The Puffer Forum

I'd feed them everyday, yes.

Never thought coloured gravel could look so good! Nice tank! Still looks like there is space that could be filled with more decor

You might want to skip one feeding a week, but other than that, feed everyday.

Tihsho: he said in a previous post he was going to add more decor (otherwise I would have said something too )

I feed mine every other day (meaty foods), but he eats the mollie and goby's flakes so in reality the little pig eats daily.

As for prazi-pro, I'd feed soaked worms for a week straight. However, if they're looking thicker on the daily feedings, why treat them at all?

I'd also look into getting snails, freeze dried krill, frozen krill or shell on shrimp from the grocers and clams/muscles in the shell. Variety is good, and you don't want them deciding to eat only one food. Granted, no super rush on this, but just something to think about.

Eric

Thanks for the compliments! I am going to add variety to the diet as soon as I am the one feeding again, and I am also breeding ramshorn snails at the moment. I will also be adding more decor and some bumblebee gobies if I can find them.

Unfortunately, even with treatment, I lost Flaco . Gordo is doing good but I think I may do another round of treatment just in case, since his belly is starting to look a little pinched at the front. My mom is feeding him while I'm at my dads, and since he eats exactly one cube of frozen bloodworms at the moment its easy enough for her.

Sorry that you lost Flaco. I try to look at the bright side of these things and what can be learned from the opportunity now presented. If the fish is dead, perform an amateur necropsy. While you do not have the training to identify many internal parasites, you could probably find out easily if he had nematodes. They are worm-shaped and hard and easily identified as nematodes. Further identification requires expert help. They may be loose in the body cavity or encysted, coiled within little walled-off pouches under the skin or in the body cavity. Puffers are vertebrates like us and have all the same internal organs we do (well, except lungs of course). Use a small scalpel or exacto knife or single-edge razor blade and a small forceps (tweezers) and look around inside.

Time for an update .

So when I said I lost Flaco, I was wrong, my mom misidentified the fish that was still alive. So I actually lost Gordo, and Flaco is doing very well. i have added more to the tank, and I have a picture (though you can't see any of the fish in the picture-I'll get pics of them up as soon as I can get them to stay still ).



The Colosseum has air bubbles coming from the middle now, and I rearranged the plants a little so they're more spread out. I still want to get at least one more cave and more plants.

I have added three balloon belly mollies, a black, an orange, and a white. (Licorice, Clementine, and Marshmallow .) I am going to start adding salt in the next week, now that I have added them. I also found a store close to here that has bumblebee gobies. How many of those would be okay for the tank?

My snail tank is doing really well too. I added a couple of snails about a week ago, and I don't think Flaco has touched them at all. I know he saw them when I dropped them in, and they mostly stay on the walls of the tank, so I'm not sure why he isn't eating them. Any ideas?

My puff took a while to start recognizing snails as food, but once he did he really went at it!

Just give your puffer time, and make sure the snails aren't too big-they should about the size of the puffer's eye so it can crush the shell with its beak.

Yeah thats what I thought I had read. I have a variety of sizes so I made sure they were the right size. I guess I'll just give him time .

That tank looks fantastic - congratulations! [smilie=superkewl.gif]

What a lovely place to live!

Thanks guys! Flace seems to be more active now that there are other fish around.

I plan on going to the lfs that has gobies this weekend. If I have a 40 gal tank and all I have right now is a F8 and 3 balloon belly mollies, how many bumblebee gobies would fit comfortably?

Flaco, rather. Though I need to rename him now that hes not so skinny..

Anyone?

6 would work.