getting a Dwarf Puffer fish and was wondering if someone can help with the essentials

[scarface07]

Im gonna get a 10 gallon tank because i heard it is a good size tank for 3 Dwarf Puffers. i also heard that i should breed my own snails in a 1gal tank. if that is true how would i go about doing that? Like do i fill it all the way to the top, basically what is the set-up of the snail tank.

And with the puffer tank i heard u need a lot of foilage. which is better live or fake. if live is it hard to grow live plants?

thanks to everyone who can help in anyway.

also how do i tell if it is male or female.

[JustOneMore20]

Originally Posted by scarface07

Im gonna get a 10 gallon tank because i heard it is a good size tank for 3 Dwarf Puffers. i also heard that i should breed my own snails in a 1gal tank. if that is true how would i go about doing that? Like do i fill it all the way to the top, basically what is the set-up of the snail tank.

A 10g is a good size tank for a trio (1m/2f) of DPs.

I would just setup a 1g, put in a few snails and eventually they'll reproduce and you'll have tons. You really don't need gravel or anything IMO.....just feed them some veggies or algae wafers or bottom feeder wafers every so often and change out water weekly. If its cold in your house, you might think about heating it. I'm not sure what temperatures snails can live in though. Maybe someone else who keeps snail tanks can give you more tips.

And with the puffer tank i heard u need a lot of foilage. which is better live or fake. if live is it hard to grow live plants?

IMO Live is better. Its not hard to grow live plants if you have the right lighting for the plants you are keeping. Fake plants will work though, just as long as you plant it heavily with them.

also how do i tell if it is male or female.

http://www.dwarfpuffers.com/intro4.htm That link talks about sexing them. That site is excellent for learning about their care as well.

Be aware that DPs won't usually eat processed foods like flakes. You'll need to supply them with some frozen and/or live foods like blood worms, black worms, or daphnia. Snails are good treats but don't need to be the staple food in their diets. I also wouldn't feed freeze-dried.

http://www.dwarfpuffers.com/care1.htm For more suggestions.

Make sure you have good filtration as well, since they are messy fish, even for their small size.

[adpierin11]

I use to have 3 Green Spotted Puffers, and it was too hard to find snails that I could feed them. So once I found them I put them in a little aquarium that was suppose to house a betta. I put in an airstone and that's about it. I fed the snails lettuce and they were quite fine with that. And they will spread like wildfire. Really easy to take care of too. I did water changes about once every two weeks and that was about it. I would definitely have a lid on whatever you are going to house them in....
With the dwarfs I would make sure if you are going to have 3 of them that you have at least three places, kinda like caves, so they can hide in and escape, and kinda call it home. And plenty of plants. If you don't feel like dealing with live, fake is fine. The more you have the better.
Feeding them: I would agree with justonemore. Make sure their diet is varied, and do realize they are very messy. My GSP's diet included snails once a week, blood worms, shrimp, krill, silverfish, daphnia.... anything meaty and they'll eat it. Frequent water changes are a must, because once again they are messy.
And definitely research them a little more before you get them, go to those sites justonemore gave you, and you should be fine.