The Puffer Forum

I recently got my F8 puffer fish 2 days ago from a LFS which they sold in freshwater with a high ph. I picked the one that had a round white belly. I feed him some frozen bloodworms and mysis shrimp and snails today and he ate them in a snap. But I started noticing that he has been pacing up and down the glass. I have a airstone in there with fake plants and today I just added 3 Tablespoons of Instant Ocean Marine salt and I measured the specific gravity and it read 1.003. As a substrate I have Nature's Ocean Marine White sand. I also tested the water for ammonium, nitrates, nitrites and ph and all was good : ph was about 7.6-8. Can someone please help me figure out why my puffer is displaying this behavior? Thanks.

Pacing equals = boredom, need for exercise, personality and adjusting to new environment...

F8s are active, needed an intricate aquarium with lots of plants/decor/caves and swimming space..if your aquarium lacks being intricate, boredom will soon follow..

Give him time to settle in. Expect odd behavior for a time. It just needs time to acclimate to its new home. Providing a complex environment is best but I wouldnt automatically equate pacing to boredom.

He is probably stressed because of the move. Pacing the glass is quite normal after being moved. It takes a few days before they settle in. But if he continues this behaviour, there's something stressing him out.

Can my puffer die to.boredom if it is boredom?

what size tank ?

inlovewithdps wrote:...today I just added 3 Tablespoons of Instant Ocean Marine salt and I measured the specific gravity and it read 1.003...

sparks42 wrote:what size tank ?

Yeah, what size is the tank?


Mine paced for weeks and has slowed the past couple weeks. I've just been able to start feeding snails and find him searching for those more and pacing the glass less.

my F8 completely stopped pacing when I added a background. The first 2 days he was looking at the background a lot, but he doesn't do ups and downs since adding it.

What are your water parameters. May be thare is something wrong with you water

Well right now he is in a 8 gallon but in a few days I will be moving him to a 30 gallon. His ph is alkaline and nitrates, nitrites, and ammonium are non-existant.

How was this tank cycled? You should be showing some nitrates in the tank.