The Puffer Forum

Update: he is greatly slimmed down now, working on some new pics. While far from thin, he doesn't look like an aquatic jabba anymore. As for the gent w' the rescue puffer....you could do it for a few months if you have a protein skimmer on the 75. Eventually you will have to upgrade but if your filt...

He is quite shy/timid and now has to compete for food w' the big boys in the 210. While its hard to absolutely ensure his intake (unless he is in qt) that should thin him down. He doesn't swim around that much, kinda just does the "brown blimp" act. He was dominating the feedings in the 75...

I love my girlfriend but sometimes her fish are an issue unto themselves.... A 5-6" dogface that is fast becoming morbidly obese. He's been put in the 210 with our golden (A. Meleagris) and a few other fish as he was getting just too fat in the 75 gallon. http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d150/...

sorry but it will not let me edit last post.... Here is the tank background: both puffers in question are in a 210 gallon tank with the following: 10" or so green wolf eel about as big around as a sharpie marker, a juv emperor angel 4-5", a 4" purple tang, and a 5" harley tusk. T...

Hi Kelly, thanks for the info. Are you saying both the "pancake" behavior AND the tail out/fins at side/rigid pose are BOTH aggressive/territorial behaviors? I know the pancake type posture ususally is aggressive/defensive pose. I had never seen the other behavior before and was more curio...

Petco is about as close to fishy Auschwitz on a mass scale as I have seen.... Had to buy a small bag of salt there one night to finish a water change (they were the only store still open) and they made the mistake of giving us the number/code to a "feedback survey". To this day I don't thi...

I've had a longhorn cowfish for almost two years now. He went from not much above fingernail size to about 5-6" (not counting horns). He out-eats my puffers per capita and eats EVERYTHING. If nobody else will eat it, he will.... Awesome personality even for someone used to puffers. Just be mind...

Observed my 10" golden puffer (A. Meleagris) and my 6" dogface (A. Nigropuncatus) meeting last week. The golden kept coming up to the dogface and performing a very specific set of motions. I was curious if this has been documented anywhere (or arothron social behavior period). When he appr...

you can also take a clamshell or mussell shell and pack shrimp or whatever substance you want but I usually just buy more clams/mussells at the local fresh market.... only had one puffer that was an algae lover but that not so little S&S looked like an aquatic jabba the hutt.... peas seem to be ...

They are really fun. My girlfriend is probably more attached to our longhorn cowfish than she is to me. Big deal I know...but if you get them in the 2" or so size and have a low aggression tank they should do well. Keep a close eye on their personal eating habits. If they devour dried seaweed (...

Okay, this one may seem obvious but after reading some posts - I have had great luck with finding the theoretical good mix of puffer foods (mysis - store bought, fresh w' shell shrimp, scallops, clams, squid, etc) that I buy from a ethnic/oriental market. Just make sure it has no/minimal preservativ...

Oh, as for live food....petsmart (insert local chain here) can do some good live food if he is hesitant to eat. Just remember to pull the large pincer off the crabs (fiddler less pincer = good live food) you offer him to make sure they don't damage your puffer. Gut loaded (use search function) ghost...

Okay, the accilimation didn't go great.... So next step is what to do with him now?! Right...Sounds like he is stressed. Exactly what reading did you do to confirm you needed a diodon holocanthus? In any case, you can either do a separate tank for the short term or take stress as low as possible by ...

how is the water quality? sounds like you did a crappy acclimation, for this reason it may be a touch and go situation for a while. invest in some airline tubing to do drip acclimations. the $2 will save you the probable 30 to 40 you spent on the little critter. hope he makes it, keep trying.

We are well aware of the ostratoxin issue and keep an eye on the cowfish to make sure nobody bothers/nips/harasses him and that his health is good. However; he is an uber hearty fish since day one and is the oldest member (in residence) of that tank. Its a very low aggression tank (personality of ea...