The Puffer Forum

My wife was feeding them today and one latched onto the other hold on, when they seperated it looked like there were 2 small holes in the one that got bit. I really need to know if its going to be ok???? There is no blood or anything comming out but im still really "REALLY" worried? Can some one help me?

Is the injured one still greeting you the same or is he hiding away?

The one who was bit is acting normal, both are. The wound appears to be closed. The LFS said to use Melafix. I don't like using something that on the bottle says it is known to cause cancer. Should I use the melafix for 7 days considering the wound is closed? Also will melafix hurt the cycle on the tank?

We have not been able to feed them on seperate sides of the tank. They always want to eat in the same area. Are we going to have to put a seperator in the tank from now on to prevent the bigger gsp from biting the smaller one? They are about 1/2 inch or less in size difference.

Thank you for any advice.

Melafix has been proven not to damage the function of biological filtration of the tank. It doesn't affect ph as well. If you are still nervous check your parameters, but I am sure everything will be okay. You may want to treat him even if the wound is closed because Melafix helps repair the tissue from the wound. And it is safe for the little guy as well.

It doesn't sound like the wound itself is anything to worry about, but infection is always a risk; if you choose not to medicate now, I'd watch very closely for any signs of that.

As far as the feeding goes, I had the same problem with my Figure 8's and found that feeding them on opposite sides of the tank at the same time works well. You have to kind of lead them to their respective sides with food at first, but they learn pretty quickly and keep going to the side they're used to.

I have a gallon of Pond Melafix on hand for any emergencies. Keep an eye for further aggressions--they may have to be seperated. How large is their tank? Is there enough decor to break up their lines of sight?

They are in a 55 gallon tank. They have a 1 foot ship, 3 foot wide by 1 foot tall bridge, both of which have large holes to swim into, a volcano bubbler and about 10 fake plants. We will be adding much more plants. As for breaking up the line of sight the whole top half of the tank is uncovered. I have been buying taller plants. They will be added with the next water change. I'm guessing I need to break up thier sight more.

I constantly watch thier behavior. The bigger GSP moves towards the other GSP very fast to move it away. The smaller GSP moves faster away. This is the first time the GSP latched on for a sec. I was feeding them a raw shrimp. I'm not sure if it even meant to bite the other GSP. Perhaps the GSP bit the other by mistake because I moved the shrimp around to much. They behave like this when we stand near the tank or feed. Otherwise, the bigger GSP is pretty calm, moving casualy around the tank. They explore the same areas together.

Do I need to worry about toxins to the fish or in the tank due to the bite?

No, I think that everything is going to be fine.

My gsps fight over food, and have accidentally bitten each other. It's the fish that gets bitten that causes it, they turn to try and pull the food away from the other puffer, and shove their side or fin into the chomping puffers mouth. I've had two bites, a hole in the tail fin of the larger and a bite on the tail of the smaller, neither very bad.