Puffer not eating

[zookey]

1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate).
pH 8-8.5
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate <10

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.
1 small Green Spotted Puffer.... he was previously kept with a group of platties, but upon the advice here the platties have been moved to a different tank.

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)
Have tried to feed: Shrimp (won't eat... runs away from it), live snail (was not interested), blood worms (not interested), flake fish food (what was previously fed, not interested)


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.
Fish was recently "Adopted" from previous owner so he is in a new tank, new water, new everything to him.

5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? Tank has been running as a freshwater tank for over a year. Was fishless cycled with ammonia at that time.



So the other day I adopted a GSP from a person who didn't want it and was threatening to "dispose" of him. When I got him he was being kept with a group of platties. The platties have been moved to a different tank (as per the advice in my "welcome" thread) He was kept in fresh water and amazingly seems to be quite healthy and active as far as I can tell. I went to the pet store last night and have purchased the marine salt to create a brackish water environment for him. I also bought a meter that will tell me the salinity of the water. I understand how to mix the water, but the meter I bought will not register anything less than 1 (I believe, it is not infront of me at the moment) so upon the advice from the owner of the pet shop will be slowly adding salt when doing water changes beginning this weekend... this may be a topic for another thread. I also bought some live shrimp and some snails as I read here that those are some of the "good" foods he will need.

My problem is that since I brought him home he will not eat. He runs away from the shrimp and was not interested in the snail. He will also not eat the flakes that they had been feeding him.

I am hoping that he is not eating due to the new environment and the changes in his life and that I am worrying about nothing.
When I first got him (day before yesterday) he was kind of a dark gray color with a neon green spot on his forehead. Yesterday he was more of a yellowish color and this morning he is almost as green as a leopard frog. Does his color change indicate that he is more content or happier?

Any one have any advice on what to do to get him to eat?

Here are a couple of pictures from just before lights out last night: (click to enlarge)

[purplecandle]

So the other day I adopted a GSP from a person who didn't want it and was threatening to "dispose" of him. When I got him he was being kept with a group of platties. The platties have been moved to a different tank (as per the advice in my "welcome" thread) He was kept in fresh water and amazingly seems to be quite healthy and active as far as I can tell. I went to the pet store last night and have purchased the marine salt to create a brackish water environment for him. I also bought a meter that will tell me the salinity of the water. I understand how to mix the water, but the meter I bought will not register anything less than 1 (I believe, it is not infront of me at the moment) so upon the advice from the owner of the pet shop will be slowly adding salt when doing water changes beginning this weekend... this may be a topic for another thread. I also bought some live shrimp and some snails as I read here that those are some of the "good" foods he will need. -Instant Ocean makes a hydrometer that goes to zero, go to another pet store to find one. Trust me, in the beginning it is not easy to put the right amount of salt in.

My problem is that since I brought him home he will not eat. He runs away from the shrimp and was not interested in the snail. He will also not eat the flakes that they had been feeding him. -How long have you had him? How long did the previous owner have him? Look at this feeding article for other food options. library/feeding/feeding-your-puffers/ If his is healthy once he gets hungry enough he will eat. However, he could have parasites that make him not want to eat. But, I think it is more likely that he is just stressed from the changes

I am hoping that he is not eating due to the new environment and the changes in his life and that I am worrying about nothing.
When I first got him (day before yesterday) he was kind of a dark gray color with a neon green spot on his forehead. Yesterday he was more of a yellowish color and this morning he is almost as green as a leopard frog. Does his color change indicate that he is more content or happier?
- He can change colors for camouflage, when stressed, when sick, when startled, basically whenever he wants. But, in the picture it looks like he was trying to sleep..so at that point probably just for camouflage.

Any one have any advice on what to do to get him to eat? -Read the article. It may help.

[zookey]

So the other day I adopted a GSP from a person who didn't want it and was threatening to "dispose" of him. When I got him he was being kept with a group of platties. The platties have been moved to a different tank (as per the advice in my "welcome" thread) He was kept in fresh water and amazingly seems to be quite healthy and active as far as I can tell. I went to the pet store last night and have purchased the marine salt to create a brackish water environment for him. I also bought a meter that will tell me the salinity of the water. I understand how to mix the water, but the meter I bought will not register anything less than 1 (I believe, it is not infront of me at the moment) so upon the advice from the owner of the pet shop will be slowly adding salt when doing water changes beginning this weekend... this may be a topic for another thread. I also bought some live shrimp and some snails as I read here that those are some of the "good" foods he will need. -Instant Ocean makes a hydrometer that goes to zero, go to another pet store to find one. Trust me, in the beginning it is not easy to put the right amount of salt in.

I will check the other option of a pet store, but had gone to the better of the two in town for my supplies.

My problem is that since I brought him home he will not eat. He runs away from the shrimp and was not interested in the snail. He will also not eat the flakes that they had been feeding him. -How long have you had him? How long did the previous owner have him? Look at this feeding article for other food options. library/feeding/feeding-your-puffers/ If his is healthy once he gets hungry enough he will eat. However, he could have parasites that make him not want to eat. But, I think it is more likely that he is just stressed from the changes

I got him on Monday 12/20/10 but the previous owner had had him about 6 months.
Thank you for the feeding article.... that was very helpful. I am sorry I had not found that myself. I have been spending many hours reading many things here and just not finding an answer ... not knowing how long a puffer can go without food I didn't want to spend too much time looking to no avail if time was in the essence.
I am not sure how to tell if he has parasites. The fecees that were in the container he arrived in were short and well formed ... would have been considered "healthy" if he were a goldfish. I guess I need to look up some more information on healthy GSP poo and signs of parasitic infection.

I am hoping that he is not eating due to the new environment and the changes in his life and that I am worrying about nothing.
When I first got him (day before yesterday) he was kind of a dark gray color with a neon green spot on his forehead. Yesterday he was more of a yellowish color and this morning he is almost as green as a leopard frog. Does his color change indicate that he is more content or happier?
- He can change colors for camouflage, when stressed, when sick, when startled, basically whenever he wants. But, in the picture it looks like he was trying to sleep..so at that point probably just for camouflage.

Yes he had just settled down there at the bottom of the tank by the rock formation. He was otherwise much to active playing in the rocks and plants to get a good picture of him. But his color was much greener there than it had been when I first got him. As if he was perking up.

Any one have any advice on what to do to get him to eat? -Read the article. It may help.

The article is great! Thank you again. Gives me many more options of what to feed him. ~just one thing... the bottom of the article has a group of pictures that are suppose to be clickable for larger picture and description. When I click them I get a "404 not found" error. I don't have a clue who to report that to...

Thanks again. I will keep a close eye on him and will check for a different hydrometer.

[purplecandle]

Poo can change colors depending upon food...but you might have problems if the poo is white, yellow and sometimes red. But, if you have feed shrimp or scallops whitish colored poo is probably ok and blood worms may make reddish brown poo. Also if the poo is stringy you have a problem.

He looks pretty healthy for having flake food. In fact, most puffers would not eat flake food, and if they do it is not enough to have a healthy weight. I suspect in the previous owner's tank he found another food source maybe pest snails, small fish, fish fry, possibly plants...

A puffer can go weeks or months without food. A large puffer could probably go months. A puffer your size could easily make it days or a few weeks...although he will not be as healthy as you would like.

[Pufferpunk]

1.000 is the salinity of FW, not 0. BW is anything above that but below SW, around 1.020.

[zookey]

This morning my puffer was looking thin and still had not eaten anything since I had gotten him, so on my way home I stopped at the LFS to see if they had any other foods he may like. Remember he was being fed flakes before I got him and has refused them everytime I have attempted to feed them to him. I bought some frozen bloodworms and something called "seafood delight" that according to the package has a mix of shrimp, scallops, clam and some other seafoods in the package.

When I got home his belly was nice and round again. I thought he had finally eaten the glass shrimp that I had put in the tank last week.... but I just saw the shrimp and the puffer is still round bellied.

I am confused, but thought I would give him a couple of bloodworms anyway. After thawing them and letting them warm up in a bit of his tank water I dropped a couple in his tank and he ate them like spegetti and wanted more.

What would cause his tummy to be round if not food?

[Fwoom]

Just stretching. Mine does it all the time.

[zookey]

So what... you think he just sucked in a bunch of water or something???

I am totally new to these little guys, but I would think as he eats his belly should fill up and he should get a bit of a beer belly per say. He has eaten quite a few bloodworms but his belly is not changing shape at all. Shouldn't it? I have read here that you are suppose to feed them until their belly is "round"... his started that way and is not changing as he eats.

I just hope I fed him enough and not too much. I guess I will just see how he is tomorrow morning when I feed him. But at least he ate for the first time! That is a relief all in itself!

[J-P]

have you tried the earthworm?

[Fwoom]

Does it look like there a ridge a little past his eye on his belly and that's making him look "full"? That's the kinda stretching mine does. Almost like he's puffing his chest and the rest of the belly just goes with it.

I dunno about round, mine gets lumpy sometimes after eating, then rounds out a little later.

Especially when eating mussels. I tried feeding him this recently and he will literally try to take the whole shell out of my hand. It's fun to leave an empty mussel shell at the bottom of the tank, he'll circle it, nip a few times and come back hoping to see food. I can only leave it in there for like 30 seconds before I have to take it out to avoid him eating too much.

As far as snails go, what kind of snails have you tried? If the shell is too hard, you may have to crack it open for the puffer to get the good stuff. If I drop a whole snail in, mine will look at it and go away, but if I crush it up beforehand he'll dive bomb it into oblivion.

[zookey]

I haven't tried earthworms yet. I suspect I can find those at a bait store... my LFS doesn't carry them. Would the ones from the bait shop be okay for the puffer?

My little puffers belly rounds down... not so much outward. He looks like he ate something, but there was nothing in the tank for him to eat other than the shrimp and snail I put in there. I had forgotten all about the snail until you mentioned them. As far as snails... they are little pest snails that are in my planted tank. I don't think the shell is an issue (most often they get smoshed when I remove them from the planted tank). I bet he found that snail I put in the other day... that would explain the full belly. It was a bit big for him but I had seen videos on youtube of some puffers eating much larger snails.

Here is an unrelated question. Is it normal for GSP to swim in circles, like a dog, before settling down to sleep? And to sleep in the same place in the tank? Mine has been doing this for the last couple of nights. Just wondering if that is normal.

[J-P]

can't say anything about the circles, but yes the earth worm is from a bait shop, and make sure it is clean before going into the thank.

[Pufferpunk]

Yes, many puffers have a certain spot for bedtime.

[Fwoom]

Just fed the little guy and he got lumpy, like so:



And then that flattens out pretty quick. I've never actually seen mine go to sleep. Most of the time, I'll catch him waking up. From what I've seen they do like certain spots.

[trekenk]

If he is getting fat like in the picture and then thinning out quickly I would be treating for IP's.