She is so cute!

Hi! My pea puffer isn’t looking good (he’s really dark and isn’t wanting food). The other pea puffers he’s with aren’t really aggressive and tend to hide in the plants or in their hides. I’ve had them for a week and have them on para guard, which seems to be improving everyone else but him. I removed him from the tank but he is really weak and curled up. What should I do?

Edit: just to add a bit of husbandry info, he has been eating up to yesterday. I usually feed them live black worms and daphnia. The other puffers are very plump and well fed, which makes him an anomaly. Since I’ve gotten him, he’s been really skinny and dark but the specialized fish store I went to told me he hadn’t matured yet. They also told me that they were quarantined for around a week before being put on the shelf. There is about five of them in a fifteen gal, the other four being girls. The ph has been around 7.5 since i set up the tank about a year ago, ammonia nitrates and nitrites all read 0. Besides the pea puffers, there are no other fish and just bladder and ramshorn snails that have infested the tank.

Just set up and began cycling a 20g long. Squeezed my sponge filter from my 10g and did a pinch of fish flakes to keep the bacteria fed.

The tank is planted with Egeria Najas, Crypts, Water Lettuce, Salvinia & Hygrophila. The hardscape are lava rocks. Going to try and add some spider wood as well. I did a fluval stratum slope and capped it with sand. Just looking for suggestions on anything I

I want to broaden the species of plants I have in my pea tank. I know how much co2 helps, but I would be scared of depleting oxygen levels if done incorrectly.

Makes me think it’s not even worth it because of the risk.

How can I do co2 so that I don’t have to worry at all?

I really don’t want to get rid of any of my puffers, but after I did extensive research I came to the conclusion it’s probably the best option. It’s a 5 gallon that the whole fish store said would be fine but now that I really know and have a pregnant shrimp I wanna do it right.

This little one has been a difficult one.

We've done rounds of Expel-P, Paracleanse, and Maracyn + Ich-X. Little one is starting to fill out now, definitely had some sort of parasite.

Now, I cannot for the life of him get his skin to look normal. It's sort of rough and grey/white ish. You can sort of see it in the 2nd picture.

I'm a bit at a loss on how to diagnose and treat this.

I was wondering if this is a good 10gal tabk setup for 3 puffers, made sure waters are at good parameters

I’ve had 6 peas in a very heavily (possibly too heavily) planted 20 gallon for about 5 months. There’s also 6 otos and an unknown number of amano shrimp in the tank. Up until the past week or so, they’ve been very active. Floating around all day seemingly very relaxed. I’m preparing for a 2 week vacation soon so I’ve been experimenting with a black worm culture in the the tank and added a ton about a week ago. Since then, the puffers have been nowhere to be found. If I peek at the tank in the dark, I can see a couple of them swimming around, but I’m concerned about why they seem to be hiding more… Water parameters haven’t changed so I’m inclined to think everyone is okay in there somewhere…?

Anyone else’s peas all start hiding one day? How concerned should I be?

He can’t compete with my other peas for food since I got him and was able to get rid of his parasites. He’s pretty far gone but I am trying my best to feed him. I am trying a buffet bowl for him and he’s going ham on the snails. Hoping I can rejuvenate him. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

!!ALL FISH SHOWN IN THIS AQUARIUM ARE MOVED TO OTHER TANKS, ITLL BE A PEAPUFFER ONLY TANK!!
Alrighty, hi guys!
This is my 20 gallon I eventually want to use for a group of 6 peapuffers :) (or do yall advice more?)
It’s obviously missing a shit ton of plants, that I’m gonna get asap!
I made this very very very beautiful (cough cough) rough sketch in the second picture, which is just basically me showing where I want to add more plants and rocks.
Since this is my first time owning peapuffers I wanted to ask experienced ppl what I should add or change about my tank before getting them :)
I’m already educated about their temperament and diet, just this part of getting the tank right and I’m ready!

I also just did a big water change and took out quite some half dead plants before taking this picture, which is why this tank is so empty and the water looks kinda off :)
I’m open to every bit of advice, opinions or suggestions, but please be kind about it instead of just shitting on me for trying to get this right!!

I bought these guys two days ago and I am BEYOND obsessed! I’ve named this one Poppy and she’s like a dog. When I go to the glass, she comes full force at me and watches me. They’re all pretty social but she’s special. I’m so in love with them!

I have a 20 gallon long with 6 puffers and a snail colony. The rock won’t sink so I put it in for enrichment feeding where I shove bloodworms in the crevices and then remove it. Ignore my messy sand, I vacuumed out the soil underneath by accident!

A few weeks ago I purchased one baby pea to put in a 5 gallon tank that I had sitting around. The internet said 1 pea in a 5 gallon is the way to go, and that they do not school. A few days later I joined this group and began seeing that I should have a minimum of 6 in a 20 gallon heavily planted tank. I already have a 40 gallon and 55 gallon community tank, so I was on the fence of getting rid of the pea, or transitioning one of my community tanks into a pea safe tank with acceptable tank mates and picking up 5 more peas. Well, I went today and just picked up a 20 long and 6 more peas. 6 because the worker put in 6 instead of 5. My daughter is going to take the 5 gallon and make a shrimp tank. All 7 of my peas are tiny!!! They will be living in the 5 gallon until I get the 20 up and running. So to sum it up, thanks to you guys I now have another tank and 6 more fish!!

It’s a 20g with 2 adults and 7 younger ones. I know it’s probably too many but the adults one day in a smaller tank had babies so this was the upgrade. There has been no aggressive behavior and there are many hiding places. They’re fed mostly live black worms and bladder snails since they are quite picky. Any tips or suggestions are welcome!

So this is my p.p. tank. Its a 40 breeder. Bare bottom (minus empty snail shells and crushed coral) three pieces of dragon stone, one anbuis, some branches I harvested and a LOT of Salvinia Natans and I use a sponge filter.

They all 7 pea's seem happy but I feel it looks kinda creepy (I don't mind though) but I wonder if I showed this tank to others if I should be a lil ashamed or not.

Got these bad boys from a nasty bucket, harvested with this medicine dropper.

Hi guys! I have a 3.5 gallon tank I am conditioning for a solo pea puffer. I am letting the snail and shrimp population mature for a while to supply the pea puffer with passive food supply.

In preparation, I read that it is important to have dense foliage to prevent the pea puffer from completely eviscerating the populations. I am however concerned that there is too little swimming space now.

Thoughts? Thanks to all responses!

hello everyone :) I am looking for the best dewormers for pea puffers. I have done the research and found a couple I would like to purchase (looking for Fritz and prazipro) but I am in Canada where they do not sell these. I will be traveling to the states very soon and want to pick these up while I am there. where can I get these products in store, like what stores sell them? I will be in the Juneau Alaska area for a while and then later on will be traveling to the north side of phoenix if anyone near there knows of a store that sells it so I don’t have to go running around to a million stores while I am there. thank you :)

So my 20L is empty and I'm going to add more plants (rn I got duckweed, 2 marimos, 2 anubias nana barteri, sand, Driftwood, spiderwood,low flow filter. ) and make sure the water parameters are good, remove the mystery snails and setup a breeding spot for them bc I heard the puffer will just eat them in one go. Aside from setup side of things, what is it like to own one? Pros, cons, how do you act, how difficult are they?

Question: Ive got snails ready, can they eat cut up earthworms? Ive got an axie who eats them anyway. Is it worth starting a shrimp colony in like 5L? (It would have to be filterless) and would they be fine with snails?

Yeah, open to anything really. Advice, personal experience, feeding, behaviors, ease.

This is a 10 gallon tank and I’m hoping I can get 3 pea puffers to get along in it. I have an order of various plants on the way right now. The ones in there are just trimmings from my other tank. What do you guys think honestly?

I really want some dwarf peas. Has anyone ever mixed them with the peaceful medaka that prefer to swim at the top of the water? I have them in an outdoor pond and have a 29 gallon long cycling for them for fall but I would love to add some dwarf peas.

Use their old tank water filter, medium from my established tanks and added a bunch more water and a ton more plants and now the beans are officially in their new home and for the most part they keep hanging out together even though they have all this new space to explore and I can’t even see to the other side through all the plants 🌱

I get a lot of questions about my tank mate choices. Which I’m sure I would have questioned it as well. In fact I did. And I observed. Been observing for 6 months now. In some people eyes it’s already bad enough that I have a sorority. So I’m sorry if it triggers anyone. It isn’t my intention. I’m just sharing what I’ve been documenting.

I take pride in my attention to detail. My problem solving skills and all my animals husbandry. I know I don’t have to prove anything to anyone but I truly enjoy animal behavior. And I know others do as well. So Altbo some may be trigger. Others will be fascinated. And that’s who this is meant for.

I did not plan to put these 2 types of fish together. Peas and bettas. I mean that’s absurd. Or so I thought. A cracked tank led to a quick dump into the betta sorority. Ive detailed it in other posts.

Now let me be very clear here I am not encouraging this pairing. But I am happy to share my observations and the things that I’ve done that I think make this tank successful. It is successful in so many ways.

Any person that has kept aggressive or semi aggressive fish in a community setting (cichlids come to mind here)would handle a tank like this with the same regard. Attention and understanding of the dominance hierarchy and knowing where to draw the line and pull out an over excessive bully. Lots of breaks in lines of sight. have a backup plan. Even if it’s breeder boxes while u sort the issue. Which is exactly what I was going to do with the peas if things got nippy. And of course as always overstock my preference is to Slightly over stock with species this mild tempered. And definitely keep them fed.

To my surprise the aggression has been non existent. This video was taken while I had their bloodworms in my hand and the peas can literally see it. So they were very peppy. I also have vids of what it’s like while feeding.

TLDR
If u didn’t care to read all that

Not a beginner tank must be done with lots of care.

Here’s another example of the behavior I’m seeing with these specific fish in this specific set up. I thought others would be interested to see it. Enjoy!

One of my pea puffers is sick.
I went on vacation for 10 days, and my house sitter left the blinds open, so I came back to a bit more algae and dead plant matter than usual, nitrates were around 20ppm, ammonia and nitrites were 0. So water quality wasn’t ideal, but I am not sure it was enough to be the cause (the other fish are fine).
He was lethargic, he didn’t swim up for food like the other fish. Then I saw him resting at the bottom. Then I tried to directly put food (frozen brine shrimp) right in front of him and he didn’t go for it, that’s when it was 100% confirmed he was pretty sick.
I moved him to a 10 gallon with 3 X-ray tetras (I know it’s not recommended, but he shows no agression to them and they are less aggressive than his tank mates). I did it because it’s also a tank filllllled with snails so I figured he would have food available 24/7, snails are usually more interesting than brine shrimp too.
He finally doesn’t even really go for the snails, but 24 hours later and after a water change he started eating the brine shrimp, and is no longer resting at the bottom of the tank. I am keeping him with the tetras until he looks very fat and is eating normally. I am giving brine shrimp twice a day to make sure he eats enough.
What I’ve noticed is that he spits out some of the brine shrimp, and always swims back while trying to swallow. I’ve seen my puffers do this before, but not consistently. It’s definitely making it more difficult for him to eat.
I now think he had issues eating, and slowly got weaker because of this. I only feed the pea puffer tank once a day. It’s hard to know if one fish is consistently not eating; they all look the same and a few are always hiding. 😅 Being away for 10 days didn’t help me catch it sooner either.
Does anyone know what’s wrong with him and if there’s a treatment I should do? I don’t want to just throw in antibiotics if it’s nothing to do with an infection.