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I have a 5.5 gallon waiting to be used and I want to put 2-3 dwarf puffers in there and I know that dwarf puffers need snails but would they bother ones that are 3/4 to 1 inch big? And would they just eat the pest snails that always result from having a overfed tank?
Thanks for any and all replies in advance.

MONKEYS ARE COOL, BUT SEA-MONKEYS ARE BETTER.

Mine will get small pieces of the large snails, then the snail will be pestered to death over time.

Mine will go after any size snail. All 3 that I have teamed up on about a 1.5 inch, and sucked him out of his shell.

dogmai333,

I am not an expert in the food habits of Dwarf Puffers, but I trust the statements of the members that made entries before.

What I can tell you though:

"...that always result from having a overfed tank?"

That is never a good idea. Even the attempt to overfeed a tank in order to have more pest snails can have direct and indirect negative effects on the tank.

Indirect: You will without a doubt encourage algae growth.
Direct: All this uneaten food will drive up your nitrates and your fish will suffer.

Hope this helps,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

And would they just eat the pest snails that always result from having a overfed tank?

It's not really that they result from an overfed tank...once you get pest snails in a tank they will breed under pretty much any conditions.

As far as the DPs, it's best for their teeth to eat those that they have to crunch. With larger snails they will try for pieces or skip the shell entirely and just go for the body.

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

Dwarf puffers don't need to wear down their teeth like alot of other puffers so it doesn't matter what size snail you give them. Most prefer to suck snails out of the shell instead of crunching it. I actually never saw mine crunch a snail even when I gave him little ones. He'd stalk them for awhile then snap at them while their foot was out and when the snail fell down he shoved his mouth inside and pulled it out. They will go after any size or type of snail and I've heard of a few actually breaking teeth or injuring themselves trying to break open malaysian trumpet snails.

I've never had a tank develop a snail problem unless it was overfed. Otherwise my pest and trumpet snail populations stay pretty unnoticeable except at night when the trumpets come out.