baby puffs

[Ursus sapien]

My pair of dwarf puffers have been in spawning mode for a few weeks now. The male of the pair was spawned and hatched in this same tank; today I found the first few 2nd generation puffs:-)

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4bb_8ukjg58/Tak7bBCCakI/AAAAAAAAAe0/cLT1tbftoOs/s1600/2011+04+14_25puff+mod.jpg
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-l-k9yzJ7KkQ/Tak7cWV8BNI/AAAAAAAAAe8/4Zzu8t8xE-I/s1600/2011+04+14_23puff+mod.jpg

[mack777]

Congratulations!

Colourful little guys aren't they for being so tiny. I wouldn't have expected
that until they were bigger. Do you have a pic of the proud parents to show
what adult colouration looks like? (I've never kept any)

Mack

[Rabadswompe]

cute little things!

are those the brackish dwelling one or freshwater ones ???

[vince0]

Congrats! More info please!

[Kimr]

Wahoooooooooooooooooo congrats Storm! I know my next purchase :wideeyed: .

Yes they are fresh water dwarf puffers. I had one before and kept it in my tank for the longest time.

[Rabadswompe]

Wahoooooooooooooooooo congrats Storm! I know my next purchase :wideeyed: .

Yes they are fresh water dwarf puffers. I had one before and kept it in my tank for the longest time.

what water specs do they need ? are they nippy with tankmates?

[CACAdmin]

Congrats on the spawn, Storm!:thumbup: The fry are so tiny and very cute little miniatures. What do you feed baby puffers?

[Pamelajo]

The are cute little guys, congrats Storm.

[Melody]

How adorable is that?! Congratulations. Need some feeder snails? As in 32 million? :laugh: It's time to clean out my tanks again.

[Dandee]

That is great!

[Ursus sapien]

thanks for the warm comments:-) The colouring is very strong - the gold has a burnished quality that isn't apparent on the adults.

20 gallon tank, temp 26 - 28C; pH about 7.6, 2 teaspoons of salt to every 5 gallons of new water. The substrate is sand covered in snail shells. (Last year they spawned when the pH was only 7, so I don't think it's particularly critical as long as things are a little hard, and warm.)

Plants are critical. Boys play rough, and it's good to have an overgrown environment for females and fry to disappear into. Go for a 'Dutch-style' planting, even if you just use guppy grass and hornwort. Plants also foster the growth of all those little animals - rotifers, paramecia, copepods - which babies and even adults enjoy munching on.

Spawning has always occurred in a raised clump of moss or hair algae. The male chases the female, then synchronizes his movements with hers, hanging beside her and a quarter body-length back. He butts her ventral region with his head, repeatedly. This goes on for a while until they slide into the moss, her first, then him, for 3 to 5 passes.

Diet: snails. Puffers are lazy eaters. Give them bigger snails and they'll just take a couple of bites and wander off. If the snails don't move, the puffs lose interest. That causes 2 problems: a lot of rotting snail carcass, and bad beaks. Feed really small snails, so that the whole thing gets eaten, and so the puffs wear down the beak.

This adult male eats only snails, with some small live foods like copepods, daphnia, small scuds, new-born shrimp and fish fry (I think). The adult female also eats frozen foods such as bloodworm and brine shrimp.

These pics: the 'shell' substrate; daddy puff last year as a baby; last year's spawning

[Kimr]

what water specs do they need ? are they nippy with tankmates?

Storm explained it quite well, with the only thing I want to add is that when I had mine it was in a 33gal tank and I specifically got him to eat the outbreak of snails in that tank I didn't want. At first he was really good with the other fish which were mostly tetras, but once the snails began to die off and I didn't have enough for him he began to nip at the fish more. Which is why I had to finally put him in a separate tank, then a friend wanted him so I gave him to the friend.

[Ursus sapien]

puffers seem to vary in temperament between individuals. while I've kept mine successfully with picta and gertrudae rainbows, the males do charge at other fish, and probably nip fins.

[wes&sam]

Very nice J can’t wait to get back into puffers. Love the pics