Best video I've seen of South American Puffers eating snails

[infopimp]

Check out this footage...


Click and open in new window, then bump up to 480p resolution for best viewing


These fish have so much personality... I finally caught some of it on film.

The problem in the past has been that because they are so shy... its been hard to get footage.

I finally figured out how to do it: set up the camera, drop the food in place... and then step back.

Watch how they seem to look at the camera... I think they are smarter than most fish...

Enjoy and let me know what you think.

-steve

[RTR]

Very good video, Sreve. It shows the attack and crunch quite well, also the competitive interplay.

Puffers are pretty bright fish. That is harder to see with SAPs because they are schoolers, so interact with their own kind more than with their caregivers. That does not mean that they are as dumb as many schoolers though - it just makes it a bit harder to see their brains.

[J-P]

aww poor neons. I thought I saw one drop a brick in the background.

[Srkoe]

I love how they kept looking at the camera at the end. I miss my SAP's

[infopimp]

Thanks everyone! I've been trying to capture this for so long.

Re: Neons - you'd be surprised how the Neons hold their own - those Neons are three years old and they will get right into the mix with the Puffers fighting for flakes. The puffer wins... I did see one of the Neons has a nick on his fin... but other than that they have been great tank mates despite the drama.

For the more scientifically oriented: Pause the action right when they hit a snail and check out how big their belly gets (the YouTube default still frame shows this to a degree) - amazing how they can just literally suck the snail out! I would love to get a high speed camera on the action... they are so fast they split frames at 30fps.

I agree... they are DEFINITELY checking the camera out - they are like "what is this? hmm... interesting... oh yeah... snails snails snails *CHOMP*".

In addition to Snails, I also feed them Malawa Shrimp and - once in a while - baby guppies that are to be culled. The guppies create quite a bit of drama because they are used to being chased and it is pretty exciting to watch... that said, I was feeling bad about the guppies... until my friend reminded me how much I like Sushi and suddenly I didn't feel so bad.

-steve

[hadla]

thanks for the video! They are so cute!