The Puffer Forum

Ammonia: 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 20
Tank size: 30 Gallons
Water changes: 10 % every other day at the moment.
No changes in last week.
Tank been set up for over 6 months.

I have recently aquired a Suvatti Puffer. He is approx 6", so fully grown.
I've had him for 4 weeks now and I am yet to see him eat.
I've tried prawns and mussels both on a piece of string and on the end of a skewer and ive also tried soaking it in garlic. I've also tried some live river shrimp which he ignored and there's 3 neons in there also.

Any ideas?

Try a live earthworm. Is he getting really skinny?

Where can i get an earthworm from? I've never seen any round here.
Yes his belly looks really thin.

Other than being skinny, he seems fine in himself. His breathing is normal, unless I look at him and then he starts breathing heavy until I walk away again,lol. He doesnt swim around at all, unless he wants to move position and then he buries himself in the sand again. Im thinking that is normal for a lurker puffer?

Burying is very normal. Mine only came out to beg. Do you have any bait shops around?

indie wrote:Where can i get an earthworm from? I've never seen any round here.
Yes his belly looks really thin.

Other than being skinny, he seems fine in himself. His breathing is normal, unless I look at him and then he starts breathing heavy until I walk away again,lol. He doesnt swim around at all, unless he wants to move position and then he buries himself in the sand again. Im thinking that is normal for a lurker puffer?

Just dig one up from the garden! Or look under flower pots etc - as long as no chemicals have been used in the area, normal garden worms are fine.

HI Pufferpunk,
Managed to try an earthworm. Was actually worried the worm would drown before the puffer got tempted? But as soon as I went out of his view, he chomped the whole lot. Yay!
Thank you

Yippee! I've never seen a healthy puffer turn down a nice, juicy worm. Did you dig it up?

Yes I dug it up, but they dont use any chemicals in the ground round here.
I'll try source some earthworms from a store somewhere for future use

I'm glad the earthworm worked .... I was going to ask if you left any food there for him because my suvattii don't always eat in front of me, so I leave the food and it's gone next day. My Palembang will look at the food, but if I'm still nearby, he will go away from it until I'm not around and then he will eat it. They are a bit strange like that.

I don't like to leave the food in there for long--especially since my Congo was in a 15g.

I feed all mine every night around 6pm and then I leave it, but first thing next morning I go around with my handy tank vacuum and get all the uneaten food out. And it's amazing how my lurkers don't look as if they are going to eat, yet by next morning, the food is either completely gone or mostly eaten.

My Suvatti has slowed down for a while too. I had him eating out of my fingers but now if he sees me he won't take the food, just started over the past week or so. I breed Mollies and I had to feed him a few of them to get his appetite stimulated. I wonder if it's a time of year thing? Is the Mekong flooding this time of year or real dry? Is there a yearly phenomenon that happens to them this time of year?

Ive tried leaving food in there, but like Pufferpunk I dont like leaving food in there too long. He just wouldnt take anything that I left in there.
Thankfully the worms have worked, at least he's eating.