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20 Gal DP Tank Stocking Q | |
smapty Hobbyist Posts: 99 Kudos: 64 Votes: 7 Registered: 07-Jul-2005 | So I have cycled my 20 gal tank and I am going to get some DP's for my tank. So I have a question on stocking. I want to start with 3 DP's and some ghost shrimp and eventually more DP and maybe an otto or two. I cannot have more than 6 DP's in this tank (dont think I will go that high) but how many shrimp/ ottos can I anticipate putting in my tank? I dont know how much waste shrimp make (if any at all). |
Posted 22-Sep-2006 19:13 | |
Two Tanks Big Fish Posts: 449 Kudos: 328 Votes: 13 Registered: 02-Jun-2003 | DP? If I knew what it was, maybe I could help. Is it a dwarf puffer? |
Posted 23-Sep-2006 18:19 | |
divertran Fish Addict Posts: 784 Kudos: 469 Votes: 165 Registered: 14-Nov-2004 | Here's a very good dp site. www.dwarfpuffers.com It has all kinds of useful info on dp's. They are totally freshwater fish, sometimes getting to one inch in length. Ottos and perhaps the shrimps you mentioned are the only compatible tank mates I know of, and then on an individual basis. A twenty is very large for them, they need about 3 gallons per dp because they are messy eaters and heavy waste producers. They need absolutely pristine water conditions to thrive. Here's some food for thought, about half of the dp's sold are wild caught and will only accept live food. Some will take frozen and very rarely will take flakes or pellets. They don't need snails to keep they're chompers trimmed down as commonly thought but they do love them, and you can't keep enough in your tank. I hope this helps, and good luck with them Hmmm, for some reason the link is not working when I tried it just now. Help? |
Posted 23-Sep-2006 21:51 | |
sham Ultimate Fish Guru Posts: 3369 Kudos: 2782 Votes: 98 Registered: 21-Apr-2004 | For some reason your url address partially contains an address to fp and then the dwarf puffer site at the end. http://www.dwarfpuffers.com/ is a very good site with a good dp forum as well. About half the puffers will eat ghost shrimp so they may or may not survive. In a heavily decorated 20g with well fed puffers they have a chance. I'd add about 10ghost shrimp and 5 either pest snails or if you absolutely can't stand them despite the fact the puffers will eat them all anyway you can get fancy ramshorns. They come in a variety of bright interesting colors and don't look so ugly or creepy to most people. Let the tank establish with plants, shrimp, and snails for a few weeks and then start stocking the puffers. The shrimp may even breed for you giving your new puffers lots of live food they can hunt down themselves until they get accustomed to the tank and frozen food. Most dp will never take dried food and some need alot of convincing and many months of feeding on shrimp and snails before they'll take frozen. Many dp owners keep a fish bowl or 2-5g tank for breeding pest snails to supplement their dps diet. They don't need snails to trim down their beaks like other puffers but it is very beneficial for them. |
Posted 24-Sep-2006 03:43 |
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