New Dwarf Puffers Not Eating!

Oh no! Sick fish?! Come here and see if someone can help!
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Read this before posting!!

Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.

1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.

2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.

3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)

4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.

5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.

We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.

While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.

Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
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Jason Ha
Puffer Fry
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Mar 26, 2017 11:37 pm
Location (country): Houston, Texas

New Dwarf Puffers Not Eating!

Post by Jason Ha »

Hey everyone, I'm new to the forum so please take it easy on me. ;-)

I been keeping two dwarf puffers in a fully cycled 10 gallon tank for about a month now. (One male, one female) The tank itself is moderately planted and the water parameters are all in check. (Temperature - 78F pH - 7.1 Nitrite 0.0 Nitrate <50) I do a 50-55% water change weekly. The two puffers that I been keeping are doing great. They eat like pigs and are always plump and happy.

On Friday, I decided to add two more additions to the family. (Both female) So that makes for four dwarf puffers in a 10 gallon tank. I know, I know don't chew me out just yet. I do plan to move them to a 20 gallon long very soon. In all honesty I don't think i'll need to move them anytime soon. They seem to all enjoy each others company and hardly ever chase or show aggression towards one another. The three females always stick together, while the male guards his driftwood home. All four of the puffers are approximately an inch each, so they're not babies anymore.

So here's the problem. The two puffers I just received haven't been eating at all. Its been two days since I've gotten them. They seem perfectly fine and show no signs of IP (Internal Parasites). Just as a precaution, I've been treating the tank with Tetra Safeguard. All of the puffers are always around and about. Either surfing the glass or bobbing and weaving through the plants. They never lay in one spot in the back of the tank. (like most DPs with IPs do) I really don't suspect IPs to be effecting their appetite, but just as another precaution, I ordered PraziPro via Amazon Prime.

I feed my DPs frozen blood worms only, The two puffers I've been keeping for a month now love eating them. I wish it was the same for the others. The two puffers I got Friday will not eat the frozen blood worms. I know they're hungry because their tummies are flat. When it's feeding time the two puffers watch as the other two devour the blood worms. They only ever seem interested when the worms are falling towards the tank floor. Which leads me to believe they only like live food. I'm a college student and can't really afford live foods, nor does the LFS offer any. The puffers bite and nibble at the blood worms but never fully eat it. They look like they're about to eat the entire blood worm, just to spit it out at the end. I tried to add garlic to the blood worms only to have the same outcome.

I really can't afford to maintain a steady supply of live food. My question to the lovely members of ThePufferForum is, after awhile the DPs will get very very hungry, will the DPs starve themselves to death before eating the frozen blood worms? I'm really concerned and I want the new DPs to be plump and happy like the other two. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance everyone, really looking forward to your replies. :D
User avatar
eieio
Mbu Puffer
Posts: 1033
Joined: Sat Jun 13, 2009 11:34 am
My Puffers: *
The Congo Puffer:
"olivia"
and.......
The DP:
"cream puff"
RIP cream puff :-(
Location (country): U.S.A.
Location: Prescott, Arizona

Re: New Dwarf Puffers Not Eating!

Post by eieio »

OK, I'll go easy on you.........
you should have stuck with two
answer ALL the questions in the red box, above
and what is the ammonia reading?
are you using liquid test kits or test strips? (the strips are garbage!)
overcrowding can cause stress, might be your problem
what were the new puffers eating before you got them?
treat all for IPs, soak their food in the medications, don't put the meds in the water
dwarfs often suck the "innards" out of bloodworms, and leave the "skin" behind
bloodworms are not a well rounded diet, defrost them & soak them in vitamins
get some blackworms, mail order
get some ramshorn or pond snails
college student or not, it is your obligation to feed and house these fish properly
there, wasn't that easy? :)
Last edited by eieio on Mon Mar 27, 2017 9:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"I plan ahead. That way, I don't have to do anything right now!"
User avatar
eieio
Mbu Puffer
Posts: 1033
Joined: Sat Jun 13, 2009 11:34 am
My Puffers: *
The Congo Puffer:
"olivia"
and.......
The DP:
"cream puff"
RIP cream puff :-(
Location (country): U.S.A.
Location: Prescott, Arizona

Re: New Dwarf Puffers Not Eating!

Post by eieio »

......also, some people have success soaking the food in a little garlic juice, the logic being that the fish like the taste
"I plan ahead. That way, I don't have to do anything right now!"
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