Puffer 8 figure and female bettas

[betafish]

Has anyone housed female bettas with puffers?

[bettalvr]

I can only offer info based on my experience, but I would not attempt to put a puffer with a betta. Puffers, even the so-called freshwater, do better in water with more aquarium salt than bettas would like. They actually do better in brackish water. The other thing is that they can be quite aggressive, especially when they are young. My suggestion, do lots of research on the puffers before you decide to put them together. If you do decide, you would need at least a 20 gallon tank with numerous hiding places for your betta and time to keep a constant eye on them in the beginning.

[betafish]

The puffer i'v seen in a pet store is only 1 inch long average size, its puffer 8 figure, and was under community fresh water fish, i do have 20 g tank and i am setting it up now.

[BettaLu&Meg]

not sure about that one, i would refer to fishmomma for more info.

[bettalvr]

Sounds like a young puffer, which is when they tend to express more aggression. They are often listed as freshwater community fish. . .

[betafish]

The guy at the store told me that it will not grow more than 1 inch for that kind of puffer 8 figure, and he recommanded to put in a large tank so other fish will not eat it, but is it ok to keep it with female bettas?

[bettalvr]

I've seen this type of puffer at 2"-3" when fed properly and correct water conditions. I will say that I thought ours suffered because of lack of salt. We had to add aquarium salt about 3 times a week and that's a lot of salt in a tank. Otherwise, he would not eat as well, lost color, sat at the bottom, and just didn't seem happy. We finally setup a brackish water tank and boy did he take off. He grew (tho they seem to grow slowly), kept his beautiful colors, and swam around like he was jumping through hoops. He lived several years and we have not owned anymore because of our learning experience. I personally don't like to see fish 'just get by' in their environment, we really try hard to provide the optimal environment, and found out the hard way with these guys. Did they explain to you about the beak? Anyway, I never kept a betta with ours because of the salt requirements and him nipping away at fins of other breeds of fish.

[betafish]

No they didn't explain about the beak, i am trying to learn more about this fish on google and here also, i want to make sure they will not fight with my female bettas.

[bettalvr]

Ok, definitely do your research. May want to search google for brackish water fish and see if you can find more info there. Find a forum if you can and ask questions and more questions and more questions. . . you get the idea. What you're doing is great!

[Oscar Betta]

i would probably not take a risk, and not house them.