I confess that I was a little disappointed in my new DP at first. The last time I had DPs, they settled in immediately when introduced to their new tank and were super-friendly right off the bat, swarming the front of the tank anytime I went near. So it was a bit of a letdown when my new puff was skittish, hiding in the plants whenever I wanted to take a look at her. (She has a nicely decorated brand-new 5 gallon with little caves and plants and LED lights all to herself, and yummy live blackworms and live brine shrimp to eat.)
I underestimated the magnificence of puffers. It only took a few days for her to realize that Big Scary Human = Food. Now I can't walk past her tank without seeing a happily wiggling little fatty come zooming to the front. I'm already attached to her (75% sure she's female) and it's just so great to have a puff again.
So don't despair if you find yourself with a shy new puffer. They come around quickly!
I was just wondering whether you might have noticed that thier behaviour changes depending on how well they are being fed.
When I tried to have a stand off with my DP over eating frozen food she became a constant, hyper active hunter and always looking around for food (must admit I got to 5 days with her not eating the frozen food before I cracked and I went back to giving live food again) but as soon as she was back on the live food again, she then went and sat in the weed all day, relaxing all the time.
So she went from being a hyper active killer to a total slob. Amazing change in behaviour and I still didn't manage to get her off live food.
Also what cracked me was that my DP would eat Pond snails but not the red Ramshorn Snails. The Ramshorns were doing a good job cleaning the tank and through the 5 days of her belly being empty; yes, she then wiped out all the Ramshorns . What a fish, ey!
Also you cannot ignore the fact that solitary fish and groups of fish behave differently - groups do tend to settle in more quickly, but with puffers only the DPs are small enough and and tankmate friendly enough to keep in numbers together.
Jerry, I didn't have to try to "wean" this one onto a particular food since I opted for live food right off the bat -- she ate right away, so I didn't get a chance to see her get really good and hungry. She just seemed scared, and RTR has a good point about groups of DPs settling in more quickly. I forgot to factor that in. This is my first solo DP. She's plenty friendly now, although not nearly as active as the DPs I kept in a group. No competition for anything, I suppose.
I keep reminding myself that she's alone but not lonely. I'm forced by health circumstances to keep only one small tank right now, and I don't want to stress the bioload with tankmates of any kind. She seems to enjoy being the queen of her domain, or so I keep telling myself.
All of my longest-lived fish are and have been solitary. We cannot know just how these fish "feel" about living alone, but we can conclude that it definitely extends their captive lifespan. That may not apply to fish that are always schooling in the wild, but to strongly territorial fish (many to most puffers) the solitary life is longer and healthier in captivity.
So, don't stress yourself. Your solitary fish will likely live longer and be healthier than it would in a multi-fish tank.
. What a fish, ey! 