The Puffer Forum

Hello I am new to this board and fairly new to puffers. So far all of my experience relates to the dwarf puffer I've had over the past 6 months, but recently I came across the opportunity to purchase a zebra puffer and did so. I have a few questions, and have not been able to find some concrete answers.

- How often should I feed this guy? Once or twice a day? in the morning or at night? So far he or she (i'm not 100% sure, I believe its a female) How big should the portions be?

- I currently have live rock laid down for substrate, this is the first fish I have come across that sleeps (rests?) on the bed of the tank, he actually has found a cave and retreats there at night, I know I should have used sand for substrate now I am concerned. Can I add sand in on top of my current substrate without changing the water parameters? Or will this change shock the fish too much.

- The tank from the fish store he came from had a PH of 6.6, 2 weeks ago my tank was a 7.6, I began using acid buffer to drop the ph (the water was also hard), last friday I measured the tank with my ph pen and it read 6.6 (yay!) So I went to the fish store and grabbed her. The LFS tested the water also and it came out to 6.6, so I know my pen is accurate. When I came home I measured the water in the bag and it was at 6.2. For some reason the tank dropped to 6.4, after introducing the fish to the tank the ph came out to 6.3. In fear of shocking the puffer I have not added and acid buffer and the ph has climbed over the past two days to 6.9. What PH should I keep the tank at? How sensitive are puffers to ph?

Welcome to The Puffer forum.

I believe this is the puffer you are talking about correct ?
ug.php/v/PufferPedia/Freshwater/C_salivator/

Here is a helpful article on feeding.
library/feeding/feeding-your-puffers/

Love to see a picture of your guy.

Once a day feeding at the most, as there mouths arent that big, finer chopped meaty foods are more appropriate or a piece that is larger that you can remove after a few minutes of feeding.

Stop trying to buffer the water, a steady ph is what you need so keep the tank whatever your tap water is. If its swinging up and down your puffer wont appreciate it. I kept mine at 7.8 and it was fine.

If it is a male, they get quite bulky, you can continue to feed every day, I dropped to every other day.

Let me just say that you've purchased one of my favourite puffers! I call my guy Mr Stripey and I've had him for a while now and he's definitely up there in the Top 5.
I think they are absolutely beautiful puffers, especially when he displays those stripes.

Believe it or not, mine lives with my Mbu, as they've been together since the Mbu was very small and they appear to enjoy each other's company.
I congratulate you on getting such a lovely puffer. Hope you enjoy yours as much as I enjoy mine.

And also, welcome to the forum.

One question: Is your tank only rocks? I'm sure he'd appreciate some plants (live or fake) or rock structures to explore.

-Trekenk thank you for the links, although I have already read both.

- Hilly, that's the answer I was looking for. I have been feeding her (I believe) once a day, and since she was introduced into the tank she has cleaned out all of the snails. Since friday she has been on a diet of just blood worms, and snails. I plan on going to the fish store to expand her diet. I have not touched the water at all since I got her (3 days ago) no water changes or buffering, the only thing I did was adjust the temperature to 78F.

My DP is a very finicky eater, I usually just have him swim into his feeding cup and eat his food from there to keep the waste levels down. He also won't eat anything that has landed on the ground, took me a while to figure out how to make sure he gets enough food without wasting too much and increasing the waste levels in the tank.

This Zebra puffer is even more difficult, she is very very shy and gets super nervous anytime someone is in front of the tank. I have to watch her eat about 5ft from the tank, otherwise she gets to nervous and will ignore the food. Luckily she picks food off of the ground and any plants (so far she has pruned some of my elodea!) My current method is to dump about a 1/4inch cube of blood worms into the tank and then step away, does anyone have a better method?

And will adding more substrate at this point change the water parameters too much for the fish? I really don't want to loose this guy.

Not to be contradictory, but you've been saying "she" ..... if you're seeing the "zebra" stripes at all, then you've got a male.

Sadly my salivator died yesterday, I have no idea why .... but I was heart-broken as he definitely was one of my favourite puffers, and will be sadly missed.

puffpuffpuffer, i've been searching furiously for a female. if it is in fact a female, would you be willing to sell her? my male needs a companion badly

I would really love a pic. The only place I've heard of them being available is the other side of the lake--never here in the US.

timwag2001 wrote:puffpuffpuffer, i've been searching furiously for a female. if it is in fact a female, would you be willing to sell her? my male needs a companion badly

Salivator males don't do well with females. They tend to kill their wife if they are kept in pairs.

I had 2 males together, and they did fine ... but I wasn't able to find a female unfortunately (Or maybe that's fortunately seeing as Troender says they will kill their mate).

I am gutted at losing my salivator and would love to get another. They are one of the prettiest puffers, in my opinion, with their zebra lines and red bellies. I need to see if I can find another.

Troender wrote:

timwag2001 wrote:puffpuffpuffer, i've been searching furiously for a female. if it is in fact a female, would you be willing to sell her? my male needs a companion badly

Salivator males don't do well with females. They tend to kill their wife if they are kept in pairs.

That's what happened to my lorteti.

the plan was to just leave them together long enough to do the deed. i really want to try my luck breeding

timwag2001 wrote:the plan was to just leave them together long enough to do the deed. i really want to try my luck breeding

With just a single pair your chance of breeding them are slim to none. The main unknown variable is age of maturity and tank conditions. Having to seperate and then try to introduce them for a one night stand trying out different tank conditions and keeping the female happy to get it on with the male without her being destroyed is going to be very tricky. Im not sayin its impossible but its going to be a struggle to get that to work.

do you think it will work if i hold one in my right hand and the other in my left and bang them together?
just kidding.

my salivator is my favorite fish and i would love to get another. i would like it to be a female to see if they would. if not, hey, at least i have two of my favorite fish