Porc Discoloration?

[Garch0mp]

Hello!

I have a little baby porcupine puffer that seems to have changed color drastically since I transferred his white sand for black in his 20 gal tank (the old sand was becoming a huge hassle to clean). My theory is after I placed black sand in his aquarium, he instinctively darkened his skin for camouflage; the other possibility was a spike in ammonia after the sand transfer... Anyway, I also just transferred him to a 35 gal tank a few days ago -- filtration is good and bacteria is there, but recently I also noticed half his belly has a darker tint than the other half.

I miss his cute yellow color!

Quick side note, is petting him bad? Occasionally he lets me gently brush his back with my finger, but I want to make sure I don't mess up his slime coat. Oh, and I have always been feeding him mysis shrimp and dried red shrimp to wear his teeth down, but since I got a baby snowflake eel, I figured varying his meals would be better! Is squid and silver sides good for porcs? He's about 3 inches now, so I'm not sure how much food is too much for his size -- I caught him the size of a wee tatter tot off of Dania Beach!

[Pufferpunk]

It' so cool you caught him yourself!
You are correct--he is matching his surroundings. How much live rock is in there? If you have lots, maybe the whiteness of that would brighten him a bit.
library/feeding/feeding-your-puffers/

[Garch0mp]

Thanks so much for your reply! I don't have much live rock in there; only about two decent sized rocks with a little fake rock cave that Nergigante (my porc) loves. Fortunately, it seems I will be getting more live rock on Friday from a guy who's giving away his live rocks for a dollar a pound.

[Pufferpunk]

That's a great price! Is it from a running, established tank? How large is the tank your puffer is in now?

[Garch0mp]

Well, My 20 gal was established but my new 35 gal is not; basically I took the established water from my old tank and placed it in the 35 gal (the rest of the water was from my mother's 75 gal tank that is also well established). I also use my filter from my 20 gal with the filter the new one came with (I also got some bacteria-filled bio-balls to put in the new filter).

[Pufferpunk]

I was referring to the live rock you're getting. You do realize you're gonna need a minimum of 75g for this puffer as an adult? Aim for 1 1/2-2lbs per gallon, for live rock.

[Garch0mp]

Yep! For now he's in a 35 gal until I get a bigger tank. I'm not really sure what kinda live rock I'll be getting -- I'll be shopping with my mom to look around. Oh, also, I was gonna add, My porc is a butt towards other fish, and the eel isn't an exception. He kept obnoxiously hovering around his rocks trying to poke him. Funny enough, the eel got sick of his crap and bit Nerg from behind! The eel is really small so he didn't affect him much, but I'm still worried about that bite. There's no other fish with Nergigante now (I tested two damsels as tank-mates but in a 20 gal, he seemed too stressed so they were brought back to my LFS).

[Garch0mp]

Hopefully my other reply went through! It doesn't show on my page for some reason. Also, just again wanted to mention I appreciate the info! I'm pretty sure the rock's the guy is giving away are live rocks from a well established tank but I'd have to check again. I researched a lot into puffers and general aquarium care after finding Nerg, but I am still very much a beginner with this hobby, haha! Exactly why I knew this forum was the place to go.

[Pufferpunk]

Please don't add any more fish! Actually, I suggest rehoming that eel. What species is it?

If that rock isn't from a well-established tank, it will have to be cured.

[Garch0mp]

I don't plan on adding another fish in this tank as it's too small, but I thought an eel would do as they seem more passive and spend most of their time hiding -- he's a baby snowflake eel.

[Garch0mp]

I had really wanted a golden dwarf moray eel (they not only look stunning but stay small); sadly, I can't afford one yet. Snowflake eels were my second option as they're less expensive and stay smaller than other eels.

[Pufferpunk]

Yes, but they still grow to 2'.

[Garch0mp]

Yeah, that was one issue. Sadly my puffer keeps trying to go by the snowflake eels rocks and he bit him a few times now! Since I have to go to work I put the eel in a breeding box so they can't pick at each other. Will my puffer learn not to bother the eel or is it just his instinct?

[Pufferpunk]

The tank is too small for both of them. Please return the eel.

[Garch0mp]

I see. Even if I put in more hiding spaces for the eel with live rock, they'll still go after each other? I love my porc but I would really hope I could house him with an eel of some sort. Is there anything in a 35 gal that I can put in with my 3 inch porc puffer?