The Puffer Forum

While my new tank is cycling my two dwarfs are in a community tank, they like to hide near the back of the tank where I cant see them, Ive been feeding bloodworms but since they lurk where i cant see I cant tell if they're eating, they dont come to the front of the tank and as the other fish like the bloodworms too, ive started putting my hand in the tank and squirting the bloodworms with a clean medicine syringe towards the back area where they lurk, but cant see or tell if they're eatting.

They're not gaunt or anything and tummy's are slightly rounded, but not huge like ive seen some pictures of puffers. Im going to go get some snails tomorrow, if the snails disapear i'll know they're eating.

Are there any aquatic snails I should avoid giving to them?

If you have males then slightly rounded sounds good. If you have females, they will be a bit more fat.

If you have been looking at females and you yourself have males then you can't expect the males to get as rounded as the females.

But, for puffers in general, they really aren't supposed to be FAT, just a little chubby. However, some do have a body shape that makes them appear really round and too fat!

You need ramshorn or pond snails no bigger than the eye of the puffer.

DP's are slow moving and not very competitive. If the other fish are competitive the DP's may not be getting food. They do not need to be fat but keep an eye out so they don't starve.
Try feeding bloodworms after lights out so they can more comfortably scrounge for food.

Im unsure if male or female the guy at the store failed to tell me, and I cant see them too well to sex them due to the hiding.
Snails no bigger than the puffers eye :S one of these little guys is tiny, but i'll try my LFS's tomorrow for snails.

I'll give the feeding after dark to see if that helps them achieve a slightly rounder tummy.

Thanks guys

If the snails are a little bigger than that it's okay, they'll suck the insides out! I would suggest checking craigslist for a small tank and breed your own snails. Just get some freebe pond or ramshorns (not trumpet) from your lfs or petco/petsmart...they breed quickly! Then you can pick out the right sizes before they get too big. I keep mine in a 5 gallon aquarium and feed them flake and algae wafers. Be sure to cover the intake on the filter with a fine mesh bag or floss because they can and will clog your filter! I've found the easiest way to change the water is to stir the substrate and before the yuck settle siphon out the water. I have minimal snail loss this way. The babies are so tiny it's next to impossible to not suck them up. I also have a moss ball in there that the baby snails love to munch on!

I know this is not what you asked, but I have 8 dp's that LOVE to snail hunt!!! Snails are an important part of their diet and hunting gives them exercise! They are awesome little fish. Before I feed mine I always tap the top of the tank so they associate it with feeding time...they always come running!!! A few of them like to feed directly from the syringe at the top of the tank!

Ive got a small cold water tank set up for snails, which im waiting on delivery, but i think they will be adult ramshorn snails, which would be much bigger than my puffers eyes, wouldnt they?

Ok so just tried the after dark feeding, squirting the bloodworm in the back area of the tank and I saw a little guy come out to get some so thank you very much for that suggestion, on a side note I got my first interaction with them earlier.
I sat infront of the tank watching the fish, and one of the puffers saw me and slowly swam to the front of the tank to inspect me and take a look at what i was doing, and after noticing Stanley had come to the front Reginald soon followed suit coming to the front and hovering there looking at me. I was so pleased

You should have tried dropping a few bloodworms in when they were watching you...then they would think "hey, that's where food comes from!". My dp's watch me more than I watch them...they are so nosey!!! Lol!!!

Thats a good idea, I shall do that next time they come to see me