My GSP hates me

[J-P]

is it possible that you can post a pic of the tank?

[Pufferfreak42]

This is his home. There's hiding places as well as a background. The first pic is the current lighting in his tank.

[J-P]

lovely tank! Lots of open water though... maybe the higher ups can recomend something Don't give up yet!

[Pufferfreak42]

Thanks JP and thanks for the compliments on the tank.

[By_a_coo]

I recommend you not to give up! Two months are such a short period for him. If he's not used to you, try to avoid moving the decor, put some dark cardboards on tank's sides, don't keep a bright light in the tank and don't feed him everyday (this will force him to explore the tank for food).

Understand that each puffer has its own personality, what if you re-home him and get a new skittish puffer?

[Pufferfreak42]

I don't want to give him away, I adore him, he's the cutest gsp I've ever seen. I just wish he'd not be so afraid of me. The tank light isn't on during the day as he's now closer to the window. I turn on the light in the evening and with it being a blue light, the tank is pretty dark.

I remove all the decor when I do my weekly cleaning but I put everything back in it's original spot. If I don't feed him, there's no chance of him finding anything to eat as he eats EVERYTHING as soon as it's put in the tank. There's no problem with his appetite, he not picky either.

I also considered if I got a replacement, the new one could be worse. I just want him to be happy, and happy with me. It's weird being distraught over a fish. I feel like I'm forcing him to love me. Crazy huh?

[Nick]

You remove all the decor every week? That could have something to do with him freaking out around you - they often don't like having the decor touched. Try leaving it for a few weeks at least.

[SammyDee]

I find they are are colorful and happier to see you when the water parimeters are very good or near perfect. Many say they are alot happier and much much brighter in full marine.

[pufferpuggirl]

I'm in agreement with Nick, leave the decor. I don't take things out of my tank, and I don't think you should have to. That probably has alot to do with him freaking out, because he sees you as the disruptor and it probably scares him each time you remove things.

Can I also suggest that you stop feeding twice a day and give up on the freeze-dried shrimp? I don't like any of the freeze-dried stuff, and I can't believe there's much nutrition in it. Do you soak the bloodworms in vitamins at all? I feed my GSP's mussels, shrimp (the kind for human consumption), and of course snails regularly for their teeth, bloodworms and occasionally earthworms. But I only feed in the early evening.

[jus85411]

i have read a few articles that say to switch up the decor every once in a while. i do that but its only every couple months. i agree with the fish seeing you as a disruptor of his environment and might think thats what you are going to do everytime you come near the tank. just do it less often, the tank doesnt have too much to it in order for you to have to take everything out. put your finger in the tank sometimes, let him investigate it, pull up a chair in front of the tank and just sit there without sudden movements he will come out to check out what your doing.

[Pufferfreak42]

I do remove all the decor every week, it just makes it easier to vacuum the substrate. I do the same in my large tank, the pieces I can get out that is but everything gets moved out of the way to vacuum. I can leave all the decor in if that helps, absolutely.

This is the brand of freeze dried shrimp I use. It came with my other tank as I bought it used so I thought it would be perfect for Puff Puff.

http://www.tradekey.com/product_view/id/1230064.htm

I check the params and do 50% water change every week, like clockwork. I'm gradually increasing the salinity weekly so my bioload don't crash. It's currently at 1.010. I have 0 nitrites and 0 nitrates. My pH is always high at 8.5 but I won't fool around with that as products to reduce pH doesn't work. I want a high salinity but not full marine. The water is also on the hard side but I don't want to use chemicals to lower it either.

I don't use vitamins as I have no clue what to get. Is there a vitamin for fish, puffers rather? If that helps, I'll get some immediately. I was looking at mussels and clams, but they are huge, how can he access those? I won't be able to cut them pieces as the shells are too hard, what do you do? If I give him a larger than normal snail he just sucks it out so he's not getting the benefit of the shell. I've also given him some earthworm, he loves everything I put in there to eat, I'm happy he has an appetite, a good one at that. I sat on the coffee table this morning after giving him his shrimp and bloodworms but as soon as he seen me watching him, he swam away from the worms so I just left him alone so he can eat in peace. Maybe I should have stayed there. I also put my finger in on occassion but he just freaks out.

Should I just feed him once a day? Morning or evening? Should I remove the blue light and put back the regular daylight one so the tank is brighter in the evening?

Thank you all so much for your suggestions and help. You have no idea how much I appreciate it.

[jus85411]

what i usually see recommended on here and what i purchased and use is Selcon gel. while you defrost any frozen foods, or just soak the food anyway put .5 ml on the food and let it soak for a while. moving the decor to vacuum is good, i just wouldnt do it everytime you do a water change. you can always just wave the tube around the decor to try and move the waste from behind the rocks and then get it. but i wouldnt completely tear his home apart everytime you do a water change. marine salts buffer your ph to be about 8.0 which is where mine is at. i have never really played around with different color lights to see if he seemed to be freaked out by different colors. i would just feed once a day, the time is up to you(i do later at night like 9 or 10ish because i usually work my second job after my full time job). the snails they say to feed ones that are about the size of his eye, so if your feeding bigger ones i would try to get smaller ones that would be close to that size. if they are too large they cant bite the shell trying to get them out and probably do what yours does and just suck it out of the shell. but other than being really skittish for now, it seems like you have a nice happy healthy puffer. if he wasnt happy i dont think he would be eating as well as he does or as willingly. just keep making yourself be by his tank for a good amount of time each night and with less disruptive environmental changes for him and the more he sees you when your not doing anything disruptive to him the more he should come around and be more social with you.

or get a powerhead to get rid of the dead zones behind decor

[Pufferfreak42]

Thanks jus. I'm going to get some selcon gel the next time I'm in town. The closest town that has pet stores is 45 minutes away. I do give him the smaller snails so he can eat the shells, I was trying to make the point on are they able to crack and eat the shells of mussels, etc as they are so much larger than his tiny mouth. I'm also going to change the light, he was more active when it's brighter in there. Thanks so much for your help.

[jus85411]

i dont think they will be able to get them open themselves, but take a hammer to it and pull off some shell so you leave the meat exposed. you can also take a hammer to it and freeze the pieces for whenever you want(also gets rid of any nasties that might be in there) to defrost in the water with selcon and feed. no problem on the help, just want to try and help you enjoy your puffer as much as i enjoy mine. if i stick my finger in the water he will stalk and investigate it and rub his body against it. i got him to start doing that by just keeping my finger in the water, move it when he was trying to bite it and as he would swim by i would slowly lower my finger a little to make it so it rubbed on his body. kind of wanted to make sure he didnt see me as a threat, im sure after him feeling me touch him he knew if i wanted to hurt him i could easily. and now hes like one of my boys and greets me and roommates everyday when we get home

[Pufferfreak42]

Awe, that's what I want to be able to do. To have him come greet me with that smiling face and eventually allow me to pet him like I'm able to pet Lola, my Oscar.