The Puffer Forum

Hello there,
I just recently purchased this puffer about 9 days ago. I haven't feed it once since then. Every time I throw in a crayfish or gold fish, he doesn't seem interested. They can literally walk up to him and poke him in the eye and he still won't be interested. I know that a puffer his size only needs to be feed 1-2 a week. When I brought him I knew that he'd be a lurker and not that active. If any of you guys can share your experiences on how you would feed your lurker puffers that be great.
Well... Here's the Basic info

Tank size: 40 gallon (36x18)
Resident: Arrowhead Puffer (about 4 inches)
Filter: 50 gallon Aqua Clear and 40 gallon Internal Whisper Filter
Temp: 75-78
Maintenance: Did 25% water change before I got him, Had that 40 gallon for 3 years, use to house some other fishes.

Other thoughts: I hope I'm wrong on this but it seems that lurker puffers just aren't that opportunist when it comes to eating. If that's the case, I guess I'll trade him . Let's be real here, 50%-70% of the reason why we get puffers is to see them eat.

Here are pictures of him (pictures always makes for a great post )

AWW he is cute....

here is a feeding article
library/feeding/feeding-your-puffers/

How long was the tank empty before you put him in, and what are your current ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings?

If there is any chance the tank is cycling, he probably won't eat. Are you doing water changes? If not, try doing a few and see if that perks him up at all.

Lurker species aren't that exciting, except for when they attack. Your's sounds like its settling in still, or stressed by either water conditions or the location (lots of activity outside the tank?)

You can try an earthworm too.. but if he's not going after anything so far, its not likely he'll go for that until he's comfortable.

Thanks for the quick reply, Already read the feeding article The tank was never empty. I put him in there the day of I moved the other fishes. I always had fishes in there from angle fish to African cichlids and now to that puffer. I just did a 25% water change. He just sits there, he would occasionally move from one side to the other. I'm sure that's what he's suppose to do. Well I guess I'll wait a few more hours or tomorrow to feed him again.

I don't know how your Arrowhead is getting along by now .... but I have a Congo puffer that was not interested in eating when I first got her and I was seriously afraid she was going to die, and the earthworms worked for me. She wouldn't take them right at first, but I kept offering them and finally she started eating.

I would hope that your puffer is eating by now, since this was posted nearly a week ago ... but earthworms seem to entice even picky puffers.

Sorry for the late update, he's eating but just not when I'm around >_> I put 2 gold fishes in there and they where gone in the morning. It sucks that he's so shy. I feel like he stresses out every time I turn on the light to check on him. His skin color gets all pale white. I'm going to try the starvation method and starve him out to eat so he can trust me. If you guys have any other methods or suggestions, I'd love to hear it.

note: I never want to feed any of my fish gold fish, I only use gold fish as a last restore to get the fish to eat.

Glad to hear the goldfish won't be a regular thing

Is he at a good weight and healthy right now? If not I'd hold off on the fasting for a bit. One way he can get used to you is if you spend more time around the tank and remember to move slowly. You can also work on feeding dead foods or something like earthworms. With dead foods it'll be easier for him to make the connection that the "giant scary fish eating monster" is actually the "giant food person". It's also helpful to remember that most puffers are wild caught so a human truly is a really scary thing and has never ever meant food to your puffer.

I know some people don't agree with feeding live foods, but you could always raise guppies to feed to your Arrowhead. I have a few piscivore puffers, and I raise guppies to feed them, but I also offer them other foods too, not just guppies.