The Puffer Forum

As of this afternoon: 8.2 pH, 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrite, 40 Nitrate, FW.

Tank is 10 gallons. Only inhabitant is a juvenile (less than 2 inches) green spotted puffer.

He is an incredibly picky eater, refusing pellets, live ghost shrimp, sometimes pond snails, plankton, and krill. He accepts frozen bloodworms and spirulina-enriched brine shrimp, and I've been unable to tempt him with anything else.

The tank he currently resides in has been up and running since January...I was bad, and I cycled it with 2 danios. It originally housed the danios, a few guppies and some hatchetfish, but they have since been relocated to a different tank. (Backstory: When I decided to bring home a new puffer I ended up adding too much salt, and killed off all of the bacteria and snails that were rampant in the tank. To spare the puffer the misery of living in an uncycled tank, I set up a divider in my 55 gallon cichlid tank, and he lived there, seemingly happily, for a few weeks. On Sunday I did a 20% water change in the cichlid tank and vacuumed the puffer's section (all I can say is that he is one messy boy). I removed all of the decorations in his section and rinsed them off in some warm water because they were filthy. After I restored the puffer's section to normal, he remained stressed (markedly darker coloring than normal, black belly). He still accepted food, but he was clearly unhappy with me. Fearing that something was unacceptable with the water parameters, I scooped him up in a measuring cup and transferred him to the tank that had been cycling while he was in the puffer tank. (I used 9 gallons of water straight from the cichlid tank to fill the puffer tank and vacuumed the gravel to remove any detritus that had accumulated over the months)). I placed him in his own tank, and he still looked very much unhappy. His color is dark, his belly is black, and he keeps his tail curled 90% of the time. When he sees me come over, he'll do his usual routine, and his color will change a little, but not much. I'm worried about him. Today he seemed interested in bloodworms, but didn't actually eat more than a couple. I don't know if there's anything I can do, if he's sick, or if he's just pissed at me for messing with his established world. Any help?

If he's been in fresh water for more than a month or two, thats probably whats getting on him. The higher PH will help a little, but he needs some amount of marine salt at his size. 40 nitrate is also a tad high for GSP, which while not a major problem, may be contributing to his grumpiness, along with having changed up things on him. Going from what he was used to down to a ten gallon is definately not going to be good for his mood, especially since at 2 inches he should probably be in a 20 gallon to be able to grow unrestricted. I'd recommend just popping for a 29 or 30 gallon set up, since buying many intermediary tanks gets expensive.

Thanks Nick...any ideas on what to feed him, since he's been so uncooperative?

Hi Micah,

Check out all the great articles in our Library, especially on feeding.

I find earthworms to encourage even very reluctant feeders.

I feel inept even asking this question, but, well, I live in a city, and worms aren't generally out and about when you're surrounded by concrete for miles. Where can I get earthworms? Do they sell them in pet stores? I've seen crickets for sale, but no worms.

Also, I'm fairly sure at this point that my puffer is just pissed at me. He's starting to uncurl and fan out his tail a bit more, which I find reassuring, though his dorsal fin is still slumped over. When I do his next water change, I'll start to add some marine salt. I do have a question about that, too...my hydrometer only starts reading at 1.008, and that would be quite a jump from the FW he's in now. How many cups per gallon should I add so I don't shock my precious bacteria (and my even more precious puffer)?

No more than .002 per week, so I'd say about a tablespoon per gallon in the replacement water would be a good start. You can find worms at walmart near sporting goods, or a bait shop. Smaller ones are better than nightcrawlers for smaller puffers.

hahaha, wal-mart. I should have guessed. Though, I will say that the Wal-Mart by me doesn't sell pets anymore, which I can only imagine is a good thing.

I'm off to a LFS that was listed on the forums here as a good one, and I'm hoping they'll have what I need. It's 20 minutes away, but it's reputed to be well worth the trip.

One last question for now: I've seen San Francisco Bay brand Angel and Butterfly frozen food at my LFS. It's billed as "Made with Mysis shrimp, pieces of sponge, krill, mussel, squid, brine shrimp, and spinach."

I saw the mussel and squid listing and thought maybe it might be a good choice for my picky puff...any thoughts?

Also, his dorsal fin isn't flopped anymore, and his tail is now fanned agin! His color is still dark, but I'm taking those other bits as good signs...right?

Sounds like improvement to me!

Unfortunately, when I arrived home today from the LFS in search of worms to feed him, my puffer had passed away.

I'm very frustrated...I feel like I didn't do anything wrong, but obviously I did. I just don't know what I missed. If anyone has any ideas that might be useful to someone who seems cursed at raising puffers, please pass them along. Thanks.

Awww... so sorry... You're certainly trying here.