2.) What should I watch for when buying?
3.) Could one live on a diet of frozen bloodworms and snails?
4.) Could I keep a bowl with snails and let them breed, and then feed the fish with them?
5.) What do snails eat?
6.) What snail species should I get if the above method is okay?
7.) How many times a day should I feed them and what amount?
8.) Can I buy frozen bloodworms at PetsMart or Wal-Mart?
9.) Anything else I should know? < class="additional-details">Additional Details 1 day ago Typo on number four, I meant could I feed the snails to the fish. Also, I meant feeding the dwarf pufferfish on number seven. 1) Possibly - it depends on what the store has in stock. I've seen them at both places.
2) Clamped fins, especially the tail and dark coloration (both signs of stress); small white spots or dull gray to the body (both signs of possible parasites); sunken belly (parasites or feeding poorly); dull eyes; uninterested in it's surroundings or tankmates - they should appear curious; dead fish in that or any of the nearby tanks (tanks are connected by common plumbing, so if a diesease/parasite is present in one, it can spread to all the tanks).
3) both are good items for them, especially the snails to keep the beaks trimmed. You can also add pieces of shrimp with the shell on, frozen brine shrimp or krill, mussels, other seafoods - just cut up large items.
4) yes
5) just about anything - algae wafers, algae, lettuce, squash, cucumbers - you may need to weight the kighter items down with a rock
6) any that are fairly small - pond snails that come on plants, or Malaysian trumpet snails (the adults may be hard for the puffer to eat until it gets larger because these have harder shells than most, so they also do a better job at keeping the beak worn down
7) feed 1-2 times per day, whatever it can eat in around 2 minutes. Puffers are hogs and would eat all day if they could, but that's not good for them. Keeping a few live snails in the tank at all times will provide opportunities for "snacks".
8) PetSmart should have them, not WalMart.
9) They need a cycled tank before you buy them - they're sensitive to ammonia and nitrite, so cycle first, them keep an eye on water quality and keep up with partial water changes. You should allow at least 5 gallons per puffer. They like a planted tank to give the some cover. No other types of fish with them - they get aggressive and nip fins of other fish as they mature. Lots more at this website: http://www.dwarfpuffers.com/
If you aren't familiar with cycling, see these: http://malawicichlids.com/mw01017.htm , http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.ht...