# Snail-eating Puffer fish



## eddtango (Mar 18, 2005)

I have some ramshorn snails and I'm afraid that they might infest the tank. I think there are some Dwarf Pufferfish in the market,would you recommend it for the planted tank?


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Dwarf Puffer fish although small and cute are aggressive and notorious fin nippers. They should also be keep in brackish water, even though they are sold as freshwater fish. I would say go for it if you have no other fish or shrimp in the tank, so a species only tank.

Snails do produce a lot, even more if you over feed. Snails are beneficial to a planted tank if kept in check. If you are worried about your plants, I've found they only eat dyeing plants and not healthy ones. To keep them under control you can simply put a lettuce leaf in the tank after lights out and take it out a few hours later with snails.


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## MTechnik (Feb 17, 2005)

Dwarf puffers are not brackish at all... they do like hard water, but they are not brackish.

The rest of the post is right, they are notorious fin nippers and should be in a species-only tank. They also need 50% WC's weekly because they are messy eaters (like oscars). However, they are the cutest darn things that I ever had on my desk. It's fun to watch them pick up a worm, suck out the insides, and leave the casing behind.

I think loaches and some gouramis have a nice affinity for snails tho....

-MT


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

MT, that was a major brain fart on my behalf... Thanks for correcting me.

 I feel really _____ (you can fill in the blank) ](*,)


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## Osteomata (Jan 11, 2005)

I think the phrase "notorious fin nippers" is a bit misleading. This implies that most DPs are fin nippers, when my read on numerous forum posts is that far less than half of DP groups pose problems for other fish. Yes, they are more likely to nip than say... neon tetras  , but they are not as bad as many semi-aggressive fish. It seems to be real hit or miss... most are pretty passive and choose to only harass/play/chase other DPs, some are a bit nippy. Mine happend to be the former, leaving alone even the cherry shrimp. And they " should be in a species only tank" is similarly subject to individual DP personality. Some should be, some are quite fine in a community tank. I would recommend that any potential DP owner should retain enough flexibility in their tanks such that if they are aggressive, they can be moved to a species tank. 

And they are not brackish fish, though the messy eater comment is dead on. I do 2 25% changes a week.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

I think they need to have their little teeth trimmed every so often too, and that would not be something I'd be comfortable doing... 

What size is your tank, eddtango?

We may be able to give you a few alternative suggestions as well, if we know the size of your tank.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

They are know as fin nippers, but there are always exceptions to the rule where it be with DP's or any other fish. Since my blunder I did some research on these little guys and have decided to convert my 20G high to a DP tank. Here is a good link I found... http://www.dwarfpuffers.com/intro1.htm


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Here's another link from a long time friend who specializes in Puffers. 
http://puffer.proboards2.com/index.cgi


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## dwhite645 (Jan 9, 2005)

I had 3 of them before and they only chased each other, these were the dwarf puffers. I heard that they were brackish fish also, but I didn't put any additives in for them. I had them for over a year before they died. Fun to watch, but my loaches always took care of any snails before they could.
If you are worried about snails, just do what trenac said. Snails aren't the destructive things most people make them out to be. I've only ever seen them eating dead leaves on the bottom.


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## amber2461 (Jun 15, 2004)

You could send them my way, my dwarf puffers would thank you for them


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