Puffer Newbie: Is my Stars and Stripes Puffer Healthy?

[jus85411]

i personally would see what i could do about getting that bigger tank up and running ASAP. how big is the S&S currently? and how big are tankmates? what is your water change schedule like? do you have any live rock? i would say that tank is way too overstocked to keep steadily >10 nitrates without changing 50% water twice a week. i think not only the trigger is intimidating him, but i think the space is stressing him out and not being able to pass whatever is in his belly. to me his belly seems a little too lumpy in the sets of pictures on the first page. only time i have ever really saw lumpy stomachs in person in a puff was ones in pet stores that showed the classic signs of IPs.

how long has this tank been set up and running??

[SkullV]

The tank has been set up for quite a while now and is fully cycled. This is the most perplexing fish I have ever owned. This morning he woke up like he always does to beg for food and then all of a sudden when no other fish were even on the same side of the tank as him he puffed up! As cool as it looked I know it's bad for them to puff so what is his reasoning for it? The even odder thing is that right after he released all the water and went back to normal size, he pooped, and went right back to begging and fanning his tail out. Maybe he was just constipated!

[jus85411]

sometimes certain types of puffs just puff for no reason. just kind of practice i guess?? if they do it on their own its fine for them but if they do it in a threatening situation is when its dangerous. also could have been a way for him to try and squeeze some out

[SkullV]

Just a little update. All seems well in the since the puffing/pooping episode this morning. Ulysses has been spending all day swimming around and fanning his tail every time i approach the tank. I just fed the tank their ONLY meal of the day (a cube of frozen PE mysis) and Ulysses and the trigger seem to get along just fine while eating and share all areas of the tank (other then the triggers secrete sleeping spot which we will never know about). I also upgraded the skimmer today to a coralife Superskimmer 225 and have a second sump and overflow AND reef octopus skimmer from craigslist coming to replace the canister filter. Even though the tank size will be a little small for the time being the water will be kept up with 100%.

Thanks so much for all your help. I finally thing things are going to be all good!

Just as a shameless plug here are some pictures of Ulysses's tank, tank mates, and my little pico-reef I'm starting. I'll post them in the marine tank forum too so a mod can delete this if they are in the wrong place:

The 55 Gallon where Ulysses the puffer currently lives with Van Gogh the Humu Humu trigger fish, Kraken the snowflake eel, and Dionysus the gold stripe maroon clownfish:





Van Gogh the Humu Humu trigger:




Kraken the Snowflake Eel:



Dionysus the Gold Stripe Maroon Clownfish:



Some more candid shots of Ulysses:




And finally my Fluval Edge Pico Reef:

[SkullV]

Well, everything seemed to be going well for the last couple weeks, Ulysses was always swimming around the tank and fanning his tail begging for food. That all continued until Monday when I added about 20 more lbs of liverock. Since then he only comes out when I put food in the tank (or he sees the brine net I use to thaw/introduce food) and other then that he sits in his fake coral (what he has made his home) or this little cave that was formed with the new rock:




You can see that his coloration is really weird too and it looks like he is trying to camouflage himself. I know for a fact that the rock was fully cured and have tested the water daily since adding the rock and there have been no spikes or raised values of any kind. I will say that I saw him snatch some kind of worm out of the rock after I added it, basically bit it in half and spit it out. I don't know if that was an but he seemed fine afterwords. Until the next morning when he didn't greet me in the morning and has basically been hiding out ever since.

Any Ideas about what I should do? Should I just leave him alone since he is eating fine and doesn't have any sort of visible signs of disease?

[Pufferpunk]

Parameters?

[SkullV]

Parameters?

0amm 0nitrite 0nitrate

The coloration changes come and go, but he just doesn't seem to be himself since he ate that worm.

[Pufferpunk]

Maybe it's just the change of his environment. What are you using to test the water? How are you getting your nitrate to 0?

[SkullV]

Maybe it's just the change of his environment. What are you using to test the water? How are you getting your nitrate to 0?

I am using the API master kit (drops) to test ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph (8.2). I keep the nitrate down to zero through weekly/biweekly water changes depending on how long it takes the nitrate test to reach 5 (I test every MWF). Also a ton of Chemipure Elite in my canister filter. I make sure to clean out the canister filter each water change to get rid of anything that would make it a "nitrate factory".

[SkullV]

So he is looking better today but still has some weird coloration. Took a little video of him trying to eat my liverock:

[Pufferpunk]

What a cutie! I don't think he's a rock eater--probably a shrimp or worm stuck in a crack.

[LD50]

Hey man I have a S&S that is maybe 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch bigger than yourse I have had for a few months, I had some of the same behavior issues with my guy but I found it was directly related to his feeding. If you give him enough food to make his belly swell up much past a slight bulge he would spend a good several hrs to a full day in his cave just chillin. At that size even a smaller clam/scalop on the half shell IMO/IME is just toooo much for one sitting, so when I prepared his clam/scalops I would remove about half of the meat from the shell and save it for a later feeding. I also made sure to feed very lightly and often so I would not gorge himself in one shot causeing the thanksgiving effect or what I like to call "The Itis" on the little guy.

[Pufferpunk]

I don't think he has that puffer anymore.

[janine]

I have a 5inch stars and strip puffer also. Hes the only lil guy in a 90gallon tank since im letting adjust b4 buying more fish. I've had gsp puffers, figure 8, and a sharp nose stars and stripes puffer and now my newstars and stripe puffer who i adore by the way. But now i bought my new lil guy about a month ago. He also hides and isn't as active as the past puffers we've had. He likes to hide except at night and during feeding time he is active and swimming. I think maybe because their not close to being fully grown (up 2 20 inch), they may take a lil longer to get used to the activities arond your tank. As long as us gravity is correct and water is at stable levels I wouldn't worry about the lazyness. And yes they change colors quite often. Also adding sone live food like saltwater shrimp or any meaty food he can chase will make him happy. Stars and strip puffers usally aren't good reef tank mates. They will pick at coral and are usally not listed as reef safe. Also a 100gallon tank or close is usally recomended for these types of puffers. If u want to compae notes please feel free to contact me. Also this is one of the best blogs to fnd out info. But give him some time. The other fish maybe adding to the stress. But he looks healthy. But I do urge they usally will need around about 100gallon tank even id he was the only fish in the tank like mine. Also upgrading a he gets larger is not always the best idea. He has to readjust everytime time u change him into a new tank. And you can stress fish into an early grave

[janine]

I have a 5inch stars and strip puffer also. Hes the only lil guy in a 90gallon tank since im letting adjust b4 buying more fish. I've had gsp puffers, figure 8, and a sharp nose stars and stripes puffer and now my newstars and stripe puffer who i adore by the way. But now i bought my new lil guy about a month ago. He also hides and isn't as active as the past puffers we've had. He likes to hide except at night and during feeding time he is active and swimming. I think maybe because their not close to being fully grown (up 2 20 inch), they may take a lil longer to get used to the activities arond your tank. As long as us gravity is correct and water is at stable levels I wouldn't worry about the lazyness. And yes they change colors quite often. Also adding sone live food like saltwater shrimp or any meaty food he can chase will make him happy. Stars and strip puffers usally aren't good reef tank mates. They will pick at coral and are usally not listed as reef safe. Also a 100gallon tank or close is usally recomended for these types of puffers. If u want to compae notes please feel free to contact me. Also this is one of the best blogs to fnd out info. But give him some time. The other fish maybe adding to the stress. But he looks healthy. But I do urge they usally will need around about 100gallon tank even id he was the only fish in the tank like mine. Also upgrading a he gets larger is not always the best idea. He has to readjust everytime time u change him into a new tank. And you can stress fish into an early grave