i have a new "little man" in my life ;)

[kilofey]

so i just broke up with my boyfriend of 3 years... even though it was my choice, i was naturally kinda bummed... i mean 3 years is a long time... anyway... so i decided to take a trip to my not-so-local LFS about 45min-1hour away... i decided to go there, just to look at all the pretty fish, they always seem to cheer me up... so i was walking down the isles of tanks... and in the corner, on the very bottom of the wall of tanks, in very last isle... i found this little guy. he was in a 15gal bare bottom tank and looked really sad, giving me those puppy eyes.... when i saw him... my heart totally went out to him... he was sad, i was sad... thought we could make a happy little couple so i asked the employee about him... the guy said originally he was 49.99, but had been reduced to 24.99... i thought well, he seems to be healthy... hes just depressed. so i asked why. the employee said hes been here so long, no body wants him... so i brought him home yesterday... he is now going to be living in a big planted 55gal! all to himself the LFS employee told me he is a red eye... but he looks different than the one in the pufferpedia... but he does seem to have some big redish orangy eyes... so i guess he probably is. (pls correct me if hes not a red eye) hes roughly 3" maybe a little more... to me he looks alot more like a phalembang rather than a red eye... hes got those leopard spots on his belly, the orangy eyes, hes kinda got a hump on his back like one of the phalembangs in the puffer pedia, his mouth is up-turned a bit (similar to the congo, but not as pronounced)... and his colors are generally a little more similar to a phalembang, though he is quite dark right now because of trip home, but the pattern is similar. he has VERY large buggy eyes, which leads me to think he could be older than what he appears but his growth maybe has been stunted a little from being in a 15gal... which would also make sense if it were a phalembang, since they get 8"... i dunno, what do you think?

the only problem is i had to divide the tank temporarily because i have to take the drive to a LFS that buys fish so that i can sell my red devil. plan on taking care of that tomorrow. thinking of using the store credit for a nice piece of drift wood.

well, anyway i ended up naming him Valentino (as in valentine), since he was my little pick me up after things with sour with my ex

sorry about the dark pix... ill try to get some better ones

[Flutter]

Very cute! Can't wait to see the new pictures

[doraemon]

Sorry about your break up but congrats on your new lil man...id go with Palembang

[Pufferpunk]

At least this one will never break your Definitely a Palem. They always seem a lil depressed to me.

[Nick]

At least this one will never break your Definitely a Palem. They always seem a lil depressed to me.

Yes, my puffers reinforce my existence by always affectionately calling on me for food, and even, when they are done eating, raw attention. The puffer "gusto" for food exceeds their bellies... so even though my puffers quite often feed to the point where they will eat no more, they will still exhibit "begging" behaviors and seem pleasured/content (given enough time) when I interact with them in a way similar to feeding, but which does not deliver food... even subtle things like just wathcing them for a long period, or playing my fingers on the surface of the water. I can not help but wonder if part of why we are so easily fascinated by puffers is their 'hunger beyond physiological hunger," which causes some of them to continue hunger-based behaviors and calling for attention, resonates on some base leveal with some of the simple and primitive "beyond hunger" behaviors which eventually lead to our incredible evolutionary success. Essentially, I think we see in puffer fish something of what made us what we are, endless generations in the past - they are a fish which relies on problem-solving(breaking open mollusks, nibbling on snails, opportunistically gobbling the fins of other fish...) in order to function well. It was also problem-solving behavior which set our ape ancestors on the path that would lead us to factories, mass production, machine labor and ultimately our place in modern sociosubstanantive postindustrial society on the whole.

DLDR - in the behavior of puffer fish we see the behavior of primitive humanity, and thus see ourselves. Therefore, we feel an affection for these fish as we would much closer blood-kin.

[kilofey]

At least this one will never break your Definitely a Palem. They always seem a lil depressed to me.

ahhh man... today, i met someone new... and OMG i dont mean to turn TPF into a "lets chit chat about guys" forum... but... man... i dont know why i wasted 3 years of my life with that last guy (which i now realize was a total freeloading, jobless douche bag)... i had my eye on this new guy for a little while though... okay, i have to brag a little... hes the head of IT with his company, has a degree, owns a house, has a BEAUTIFUL car, and ginuinely treats me like a lady & showers me with compliments omg AND he fixed my computer, bought me a router (though i did protest b/c i felt bad about him spending money on me) and he took me out to dinner (which i also felt wierd about letting him pay)... aaahhhh finally... lol okay... im sorry guys... i know no one cares... he just left so im still on like cloud 9.... no cloud 20

any hoo.....

hey PP, can you tell me a little more about them? i read the puffer pedia... have you ever had one? whats the best thing to feed him? and can they be fed frozen foods and if so, which kinds? i know they are pisc.... err... they eat fish. i cant spell the word... someone help me out with it lol anyway... what would you feed? i think my LFS has feeder guppies or maybe they are feeder danios, they are small, teeny tiny little guys... i really dont have the room for a breeding tank... though i suppose i could use a divider with small enough holes that they cant swim though... just give them like 10-15gal or so... for now though i suppose he'll have to have store bought guppies/danios until i begin to grow some... BTW, how often do palembangs eat? is it every 3 days like the fahaka or every day like other fish? i know i kinda didnt research this guy before i bought him... especially since i thought i was buying something else... but im actually happy he turned out to be a palem rather than a red eye, hes a better size. anyway, i suppose i can learn as i go, i can provide the tank space for him, and feeding live fish wont be a problem, are they picky eaters? what else do they eat? anything?

[pufferpuggirl]

Congratulations!! It's definitely a Palembang, and you want to say they are a piscivore, however, mine have been reticent to eat live fish. I feed mine most regular foods that my other puffers love: jumbo shrimp, mussels, earthworms, and a little bit of bloodworm too. The other Palembang that I had (unfortunately died) was extremely picky and was very difficult to feed, but Tooie, the Palembang that I have now is really good about eating, and has a healthy appetite.

Personally kilofey, unless you can't get your Palembang to eat other foods, I would skip the live foods for him. I feed live fish to my Congo (miurus) puffers, but that's because they seem very keen on eating live foods, but as you can't be certain the live fish you have are IP-free, I would not jeopardise your fish by taking that chance, but that's just me.

Don't expect alot of activity out of this puffer, mine likes to lay (literally) in the plastic plant that I have in there. I have a sandy substrate, but I've never seen my Palembang bury itself, although I think sand is probably better for their belly since they lay on the substrate most of the time (if they don't have a plant to hang in).

This puffer will grow to be about 8" long, but they don't require as much space as a more active puffer of that size. I have mine in a 25-gallon tank and I believe that's fine for him. I think they are nice puffers, have always liked them and am really happy that I got another chance at having one, it was very sad to lose my other one.

Anyway, I think you will be very happy with your little guy, but I really would steer away from live foods, and I would try all sorts of other foods first. If he seems picky at first, you might want to try earthworms. Mine would only eat earthworms for the first two weeks, but now he will accept lots of different foods, which is good. Even when I've had live fish in the tank with my other Palembang, I never seen him take them, I think the suvattii was eating them. And I've never bothered to offer Tooie any live fish and don't think I will.

I've been feeding my guy lightly every day except Wednesday, that's our skip day, although I think other people may have other ideas about how often to feed.

Happy Puffing!

[kilofey]

PPG- thanks for the info... i couldnt pass him up when i saw him... guess its a good thing i have a 55gal for him, cause when i bought him, i assumed he was full grown b/c i was told he was a red eye... i really like him. he already makes himself at home in this long grassy plant... i dont know what its called but it has long thick grass like blades that grow to the waters surface. i have other plants too, but that one seems to be his favorite, he kinda wedges himself in the blades at the base of the plant. i cant believe i found him, i called literally every LFS i could find on google within 60 miles looking for a medium-large sized FW puff... i wasnt even looking to buy a puff, i just wanted a little pick me up & thought looking at fish would do that.

i cant get him really to eat much right now, im thinking of calling the LFS and seeing what they fed him (hopefully its not gold fish). if by chance it is gold fish, and if i try everything else, and he seems hooked on gold fish, what should i do? cause i know LFS dont really care about proper feeding & will most likely just throw in feeders since their cheap. ive tried almost everything i have in the freezer including krill, which im not sure if he ate or not, cause he is in the same tank as a pleco and a crayfish (de-clawed) so im not sure who exactly ate the krill... but im hoping it was him... anyway, ill try out the earth worms, its raining today & will be the next few days, so maybe ill find one, rinse it, and soak it for a while in vitamins... see what happens.

im actually really happy hes a palembang instead of a red eye... cause that means he will get big im more keen on the larger puffs rather than the 2-3" ones... there more intrigueing than the small ones

[pufferpuggirl]

I'd try the earthworms, and if he doesn't take them first time around, keep trying. Sometimes they need to watch it move and then it hits them that it's something they should have and they will pounce it. My Palembang, Tooie, eyes it up good and sort of looks at it from a couple different angles and then goes in for the kill. Get yourself some mussels too. I get the big ones made for human consumption, and cut them in half. Most of my puffers LOVE them.

They are really nice puffers, my Tooie is fairly sociable too, unlike the previous one I had.

You named him Valentine? That's lovely.

** Oh, and the plant you said he likes to lay in, sounds alot like Vallis to me. Very nice plant, can get quite tall**

[kilofey]

i think thats what it is. i got it the same day i got him... how easy is it to grow? low light requireing?

[pufferpuggirl]

That's actually an easy plant to grow, not needing extreme light or CO2. It will even grow in a brackish tank to some degree (as long as the salinity isn't too high). And the good part about this plant, it propagates by runners under the substrate, so if the conditions are right, you will have lots of it before too long. I personally think it looks nice in a tank, especially when it's grown long enough to lay on the surface of the water. I've got a fairly deep tank, 30", and it's come all the way up to the top and is just starting to lay on the surface.

It's certainly nothing fancy, but I like it, can be a nice background and the fish seem to like it as well.

[Pufferpunk]

Go with PPG's advice--I've never kept one.

Be careful dating on the rebound. That fellow sounds like a keeper though!

[kilofey]

OMG! like i said, i know this isnt a "chit chat about guys forum" but i gotta vent. sorry in advance.

i JUST found out i was being cheated on the whole 3 years i was with that last guy. with 6 or 7 different girls.... one of them being my best friend of 17 years... been best friends since kindergarten... man... what a tough pill to swallow... and the worst part, shes literally the only friend i have. everyone else has moved away and we lost touch or i stopped talking to them cause i got screwed over in one way or another. man i wanna go knock her the fu** out... god! (sorry for the language)

PP- hes not a rebound... as of now, im SOOOOOO ready to move on... and why sit around and be depressed if theres someone who makes me happy... i know its soon... but hes pretty awesome... cant pass this one up

[Nick]

Don't get too attached too fast, get to know him before you emotionally invest. Visit his home, you can learn a LOT from that.

[mrgreen]

I agree with PP. Be wary of everything being perfect first thing. People are naturally going to be on their best behavior and go the extra mile to impress at first. That stars-your-eyes feeling can be very addictive but it also clouds your vision. None of that will last. He may seem so great, too, simply because he seems to be the complete opposite of your recent ex.