The Puffer Forum

Well.. officially... meet Zoe!

She's been home for officially 24 hours!

I'm estimating her to be about 2.5 inches. She was the brightest colored puffer at the store. She swam up to the glass when I went to go look in. I didn't have much to think about... she came home (I'm a sucker!!) She was in a tank with a few mollies and bumblebees... 2 mollies and 2 bumble bees came home as well. She's living in a 20 gallon and has so far been absolutely on her best behavior! I have alternate tanks for the fish to go into if need be.
I do have a few questions. I feed her twice a day. She LOVES brine shrimp. She's not so keen on blood worms. I've thrown some snails in but she's ignoring them for the most part. Tomorrow I want to try some ghost shrimp. I know variety is key but what should be the main staple diet for her? My dwarf puffer mainly eats blood worms and snails.
I'm heading to the pet store in the next few days and am looking for suggestions on what to buy for her...

Another question..
I've been reading about puffers swimming up and down the glass and "pacing" when they're bored. I sure HOPE she's not bored... she's been in there for 24 hours! Just in case I added more plants today! lol... I want to add some rock... maybe tomorrow?
But I sure hope she's not bored. It seems that she likes to see her reflection? Could that be it? Or am I just a bad F8 mom?

I absolutely adore her. She's much different than my Dwarf Puffer.

Here're some pictures! And a video! (can ya tell I'm obsessed?!)
There's the progression of her tank and her of course!
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About feeding, see the "Feeding and Diet" article in the Library.

Her tank looks great. Is she pacing every time you come near? She may be begging. If you're on the other side of the room and you've ignored her for a minute or two, and she keeps pacing, she could definitely be bored.

Keep an eye on nitrates. The bioload from the mollies and BBGs might be adding too much, and the mollies may need to be moved.

She's really cute!

one thing that has to be said about the bumblebees in there.. they make sure NO food is left to decay! Those things are so thorough! I'll watch my levels!

Any suggestions on what I can add to make things more exciting for her?

Some fish love to play in the bubbles from an airstone/bubble wand.

Velvet my F8 paced and paced last time I changed what tank he was in, took him almost two weeks to calm down and explore rather than just trying to swim through the top left corner of the glass.

Ok- seriously... Zoe must be the most passive puffer on the planet. There is a BABY FISH in the tank. I have no idea what it is or how it got there. But Zoe has swam past it without caring!!!!

Congrats.

I just got two figure-8's myself - had them about two weeks. I had baby fish in my other tank that I'd had danios in- two really small ones that i almost didn't see. Then I found another. They both died since I had no idea what to feed them. Do you think yours is a guppy? Sometimes stores put guppies in their tanks. Here is a pic of "itty bitty" so you can compare.

I think it might be a baby Molly.. but it seems crazy that in the DAY I've had her, she'd had babies...
There are TWO in there now. Swimming in the open and Zoe is completely not interested in them. lol... I guess she's not much of a hunter.

Maybe the babies got netted along with the mother.

That's definitely a possibility...
I wonder what their fate is... they were eating brine shrimp earlier. lol... it was so cute to watch.