see if I can get my hands on some snails.. but will it be enough to entertain him? He looks fine now, but I was really hesitant to get more than one due to any potential aggression. I read through the post @JettsPapa shared (hilarious btw). and see people have put in ghost shrimp? I would hate to put something in there for it to be murdered (except as needed pest snails). I am feeding mine once a day.. is that okay? I am checking my water chemistry, yesterday I had 0.25 ppm Nitrites, 8.0 ppm Nitrate and 0 ammonia. I know that there were brine shrimp at the bottom because I could see them.. and thought that might be the cause, cleaned it all out and all is good now. 

Still getting to know the best way to care for my little Gazoo (named after the Flintstones "the great Gazoo).. I thought of adding some neo tetras to occupy him? not sure if he will fin nip or not? My 20G has WAY to much activity.. Guppies (more on the way), 6 corydora, mystery snail, Ramshorn snail, 2 bamboo shrimp and a cherry shrimp.. the Albino's never stop moving.. he will be entertained for sure.. but might fin nip

[Kirsten]

20 minutes ago, Sandra the fish rookie said:

I get worried Gazoo will get lonely too.  I have to see if I can get my hands on some snails.. but will it be enough to entertain him?

Such a cute name! With plenty of nooks and crannies to explore and snails to hunt, he shouldn't get bored. Puffers are cute but they are active, dedicated hunters. Any fish fry or small shrimp you put in there will probably get eaten or at least attacked. People sometimes keep some dwarf puffers in a community tank, but only in very large tanks with plenty of space for each puffer to claim and very quick fish that won't eat or get eaten by the puffer. They're mostly recommended to be in species-only tanks, though.

[Jennifer V]

I just got six juvenile puffers about two months ago for my 10g species only tank. I do feed them frozen bloodworms every day, as recommended by the supplier I received them from. Bloodworm feeding becomes a problem long term, because they don't provide all the nutrients the little puffs need. Mine wouldn't eat anything else, so I thaw the bloodworms in Vita Chem for mornings and thaw frozen brine shrimp with the bloodworms until they turn red for night. The puffs happily eat the brine shrimp if they have turned red or even a pinkish color. I agree that adding snails is a great option so I set up a snail breeding tank for them. You can also probably find bladder or other common "pest" snails on Craigslist or from a member of a local forum. They need the stimulation because they're just so dang smart and can get bored, which from what I understand, is indicated by glass surfing. I only feed a couple of bloodworms per fish max to make sure they're not overfed and remove all of the access immediately so it doesn't affect the tank parameters.

I wouldn't recommend adding any other species of fish to the tank, as these guys are really feisty and will probably terrorize anything else in there. They picked at the cherry shrimp I had in mine until I felt so bad for the poor thing that I removed it. I'm no expert, but they all seem happy and are growing rapidly, so I think that's a great sign.