The Puffer Forum

He's real cute ATG! You're gonna love him. The pacing should end soon after he gets used to his new home, I'd also go with a background like Myaj said. It should make him feel more secure and help with the pacing. Have you thought of a name yet?

The LFS has also weened him onto tropical flakes. What a bonus!

ATG wrote:Lil' Green:
Is it possible to keep a betta with a GP? I know you have lots of experience with bettas. The LFS have only a couple bettas left in those little tiny containers that Chinese restaurants put sweet n' sour sauce in their take out in...and they said they won't be ordering any more like that. The bettas look so sad...rice paddies are definitely NOT small mud puddles!

Is a GP a DP/dwarf puffer or a GS/ghost shrimp? I wouldn't keep bettas and DPs together. I experimented with a female, since females are short-finned, but she was actually too ferocious for them! And males will have their fins shredded. Ghost shrimp, depends on the betta. Some eat shrimp - Lola ate all my red cherries. Vlad ignored them.

ATG wrote:The LFS has also weened him onto tropical flakes. What a bonus!

Be sure that's not all you feed him.

Pufferpunk wrote:

ATG wrote:The LFS has also weened him onto tropical flakes. What a bonus!

Be sure that's not all you feed him.

Yeah I was half joking when I said that. I don't intend to. At all.

Actually, if you're going on vacation, flakes are great. For some reason, pet-sitters seem to have this nearly universal idea that we're starving our fish. Just the other day, my friend's dad was supposed to feed her betta exactly three pellets. He gave it several HUNDRED. You can prepare dry foods ahead of time for sitters - put them in plastic baggies or pill boxes - and then put the rest of the food away where the sitter can't get to it.

He is more comfortable now. His spots turned green so I guess that is a good sign. He still hides when I come to see him, and he still hasn't eaten since that one worm I gave him yesterday when he was still in the bag... I am going out tommorow to buy more plants for him because I feel like I'm stressing him out with my snap-happiness. Oh and some cherry shrimp too.

Whenever he isn't swimming away from me he always is giving me an evil glare, something like "I will own YOU one day!! Mwahahaha!"


Chillin' in a plant.

haha I think someone is in love!!

Naw >.> He is plotting to kill me remember?

All the more reason to be obsessed with him

Still not eating. Tried more bloodworms he won't even look at them. I tried feeding him flakes...he took one tiny bit and ate it, but won't eat any more. He is picky!!!! I'll try snails..

IMHO & IME, neither bloodworms (frozen or freeze-died larvae of midge flies (rehydrated before feeding) nor flakes are an adequate diet for DPs.

IME they do best on a diet of live California blackworms and small live snails (preferably ramshorns, but common pond snails will do). Puffer generally are not candidates for prepared flake or pelleted foods as any sort of staple food.

HTH

+1 From what I've read, blackworms are more readily accepted than anything else.

Okay so I drove to the city tonight. I bought:

More plants
This kick butt dragon that spews fire (okay air bubbles) See, I'm really into all the fake overpriced decorations...the more cheesy the more I like em!
20 ghost shrimp (they were 29 cents okay??? AND 20 percent off all livestock!)
3 cherry (or zebra) shrimp. These are the shrimp that I want to survive and grow. They are small...the bigger ones were sold.
A dozen snails..to start a snail jail. They are mixed pond and ramhorn and MTS, I'm not really sure. Some have round shells some have the cone shaped ones.

I tried to give him the tiniest baby snails but he still isn't eating!!!!

Pic of new tank:

I actually like the dragon! At least it isn't pink

Get rid of the cone shaped snails, you don't want those. They'll breed like crazy, and outcompete your other snails, and the puffers can't crush their shells.