The Puffer Forum

Hi guys!
I have a figure 8. e is about 2 inches long, not including the tail. I bought him from my LFS. He was quite skinny when I picked him up, and I'm trying to plump him up a little bit. I am feeding him frozen brine shrimp which he seems to love. Also, dried krill once in a while and he ate all his snails in one day and I haven't been able to find anymore in a few weeks.

Anyway, I read that he should like some ghost shrimp, so I spent a few bucks and picked up 6 ghost shrimp. As I floated the shrimp to acclimate them, he acted like he just wanted to tear them up. When I released them, he caught one and ate him up quick. That was about 1 week ago and he hasn't ate another one since! Is he just picky? Does he require a "finer" shrimp that what was served? (i.e. scampi?)

I wonder if he's just too lazy to try to catch them as they are quite elusive.

He is in a 16g tank w/ 5 tbs salt for now, his tank mates are 6 neon tetras, 2 cherry barbs, 1 silver molly (who always tries to eat all his food!) and 5 ghost shrimp. Until today, there was also a chinese algae eater which I found being devoured by the shrimp tonight. He tried to catch all and any of them for about 4 days, and then he gave up. Now, it seems he gave up on trying to catch the shrimp too! I bought them for a snack for my f8, and I am afraid they have become a permanent fixture in my tank!

Any thoughts or suggestions?

I know some puffers are picky at what they eat. Only one of my GSP's will eat ghost shrimp. They aren't going to harm your tank so I wouldn't be worried about that. They will actually keep the debris down, but you can re-catch them if you want (or can) and try offering them to him by feeding tongs. Perhaps they are a little too quick for him to catch. I know my Fahaka eats them but he has to ambush them to be able to catch them because those little shrimp can book!

Its possible that your puffer hasn't learnt how to catch them yet. Its near to what they may feed on in the wild so given time I'm sure they will be slowly picked off. It could also be the fact that in new surroundings the puffer is sulking, once its settled it may turn into the hunter

How long have you had the tank cycled, what size is it and how long have you had the puffer. Going off their food is a sign of stress too, so post the info to the questions in the red headre at the top of your thread and we should be able to narrow it down for you

my figure 8 lived with 5 shrimp for a good month before he decided they werent roomates, but food

no he goes after them immediately

it just takes some time for them to settle in

rricker300.

First of all, you must find another place for the others fish, just molly can live in the same water param. along a F8. The neons and the barbs must be kept in a soft and acid water - this kind of water IS NOT proper for your F8, sorry...
Try to learn the most you can to keep this magnificent fish, healthy and happy!

Talking about feeding him/her/it: I trained mine to be a murder!!! I always tied one live shrimp up with a sewing-thread, and I offered it for him to eat... my puffer has destroyed the shrimp in seconds!!! In time, he is killing even my BBG's...

Try to keep the live food fastened... He/She/It will love this idea!!

Good luck!

I must have glanced through the original post I missed the bit about the other fish, they shouldn't be in there really the tank size is only just about good enough for a single puffer. PLease post your water test results