Need advise on setting up my puffer tank

[defool89]

I wish I got mine that small thyre so awesome. Mine was like 5" when I got him. They grow about 1 inch a month but I swear mine is more like 1.5.. And they get thick

[bertie 83]

He will go really dark against that substrate, great looking fella you have there. If you dont already have some grab a bottle of prime. Lastly keep up those waterchanges lol best to be safe than sorry

[boosted23]

Thank you bertie, Its eco-complete black and brown mixture. He matches it well now. It was hard to find him last night when he was laying on it. I have prime and have been using it already.

This morning i checked on him and he is doing great. he likes the little cave setup i made with some driftwood. He swims the back of the tank. He is goofy, he would swim by the filter intake tube and he likes to get sucked onto it and them swim off. lol he did this like 5 times.

Defool, It is cool that he is that small, the only issue i have is he is that small in a HUGE tank. It makes it hard for me to put bloodworms in there for him to eat cause i have to put it infront of him otherwise they just blow allover the tank from the current. I litterally almost have to climb in there.lol The water goes up to my armpit when i try to feed him.

[Pufferpunk]

Are they live bloodworms? I feed live blackworms in a worm cone feeder. The fish all gather around the feeder when I walk up to the tank.

[boosted23]

No, not live bloodworms, frozen ones. I have yet to find a store that sells live ones here in phx. Maybe when he gets more comfortable he will come to me when it is time to eat rather than staying away. He has been munching on the plant snails though. i keep putting them in and they keep dissapearing, so atleast he is eating.

[boosted23]

Here is a short film of my little buddy
http://youtu.be/6mEFF7JsTss

[Pufftastic]

Here is a short film of my little buddy
http://youtu.be/6mEFF7JsTss

Wow, he is really checking out those caves and plants!

[boosted23]

Here is a short film of my little buddy
http://youtu.be/6mEFF7JsTss

Wow, he is really checking out those caves and plants!

Yes he is. Lol the little bugger is now nipping at some of the plant leaves and bitting the stalks. He cant break them though. I see me planting various types of plants to see what he will tolerate in my future. Lol

[bertie 83]

If he wants to bite through them he will, he's probably taste testing

[defool89]

If he wants to bite through them he will, he's probably taste testing

I rather call it Hate testing. we will soon find out if those plants end up looking like green swiss cheese..

AWESOME man good find. If youre not doing so already, give him some melafix to speed his fin repair.

[boosted23]

Yeah he has only nipped the rotalla magenta's, nothing else. we will see here soon if i will be having to replace them with something else. He likes to hide under the java fern and i think it's called a crypt.

I havent added melafix yet only because i am still trying to establish the tank and the filters have charcoal in them and i don't want to disturb them while they are being established. Wont melafix mess with the bacteria that is trying to colonize right now?

[Pufferpunk]

It will not bother the bacteria but is a waste with charcoal.

[boosted23]

Thank you p.p. I will pull the charcoal out when i get home and add melafix.

[boosted23]

Ok, i pulled the charcoal and added melafix. My question or rather questions is 1. He basically sticks around the back of the tank swimming up and down, up and down in one corner then switches to the other corner in the back and does the same. Is this normal behaviour?
2. The l.f.s. Was feeding him bloodworms and he ate them up. I feed him bloodworms and its a no go. I bought two ghost shrimp for him too eat and he didnt even pay them any mind. They walked right ontop of him and he just swam away. They also gave me a bunch of their pest snails for free and he munches on them. Is it good for him just to consume snails? I even tried freeze dried shrimp, he swam from me. Mealworms, he swam from me. He just eats snails .
most the time i come to say hi to him, he wont come to the front or nothing. He acts like i am not their or if i get close to his corner, he goes to the other. He isnt very sociable right now.

[defool89]

lol man give it time. you just got him and so far youre this random large thing that comes up to the tank and probably scares him. Hes young, lost and paranoid and needs to settle in. eventually he will recognize you as the food giver and will praise you but that may take a while, especially when hes so young.

snails are great, consider it a staple diet and potentially if you breed your snails a good problem to have. I have the opposite problem, mine doesnt pay too much attention to snails and and would rather think hes fancy and chew on mussels crawdads and shrimp(people food)...the expensive stuff, my infantry of ghost shrimp use my fahaka as a dance floor and he dont care either...Ive never had luck with ghost shrimp with any puffer.. sometimes mine greets me, sometimes he doesnt. Hes his own Puffer like a person is his own person and would rather be alone sometimes.

My fahaka also glass surfs and I think I know why....not enough stimulation around him. he needs more decor to keep him busy staring at stuff, going under things and over...but my pockets arent deep enough for his mental needs all at once....

oh almost forgot, as for food just starve him for a day or two and he will look at a shrimp and demolish it. he just loves snails and isnt hungry enough to try something new.... because snails are yummy for him.