The Puffer Forum

Hi,

I have a very cute red eyed puffer in his new 10g home and he's doing great. Just a few quick questions though. I did give him 4 small snails in his tank and he has killed off 3 of them but hasn't broke the shell just went in a bit and ate some of the snail and then the snails died but the puffer will still swim by then and hover for a bit then leave. Also how do they sleep? I woke up this morning and for the love of me I couldn't find him, lol. He is tiny atm about maybe the length of a thumb nail that is trimed. I feed him frozen food from Big Als fish store where I bought him and I will be getting some prawns for him as well. The person at the fish store told me he will get to 3" - 4" long, is that true? Also another question on feeding, how do u get them to eat at the top away from the slow current from the filter so his food doesn't go everywhere before he can eat most of it? Because he'll grab some and eat it then go down and catch some more of the food that got away from him and then he'll go around and find more within 5 min of me feeding him. Also lol i know lots of questions, when should I stop feeding him for the day, how big should his belly be? His belly wasn't very big at all when i brought him home and he was right away hungry once he was in his new home.

Ok sorry for the long long list of questions, I did look up info on puffers and about this little guy, but I thought I'd come on here and ask you guys.

Thanks )

Do you know what species it it? If not check out the PufferPedia and once you identify it you'll know how big it is likely to get.

When I feed my fish I turn the filter off. There's a decent current and it carries all the food away quickly. So, off it goes There's still enough water moving so that the food spreads out and the fish have to look for it but not enough that it's immediately sent to the intake.

You want the belly to be slightly rounded. Not huge and bulging. Trial and error should help you figure out how much your puffer needs.

Do you know what species it it? If not check out the PufferPedia and once you identify it you'll know how big it is likely to get.

Well we are missing a LORTETI in our PufferPedia which does qualify as a red eye family.

Here is a link. Those are C. Lortetis

viewtopic.php?f=38&t=12551&start=0

Have you given your redeye a little cave, or some place that he can retreat to, to sleep, or just to relax? I would suggest lots of plants in your tank. Redeye puffers do not like being exposed, they like to feel secure and will hang out in plants, and that's where most of mine seem to sleep also. It would be good to know which redeye you have, although I don't believe any of them get to 4" ... you will be lucky if they get to 3" because if I'm not mistaken, I think they don't get much beyond 2".
As Flutter says, you can always turn your filter off during feeding time, but one of the good things about the food being blown around is that it gives your puffer an opportunity to "hunt" and find the remaining food later on -- as long as you're not giving him too much at once, because you don't want uneaten food getting lodged some place and then fouling up your tank. I would not feed him more than once a day, and you just want a little roundness to the belly after he eats.
I am very fond of my redeye puffers, they are quite attractive. Do you know if you have a male or female? Normally the males are much prettier than the females, as the girls tend to be a bit bland to look at, but still very nice.

pufferpuggirl wrote: As Flutter says, you can always turn your filter off during feeding time, but one of the good things about the food being blown around is that it gives your puffer an opportunity to "hunt" and find the remaining food later on

Unless you have a powerful canister filter (rated for 4x the size of the tank) with it's intake at one end and the output at the other. Takes about a second or two to go across the tank and into the filter intake