NEW PORCUPINE PUFFER...... HELP!!!!!!

[krissi1988]

ok, so we got her yesterday afternoon, roughly 24 hours ago. We tried to feed her last night and tonight but no bites (pardon the punn) We have tried frozen brine, frozen marine cuisine, and clams on the half shell, we also tried cutting up the clam in little peices, she would put a peice in her mouth then spit it out immediatly. so im stuck. i dont know what to feed her. the only thing she will eat is bubbles. so i think we are going to call her Bubbles. The lfs we got her from said he fed her silversides and she liked that. so i donno know if i could try that i heard they weren't suppose to eat other fish. but i can get frozen krill and live brine shrimp but im scared im going to spend the money and she not eat it.

Please let me know what i can do to feed her, or what i should feed her. i dont want her to get sick or too skinny.

Thanks.
Kristina

[trekenk]

I wouldn't worry to much about her as she is probably just settling in. Word of warning krill is not good for them, as a treat but very seldom as it causes lock jock especialy in the porc's.. What size of tank do you now have her in and was this tank cycled???

[krissi1988]

I wouldn't worry to much about her as she is probably just settling in. Word of warning krill is not good for them, as a treat but very seldom as it causes lock jock especialy in the porc's.. What size of tank do you now have her in and was this tank cycled???

Right now she is in a 15 gallon that has been running for a year and a half. (very well cycled. haha) we are going to upgrade her to a 55 ASAP. my boyfriend has to get his corals out of it first. so no on the krill. what about ghost shrimp?

[DRRT]

I would actually recommend to leave the puffer in the 15g as a quarentine. Its easier to catch her and observe her as there are less places for her to hide. Ditto on not giving krill

[Myaj]

Don't worry about her eating right now, puffers will often sulk and refuse to eat after the stress of a tank move/change. Usually just a few days, but they've been known to go a few weeks easily.

I would worry about getting her out of that 15 gallon ASAP, these fish require a minimum of 120 gallons, grow very quickly and are easily suceptable to stunting. Skip the 55 and just get a big enough tank, IMO, its not worth the hassle of doing several tank moves/teardowns/setups, unless you were planning on using the 55 for something else once you upgrade the porc to a 120+.

The water quality will get pretty bad in a 15, pretty dang quick, even if its not eating, so make sure you are doing water changes on that tank nearly every day to keep things under control.

[Idontknow]

The lfs we got her from said he fed her silversides and she liked that. so i donno know if i could try that i heard they weren't suppose to eat other fish. but i can get frozen krill and live brine shrimp but im scared im going to spend the money and she not eat it.

Yeah, I wouldn't get the brine shrimp, she most likely won't eat it, plus they have no nutritional value.

what about ghost shrimp?

Yes, she might go for the ghost shrimp, mine did. Be sure you feed the ghost shrimp as well before feeding. Also, snails such as ramshorn or pond snails might work. After I fed my porcupine these things she started to come out more and now eats almost any frozen foods.

I also recommend putting a bunch of silk plants or something to give her cover and so she feels more secure.

[krissi1988]

we have some fake plants that we are going to put in there when i get home from work. again lastnight she did not sleep. she hasnt slept since we got her. (i check in on her at random hours of the night) i cover the tank with blankets so that the light from the kitchen wont keep her up, but she wont sleep. i tried silversides and krill and she wouldnt take any of it. im going to try again tonight to see if she will eat anything. i really hope she does. how long can she go without eating? and if she doesnt eat for more than a week should i be worried? she doesnt seem to have the symptoms of internal paracites.

any insite?

[trekenk]

Puffers can go weeks without eating. What are you water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity?

[Idontknow]

we have some fake plants that we are going to put in there when i get home from work. again lastnight she did not sleep. she hasnt slept since we got her. (i check in on her at random hours of the night) i cover the tank with blankets so that the light from the kitchen wont keep her up, but she wont sleep. ?

Yeah, they don't like to be out in the open when they sleep, even if you cover the tank, without caves or other things to hide under or behind they won't feel safe.

Mine sleeps in between the live rock and silk plants and sometimes under the big magnetic cleaner for some reason. Also, sometimes under the protein skimmer intake.

[krissi1988]

i just wanted to let everyone know that bubbles is doing well. lastnight was the first time she ate anything. We got her some live ghost shripm and she went to town. i gave her 3 last night and ill give her maybe 2 tonight. i put some fake plants in the corners of the tank, but im not sure if she slept lastnight. she is starting to come around. her and toby (my sharpnose that is with her) always swims next to her. they have become good buddies. Bubbles even lets me pet her sometime. ill put my finger in the tank and she will rub her head on my finger. its so cute. we are setting up the 180 this weekend we have to pick up the sand, rock and the ro system came yesterday! so now we can get things rolling.

thank you all so much for your help. when i get a camera ill take lots and lots of pixs.

Thank you so much,
Krissi

[Idontknow]

That's wonderful to hear! Porcupines definitely have lots of character and you will be amazed how attached they become to you. Mine actually puffed when I ignored her and kept passing the tank. She deflated right away when I went to pet her.

Make sure you feed the ghost shrimp before you feed her. Very soon I am sure she will start to accept frozen foods as well. Mine used to spit out all the frozen foods before, but now she eats them.

[krissi1988]

she eats ghost shrimp and feeder fish. (all live foods.) i think she likes the chase. my boyfriend was looking in the tank and she looked at him, then 360 degrees and then puffed. i walked up to the tank and she started to deflate. i have no idea what that was about but i got worried a little and my boyfriend said "your such a mother, worried about your little puffer baby" boys, they just dont understand. haha she has been so great lately. she is very very full yesterday she ate 3 small feeder fish and 1 ghost shrimp. im worried about over feeding and underfeeding. should her and the sharpnose toby be fed everyday or everyother day? how much should i feed? thank you all so much for your help and concern.

KRissi

[Idontknow]

Here are some great articles in the library

library/feeding/feeding-your-puffers/

library/feeding/feedingproblems/

These articles are very helpful. It will also tell you about the dangers of feeder fish.

[krissi1988]

So i really shouldnt be feeding her feeder guppies huh?

she did take a peice of clam the other day, but it didnt have a shell on it. her beak is very very small. you can barly see it so im not too worried about her beak just yet. the toby eats everything. i have been giving him frozen brine and a chunk of clam. (the porcupine stole it from him so thats how i know she eats it) haha. ill try to get her off the live feeder fish and more on silversides, krill, and clams on the shell. should i try table shrimp from publix? ive heard some people say its good, and other people say its bad. and i know i can get the ones that still have the shell on them, should i take it off or leave it?

sorry for the hundred million questions.

thanks
krissi

[Myaj]

Get some frozen RAW shrimp from the grocery store.. thaw it out in some tank water (add vitamins if you'd like). You don't want to feed anything that is still frozen, and anything cooked will have lost a lot of nutrients in the cooking process. So shrimp, mussles, scallops, clams, octopus, heck you can even get crab legs, lobster, etc as long as its not cooked yet