he was at the petstore for 2 weeks. hes about 4", i have him housed in a 55g (will upgrade to 125g in december) there are only 2 small damsels in the tank with him. ammonia 0, nitrites 0, nitrates 20 ppm, prizm skimmer, weekly 10% water changes, temp 78, ph 8.2, specific gravity 1.024, maxi jets and an emperor filter without the bio wheels.

this morning i tried to feed him a silver side from a veggie clip, he went for it right away but spit it out all over the place. i put a new silver side on the clip and then he just ignored it. the silver sides are quite mushy and messy, not sure if this is a good thing to feed?

i went back to the petstore and bought him freeze dried krill and jumbo min cichlid pellets (i read somewhere a fussy puffer ate it) and 15 minnows just in case he doesnt eat anything else. i put the presoaked krill in his tank right above him and he did nothing, i know he saw it but he didnt even bother to go up to it.

i waited 10 mins and then i put a minnow in his tank. he jetted after it so fast and within a split second the minnow was lunch, so yes the petstore was correct, hes a fussy lil  bugger. he then got a little frantic and began looking at my damsels funny, so i put in another minnow and then he relaxed a bit.

he is very happy now, hes swimming and i swear he is smiling lol

so im in a dilema, i know he cant live on minnows alone, but what can i do?? what if i feed the minnows marine gro pellets before i feed them to the puffer, wouldnt that help him a bit?? at least he will get a little bit of pellets in him, no?

should he get vitamins? boyds vitachem?

i will buy some shellfish tomorrow at the grocery store, maybe shrimp, or whatever looks small enough for him

Congrats on your new puffer.

This is a normal behavior for the first "tasting" of the food - be persistent and don't give in and feed freshwater feeders.  Silversides are an appropriate food source.

freshwater feeders are not a good choice.  These will lead to fatty liver disease and mineral deficiencies.  It may take weeks to months before symptoms become apparent but when they do, reversal is often impossible.  Live food can also introduce pathogens in to the tank so be careful.  A better live food source would be gut loaded ghost shrimp.

Other food sources are shrimp with shell on, squid - especially the tentacles/head, frozen prawn (ProSalt), cockles, scallops and crabs.  Asian markets can be a good supplier.

See above response.

Absolutely.

Again, welcome.

Please keep us updated.

he is acting a bit odd tonight, he keeps "sleeping" near my power head and ive seen him get stuck to it twice allready. he doesnt even try to pull him self unstuck, instead he just stays on it in a daze. then a few minutes later he breaks loose, swims around as if nothing is wrong.

could he be full and tired from the 2 minnows i fed him earlier?

squirreloso (5/22/2007)

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thanks so much

he is acting a bit odd tonight, he keeps "sleeping" near my power head and ive seen him get stuck to it twice allready. he doesnt even try to pull him self unstuck, instead he just stays on it in a daze. then a few minutes later he breaks loose, swims around as if nothing is wrong.

could he be full and tired from the 2 minnows i fed him earlier?

This is not normal.  Hanging out near powerheads can often be a sign of disease - fish that have a higher need for oxygen (stressed fish, fish with parasites in the gills, etc) often will gravitate towards more flow and toward the surface.  Have to also wonder if there was something in the minnows?

Do you quarantine all new inhabitants to the tank - rock, inverts, fish, etc??

Puffer Queen (5/23/2007)

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squirreloso (5/22/2007)

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thanks so much

he is acting a bit odd tonight, he keeps "sleeping" near my power head and ive seen him get stuck to it twice allready. he doesnt even try to pull him self unstuck, instead he just stays on it in a daze. then a few minutes later he breaks loose, swims around as if nothing is wrong.

could he be full and tired from the 2 minnows i fed him earlier?

This is not normal.  Hanging out near powerheads can often be a sign of disease - fish that have a higher need for oxygen (stressed fish, fish with parasites in the gills, etc) often will gravitate towards more flow and toward the surface.  Have to also wonder if there was something in the minnows?

Do you quarantine all new inhabitants to the tank - rock, inverts, fish, etc??

well he is actually sleeping under the power heads intake(the suction part, lowest flow in the tank), its a maxi jet, so no hes not infront of the out take current, sorry if i didnt make that understandable

last night he was swimming around again away from the power heads suction. could it be hes depressed? ive only had him 2 days so far. the girl at the petshop said he was very shy

i didnt quarantine anything because there is no live rock, only tufa rock and fake corals. the fish came from the same tank at the petshop, 2 damsels and the porcupine puffer, there are no other inhabitants in the tank.

i will try and get a picture of him later

i will try the krill again later on a veggie clip

well here he is, his name is Homer

he went for the hermits right away, he sucked one up, swooshed it around his mouth and spit it out. the hermit then walked away unharmed, not even a crack in his shell.

he didnt even see the sally lite foot yet

he then begged for his minnows

Hold off on the minnows.

Try squid head with tentacles or frozen prawn (ProSalt) - this have tempted even finicky feeders.

Really consider quarantining all things wet - crabs, snails, inverts are notorious for bringing in parasites.  Puffers are "ich magnets" and are very prone to external parasites.

The last thing a fasting puffer needs is parasites as this could really be a strain on its immune system and ability to cope.

Do a word search (upper right corner - control panel) for Vitamin B12 - I have used it many times for "jump starting" a fasting fish.