rescued a Palembang puffer!

[Pufferpunk]

Alright!!!

[AquaMike]

I have a question about a treat for the little guy. Petco had a fiddler crab for a nice cheap price so figured I could use it for a snack. Is this a good idea, or not? My main concern is its claw, which I know is mainly for show. However, they can still grab small things with it. Would the crab be able to hurt a puffer of this size. I figured since he is already interested in live shrimp, and the crab is slow, this would be a step up in the invert diet, while also aiding his teeth (which is not a big concern with this species).

[Pufferpunk]

Puffer's skin is thick like leather & covered in spines, so pretty hard to damage. But this guy's in a poorly state, so you could remove the claws to be sure.

[AquaMike]

GOOD NEWS!

We have progress in his eating. He ate TWO earthworms from off my tongs today! I also got 2 fiddler crabs, which were both pretty small. I did declaw them just in case, which is very easy if done right. There are videos online of how to do a nice clean break so you won't kill it. I never knew how fast crabs could be! They didn't really want to eat anything for gutloading, and gave the puffer a run for his money. I ended up holding one with my tongs.

One got pretty demolished, but there is still a lone survivor in there. I think they may be too big for the puffer at this time. He seemed to have a hard time with them. Maybe the shell was too hard, but I doubt that. He took about a third of the crab and all but 1 of its legs. I had to take the poor thing out after the puffer decided he was done...couldn't just finish the job. So I may just hold off on trying a crayfish for awhile.

Oh, and I found a couple extra ghost shrimp survivors. One on a tall java fern and the other cowering in the holey rock. Plus 2 that I knew were there must have got scared and jumped into my breeder box, which was crazy considering it's at the top of the tank surround by floating plants.

[Pufferpunk]

[AquaMike]

let's add frozen krill and even bloodworms to the mix now! He ate them both as long as I moved them a little on the tongs. He does get easily distracted though. If something moves by him like a ghost shrimp he'll go to that even if he's mid-strike. He even does that when he's about to eat another ghost shrimp. He was always lurking around the tank before but I feel like he is always hungry now. Maybe he finally realized that it's just him, no competition, and he can pretty much eat whatever he wants.

It's like he changed over night. He deserves a crayfish. I'll let you know how that goes later.

[Pufferpunk]

[AquaMike]

I had to capture the crayfish today. Boy is he fast, too fast for the puffer. He was also declawed. He just kept hiding, for obvious reasons, and I didn't want him to go after my plants at this point. My puffer had no interest with him between my tongs. I think he was scared of its legs. So I gave him just the tail and he was fine. Top part, not so much. I'm going to save the crays for larger puffers that can swallow them whole or bite them in half. It was kind of big for my puffer.

He shows no interest in snails, which is bizarre. So I've had a nerite in there to help with cleaning duties. I'm going to actually try something to help me with the tank. I'm going to put in some RCS tomorrow (just a few to see if he will even notice something that small), a few assassin snails (eat some of my bladder snails in there as well as some leftovers since they are carniverous, and even burrow/sift through my sand), and even a FW clam (to filter feed everything that gets stirred up and also minor sand sifting). If it all works, flippin fantastic, if not I will be ready to save them. I monitor this tank all the time so I'll keep you updated.

I've also been using my turkey baster and small net for skimming more. He is such a pig and leaves a mess. WCs are very religious with this tank, trying to do more. I totally forgot until now that I have a FW surface skimmer. Will this work with floating plants though?

[AquaMike]

I forgot I had a FW surface skimmer, but after I plugged it in it seems like a lot of extra flow in my tank. Which I would normally like. This guy now has a sponge filter, canister filter with spray bar, and the skimmer moving water. Do you think it's too much?

Btw, his eating is great. Had a couple earthworms tonight and did Not make a big mess. I just can't wait till he's back into tip top shape and I can start feeding him less

[AquaMike]

Needed an update. He's doing great and wanted to say hi

*Also, I noticed he slightly changes colors, more darker and lighter at times. Is this normal, or a sign of anything? Nothing is constant, or has triggered this, as far as I now. Just sometimes his spots pop more, other times he's darker, sometimes lighter, but always seems happy.

[Pufferpunk]

He looks soooo much better!
And yeah, puffers do that...

[AquaMike]

You already mentioned his color changes are normal. However, he also seems to have his "hump" be more prominent at times as well. Going to guess this is normal too? Any reason why they would do this?

It has also been a month since I got him so his present was a ton of ghost shrimp. Happy hunting!

[TheStig]

What soulful eyes!

So glad he is thriving under your care. Not many people will take that risk of rescuing a fish, because of what it usually means. Great beginning for this guy! Thanks for the update.