new puffer, need help with him

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rocky23
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new puffer, need help with him

Post by rocky23 »

okay, where to begin. i brought a small porcupine puffer on thursday from my lfs, saw him in there swimming okay and sometimes lieing down on the bottom but i had heared that was normal. i then saw it eat and it ate like a pig, they fed it brineshrimp and other small different kinds of shrimp. know i didn't go into buying him blind i read up and was told to get him of that kind of food as it will not sustane him in the long run, so once he was home i got him feeding on defrosted king prawns from the supermarket and frozen mussel meat. and i thought great he's eating and looks okay, if you want to see the proof of him swimming around in my tank okay then go to my thread and have a look on the last page. well he'd been alright till today, i woke up to him lieing down on the substrate and rock. this didn't worry me to much as he had done this from the start, but once the lights had been on a couple of minutes he's be swimming around waiting for his dinner, but today he wasn't so bothered. he just kind of sat there while i the mussel meat went floating by, he may have had the odd nibble. so i decided to add some krill, which he then bothered to swim out and eat a few pieces. so i thought well he was just having abit of a lazy day, but then he just went back and sat in the same place. so i cleaned the skimmer out and then put it back on, and then i decided to come back out have another little swim and just go back and sit down again. what i really want to know is, is this normal behaviour and should i be worried. this is the first marine puffer i've had, he's only small about 1 and half to 2 inches big. the only other fish that are in there are two chromis about the same size if not abit smaller. he hasn't bothered any of my snails or hermit crabs, but i do keep him well fed. i'm posting some pics up of him lying down on the substrate/rock, sorry about spelling
n03= 0
n02= o
ph= 8.2
ammonia= 0
salinity= 1.025
drj1259
Figure 8 Puffer
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Re: new puffer, need help with him

Post by drj1259 »

never owned one but im sure somebody will be along soon that can help you further but what size tank is it in??
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lesleyanndunn
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Re: new puffer, need help with him

Post by lesleyanndunn »

you will be asked to answer the Q's in red above.

and you shouldnt have a 0 reading for nitrates? this may indicate your tank is not cycled?
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Srkoe
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Re: new puffer, need help with him

Post by Srkoe »

How long has the tank been set up?
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Re: new puffer, need help with him

Post by Pufferpunk »

It is possible you are overfeeding him. I would also like to know tank size & how much live rock is in there? How long has the tank been set up?
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

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rocky23
Puffer Fry
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Re: new puffer, need help with him

Post by rocky23 »

i do have 0 nitrates and 0 nitrites, the tank has been set up for 5 months and he's in a 5ft aquarium 600 litres with sump. and 64kg of liverock, like i say he's only in there with two chromis and he's only a 1inch and half to 2 inches. i know he'll out grow the tank but am thinking on upgrading the tank in about a year, to a 8ft. but thats another story, i thought he had disapeared but i found him under a cave. i left him there until about 10 mins ago when i moved it as i wanted to feed him again but i knew he wouldn't be able to see it. but once i moved the rock he came out and then puffed up, i left him till he deflated and then tryed him with some prawn, which he normaly eats like a pig but he didn't bother with it. which is not like him, could he just be in a bit of a mood and full up or does there sound like there's anything wrong with him. to let you know he hasn't gone back under the cave he's just at the back of the tank, but he's not breathing fast or anything like that. and i can't see anything like white spot on him or any other bacterial infections. for the other filteration, i have a skimmer rated at 1500 litre per hour and a canister filter rated at 1000 litre per hour and then three powerheads rated at 3000 litre per hour and a spray bar rated at 500 litre per hour. lighting is metal halide, t5's and leds with a total of 150 watts although i can turn the lights of at different points so i can dim the lights if i want. i think thats everything
rocky23
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Joined: Mon Apr 18, 2011 10:34 am
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My Puffers: diodon holocanthus/ porcupine pufferfish
Location (country): United Kingdom, Leicester
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Re: new puffer, need help with him

Post by rocky23 »

lesleyanndunn wrote:you will be asked to answer the Q's in red above.

and you shouldnt have a 0 reading for nitrates? this may indicate your tank is not cycled?
they are 0
rocky23
Puffer Fry
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Re: new puffer, need help with him

Post by rocky23 »

i also do a 10% water change every week, and the cuc are hermit crabs and mexican turbo's, and i haven't done anything different scince i've had him. and i dripped him into the tank for just over 1 hour, i'm not a total newbie when it comes to marine as i've been in the hobby for 3 years. and i keep a reef tank also and it's doing great.
rocky23
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Re: new puffer, need help with him

Post by rocky23 »

some good news just used the torch to have a look in the tank as the tank as well as the room was in total darkness and he was out of the cave swimming around just like when i got him and he was eating some prawn that was left in the tank. i think he was just having one of those days where he didn't want anyone to see him, well i'll keep you updated tomorrow about him.
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Punkster, the 4" red T miurus
Mongo, the 4" A modestus
2 T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
Also kept:
lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles
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Re: new puffer, need help with him

Post by Pufferpunk »

How often are you feeding him? Try skipping a day during the week.

Lesley, It is sometimes common for an understocked, SW tank to have 0 nitrate. That's why we recommended bringing high-end BW fish up into SW. With live rock/sand & a decent skimmer, it is easily possible to achieve.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
rocky23
Puffer Fry
Posts: 29
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Re: new puffer, need help with him

Post by rocky23 »

Pufferpunk wrote:How often are you feeding him? Try skipping a day during the week.

Lesley, It is sometimes common for an understocked, SW tank to have 0 nitrate. That's why we recommended bringing high-end BW fish up into SW. With live rock/sand & a decent skimmer, it is easily possible to achieve.
yeah thanks for the advice as he's small i've noticed he'll only eat one meal a day at the moment, for some time of the day he dose like to sit on the substrate though is this normal. i've had a few people say it is, but i'd like an expert to conform this. he's eaten his breakfast to day which he pigged aload of prawn and eat some krill at dinner time but i tried to feed him tonight but he wasn't really bothered with it. i think i'll just stick to 2 meals a day. thanks again for the advice so far
Black Widow

Re: new puffer, need help with him

Post by Black Widow »

rocky23 wrote:
Pufferpunk wrote:How often are you feeding him? Try skipping a day during the week.

Lesley, It is sometimes common for an understocked, SW tank to have 0 nitrate. That's why we recommended bringing high-end BW fish up into SW. With live rock/sand & a decent skimmer, it is easily possible to achieve.
yeah thanks for the advice as he's small i've noticed he'll only eat one meal a day at the moment, for some time of the day he dose like to sit on the substrate though is this normal. i've had a few people say it is, but i'd like an expert to conform this. he's eaten his breakfast to day which he pigged aload of prawn and eat some krill at dinner time but i tried to feed him tonight but he wasn't really bothered with it. i think i'll just stick to 2 meals a day. thanks again for the advice so far
HEYA ROCKY ITS PRITTSTICK FROM UR, I see your settling in nicely and having madness with your first puffer :D. Alls well from what I have read so far seems like hes settling in nicely! I wouldnt worry too much about your puffer not eating now again when they get over fed they tend not too eat for a while while they digest their last meal. When I had a porky puffer he would do the same thing stuff himself then not eat for a day then all of a sudden the hunger would come back again. I think following the advice given above is good and you should follow it! Keep his diet Varied and try not to over feed him as hes still very small :) .

You have to understand puffers are very lazy / greedy fish so its quite easy to over feed them. They are lazy in the fact that they spend most of their time lying on the substrate looking at you like your dopey :lol: :lol: :lol:, so this is normal behaviour. Try put your hand under his belly and tickle him, my puffers love being tickled :P

Hows he doing with the flow in your tank, isit too powerful or does he swim well?
rocky23
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Re: new puffer, need help with him

Post by rocky23 »

Walrus Head wrote:
rocky23 wrote:
Pufferpunk wrote:How often are you feeding him? Try skipping a day during the week.

Lesley, It is sometimes common for an understocked, SW tank to have 0 nitrate. That's why we recommended bringing high-end BW fish up into SW. With live rock/sand & a decent skimmer, it is easily possible to achieve.
yeah thanks for the advice as he's small i've noticed he'll only eat one meal a day at the moment, for some time of the day he dose like to sit on the substrate though is this normal. i've had a few people say it is, but i'd like an expert to conform this. he's eaten his breakfast to day which he pigged aload of prawn and eat some krill at dinner time but i tried to feed him tonight but he wasn't really bothered with it. i think i'll just stick to 2 meals a day. thanks again for the advice so far
HEYA ROCKY ITS PRITTSTICK FROM UR, I see your settling in nicely and having madness with your first puffer :D. Alls well from what I have read so far seems like hes settling in nicely! I wouldnt worry too much about your puffer not eating now again when they get over fed they tend not too eat for a while while they digest their last meal. When I had a porky puffer he would do the same thing stuff himself then not eat for a day then all of a sudden the hunger would come back again. I think following the advice given above is good and you should follow it! Keep his diet Varied and try not to over feed him as hes still very small :) .

You have to understand puffers are very lazy / greedy fish so its quite easy to over feed them. They are lazy in the fact that they spend most of their time lying on the substrate looking at you like your dopey :lol: :lol: :lol:, so this is normal behaviour. Try put your hand under his belly and tickle him, my puffers love being tickled :P

Hows he doing with the flow in your tank, isit too powerful or does he swim well?
thanks mate, yeah the puffer is great he's got a routine now. which is if he has prawn at night before lights out then i know he will not start swimming till about 12:00pm, if i feed him frozen before ligths out then he'll come out about 10:00pm for his breakfast. then he'll do a little swim for about 10 mins after breakfast then he'll go and lie down for a good few hours then he'll do his afternoon swim for about 30 mins. then he'll be on the look out for food then i might feed him some frozen etc... then he'll lay down for about and hour then he'll have about 2 hours of swimming time maby more till about half 9 at night until he wants his mid night snack, which he'll eat and stay out for about 10 mins then go and lie down. then once all lights are out they go out at 10 at night, i look with the torch and and see him doing laps. i even see him at night about 1 in the morning if i come down to get a drink then i'll have alook with the torch and he'll be swimming while all the other fish have gone to sleep. i think he spends all his time awake at night. but today i brought some live clams in shells today and so i put one in the tank, which he took interest in but didn't take a bite then i went out for about 2 hours and came back to the shell wide open and half a piece of clam. so tonight i've put another one in so i'll see if it's gone in the morning.
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fugu99
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Re: new puffer, need help with him

Post by fugu99 »

I was wondering how big your puffer is. Could we see a pic? I havent seen porcupine puffers that often :D I only feed my F8s one day, but if your puffer is bigger than that Im sure two feedings is probably okay. But yeah, skipping one day a week is a good idea so you dont overfeed and they can clean out their system real good. They sometimes get bored eating the same thing, I noticed that my puffers liked bloodworms mostly but the other day when I added in some brine shrimp they ignored the bloodworms entirely and ate all the brine shrimp first, I was shocked. But it drove home to me the idea that they just dont eat what you stick in front of them (they wont eat off a jumbo shrimp anymore, they just ignore it). It sounds otherwise like you have everything under control, I just wanted to give you a bit more affirmation that your feeding schedule was okay. I hear that sometimes a moody recently transferred puffer will go on an eating strike, length of time probably varies with size and type of puffer. I wanna see your tank too! Pics please? :D
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rocky23
Puffer Fry
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Re: new puffer, need help with him

Post by rocky23 »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVi-TU9nft4
theres a video i don't know how to post pics sorry, not fed him today as there's been two clams in the tank and he's been pecking at them
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