Building up my first FW tank

[puffykid]

They appreciate a varied diet some other stuff you could tempt her with are mysis / brine shrimp tubifex worms, they also enjoy hunting snails if you throw some in you can probably watch her hunt. Thats good about her activity and ich spots! sounds like she will be up and about soon

[Lukedt95]

What type of snails should I get? I'm guessing they should be small, seeing as she's tiny atm.

Could I feed her some small garden snails? Or would that pollute the water?

[puffykid]

Ramshorn snails are good, when you breed a new generation and feed em healthy foods which is called gutloading. The problem with garden snails is that you don't know what they have been eating and could have pesticides or harmful stuff. You could ask someone in UK to mail you some that they have raised to start you off.

[Lukedt95]

You can order those on eBay, I'll probably go to my LFS tomorrow and ask for some, I saw some massive snails but they're obviously not suitable lol.

Yeah, That's what I thought, too risky. What about those tiny snails you can find in ponds?

[Lukedt95]

Just went out today and got 12 Glass shrimp for £1.50, she came out to see them but didn't attack them or anything, I'm hoping she'll eat something soon, any reason why she doesn't want to eat?

[puffykid]

Puffers being smarter then the average fish will often hunger strike when they are first brought home, plus she is probably feeling stressed from a combination of the ich, high temperature and the salinity. I still wouldn't worry to much about her not eating as long as she doesn't appear to be starving or wasting away. You could always try some garlic extract if you are worried.

[Lukedt95]

Ok, She looks a lot better and comes out every now and again to see me, she's still not 100% though.

I've put the Ghost Shrimp in there and they've already eaten the blood worm I put in there for her earlier today. They're pretty funny to watch.

Do you think when she settles in, she'll go after one?

[bertie 83]

It depends on the individual puffer, but they are certainly capable of taking ghost shrimp out lol.

[bertie 83]

Try soaking a little food with some crushed garlic, it can sometimes be enough to get them to eat. She may just be settling in so keep an eye and see how you go

[Lukedt95]

If she hasn't tried to get any of those shrimp by tomorrow, I'll soak some of her blood worms in garlic. How should I go about the soaking?

Also, how long do you think she'll take to settle in?

[bertie 83]

Puffers can take a week to ten days to settle. For garlic soaking crush a clove of garlic and put it in warm water with the food for an hour or so.

[Lukedt95]

And I'm guessing throughout that period they won't eat much if at all?

I'm probably just worrying too much but I wish she'd eat something. She ate the first day I got her, but I think that Ich really knocked it outta' her.

[puffykid]

What temperature is the tank? Is it at 82 or 84? and when was the last time she ate? Ya, it's most likely the ich making her feel lame, but the temperature may play a part. They suggest 84 but if the puffer is showing discomfort to lower it, can you throw in a airstone or a powerhead to get extra circulation to help with gas exchange? The higher the temperature the lower the amount of dissolved oxygen can be in the water.


also maybe garlic extract?

[Lukedt95]

The tanks temperature is at 84, but I've put an air pump in there and there's plenty of oxygen in the water.

Will the Ich Definitely be gone by the end of the 10 days? The last time she ate was about 5 days ago. I'm going to try the Garlic tomorrow.

[Lukedt95]

I soaked some bloodworms in garlic and dropped them in right by her, she ate a few which is encouraging, the shrimps ate the rest lol.

She also tried to go for a shrimp but it got away.