Unhappy dps?

[Gruff in]

I picked up two baby dps on Saturday. I put them in a 5g cycled tank for qt. They seem a bit unhappy. They do a lot of lounging around- they do swim around a bit after I put the lights on and then hang around the tank until they notice me. Otherwise, they aren't that active. I've been checking the water daily- both NH3 and NO2 are 0. I'm also having trouble getting them to eat... They ripped the legs off of a couple of cherry shrimp (an experiment to see if they could live with my cherry shrimp) but didn't eat them. One picked at a thawed bloodworm, but then left it alone. One picked at a small ramshorn snail for awhile.

I loaded the tank with plants and a large hollow log decoration. I'm wondering if the tank is too crowded with stuff so that there is very little room for them to swim. I can move them to their permanent tank (I'm still trying to decided between a 10g, 20g, 29g), but I'm afraid of upsetting them more before they settle.

[J-P]

I am in the minority here byt I have cherry shrimp breeding in my DP tank. It picks off the babies and leaves the adults alone.

Others have used baby pond snails, baby ramshorns and live blackworms.

They can be VERY pick eaters.

And yep, when they notice you they come to the glass. What they do when you're not looking is usually plotting to take over the world. But they do hunt once in a while.

[RVS]

+1 to above.

A friend of mine feeds his DP with pond snails and blood & black worms, thats all they eat...
They also seem to be unhappy the first month, but with some corrections (too much lighting must be avoid) they are active all day long.

[Gruff in]

I decided to transfer them to a 10 gallon tank for their permanent home. I moved them last night. They look much more content and active- I guess they didn't like the smaller QT tank- too boring. I added some baby pond snails for toys/food.

They are shaing their home with two adult assassin snails- I may try some shrimp again- I noticed that one had accidentally been living in their QT- having piggybacked on a plant. He was hanging out in the open and was not being harassed. I have a breeding colony of cherry shrimp in another tank.

[Pufferpunk]

The behavior you describe seems typical of a DP. Mine only eats live blackworms.

[Gruff in]

The fish store claims that they have been feeding them flake and/or pellets. I'n guessing that the puffers there are not eating and no one at the fish store is noticing. I think mine had only been there a week when I purchased them. I bought some dried krill to try tonight.

It's tempting to put a voracious eater in the tank temporarily so they can see that the stuff I'm dropping in is food.

[jus85411]

I'n guessing that the puffers there are not eating and no one at the fish store is noticing. I think mine had only been there a week when I purchased them. I bought some dried krill to try tonight

100% correct! luckily you found this forum so soon after purchasing. might want to hunt around local pet stores for live blackworms. some might not have a display with some smaller amounts portioned out but do have them fresh per order in the back or something so it might be something you will have to ask for. i found them kind of hard to come by around here. you could also while your at the shop ask for any small "pest" snails they might have. they will either give them for free or charge you like 1$ for as many as they can pull out of a certain tank. if you have luck finding the small pond snails then you should try crushing a snail, the blood might entice them to eat the snail. you can also try garlic while thawing any frozen food

[Pufferpunk]

Krill is not the best food for them. Try frozen plankton & black'bloodworms.

[Pufferpunk]

Krill is not the best food for them. Try frozen plankton & black/bloodworms.

[Gruff in]

Here are a couple of pictures the first is the 10G setup:


The second is one of the puffers exploring his new home:

[Gruff in]

I am thinking that I might have trouble finding live blackworms- but I'll ask at the LFS where I got the puffers- there isn't another store that carries live food within an hour from my home.

I have frozen bloodworms, but the puffers ignored them when I tried them a couple of days ago- maybe the puffers will be more interested as they settle in. I haven't opened the dried krill yet- I saw it listed on one of the puffer sites I read, but I can exchange it for something else. What about frozen mussels or frozen adult brine shrimp? I saw both of those at the store yesterday.

Another thing I could do is order dried earthworms- these worked for some wild-caught dwarf pike that ignored all my other food offerings. I also saw dried blackworms on a site in California.

I did get a bunch of free baby pond snails from the fish store last night- I put them all in the puffer tank- I'll have to inspect today to see what is left.

I have been planning to order some ramshorns and propagate them so I have a source of fresh snails.

[JRC3]

When DPs are very small and young, frozen bloodworms may too big for them to eat. I hold a bloodworm with forceps and with scissors cut off a piece about twice as long as the bloodworm is wide, or up to 1/8" and drop it in the water near the puff. The piece of bloodworm will stick to the scissors and release the moment you dip it in water. I think they can smell it when it hits the water and taste it the minute they nip at it because it's open. Eventually they learn to come towards the top at feeding time.

[Gruff in]

I do think they ate the baby pond snails- but they weren't much of a meal as their stomachs didn't get really full.

I tried cutting up the bloodworms and using a forceps as suggested- they thought it was interesting to follow the forceps around, but didn't recognize the bloodworms as food.

I checked the live food options at the lfs- they do carry blackworms, but were out of them. I decided to experiment with some live adult brine shrimp- and this was a hit. First one puffer than the other chased them down- they both seemed to stop after their bellies were full. I set up a saltwater tank for the remaining brine shrimp- the lfs said I could probably keep them alive for a week. I also grabbed more free pond snails and stuck them in another tank- I can at least alternate these two food sources and continue to try to get them to eat the bloodworms.

On another note- I tried 4 glass shrimp as a cleanup crew- after I got the puffers full of brine shrimp. After about 4 hours, I found 3 bodies. The dps killed them, but didn't eat them. I assume the 4th is also dead and that I just haven't found him yet. The assassin snails did ok for a bit- but they don't look like they have moved in the last 12 hours. I need to check them tonight.

[jus85411]

how many pond snails do you think they got a hold of? maybe their stomachs didnt get really full because puffers are prone to internal parasites. most people here would treat for that even just as a precaution. but if you see them eat, or know they have eaten and their bellies arent very full after 12-24 hours, its time to keep a really good eye on their bellies and how fast they slim down or maybe just treat just incase.

you did remove the 3 casualties right? i would do a quick check on your parameters if you possibly had shrimp/snails sitting dead rotting for any extended amount of time. thats good that your LFS has access to live blackworms. it might be worth looking into buying extra at a time(if feeding them is a success) to ensure you always have some. and then order more as you get low. pufferpunk buys them in bulk and cares for them so they last. im pretty sure she is the one who buys lots of blackworms at a time and has a set up for them. maybe she(or if its not her, someone else) can link or describe the care she has for the blackworms, changing water and such to keep them going for as long as possible because when i used to feed them to fish, if i let the little container(i didnt buy in bulk) sit for a few days without doing anything for them, they start going bad pretty quick

[Gruff in]

I pulled the dead shrimp out as soon as I found them- they were fresh enough that I tossed the bodies into my 120g and let my bigger fish eat them.

I am keeping an eye on their weight. I might treat them for parasites even if I don't see signs- I wanted to try to get them eating first. With the adult brine shrimp, last night they ate until their stomachs were quite swollen- this morning, their stomachs looked "normal", so I fed them again.