The Puffer Forum

This winter my palembangensis got the IPs, She stopped eating, and I had to give her meds. She sort of started eating afterwards, but she was just strange. She has always been the kind that have to see the food dropping into the water to eat it. If she doesn't see it, she won't touch it. But after the IPs, she often ignored the food anyway, and when she ate, she didn't eat much. And she was like this for months! I've been really worried about her. That is until after Easter.

During the easter I was on almost two weeks of vacation at my parent's. That means no food for any of my fish for almost two weeks. When I came home, all my puffers were lined up at the front glass in their tanks, commanding me to feed them. EVEN my palembang. And she has just continued to eat! It's been several weeks now, and she comes out every time I come to her with food (which is every other day). She attacks instantly! And there's nothing left when she has finished! I often see her at the front glass in the evenings (this is in my bedroom), watching me, hoping for food. I am sooo happy with the change! She is back to her healthy, normal self. My dear, beautiful palembang!

thats awesome, puffers are so damn picky lol

congrats!

My palembang's would not touch food that did not at least appear/seem to be "alive", not ever. I used threads, long forceps, or bamboo skewers for all non-live items. Perhaps I should have starved it a couple of weeks.

That's how I got my Congo off live fish. Although now, I think I'm offering him food too often, because his appetite has slowed.

Feeding intervals seem to me the hardest thing to juggle with the lurkers. Otherwise they are soo easy and strange. Nobody on here is breeding them anymore they?

I had given up on feeding intervals. My Fangs seem to be 100% different (one ate any frozen food and preferred them to live ghost shrimp). They both love(d) Krill but I refuse to feed it to them more then once a month due to health concerns.

I now feed live Ghost shrimp, RCS and Ramshorn snails only. Cockles and scallops are ignored and my shrimp are way too big.

I also make sure the shrimp and snails have plenty of Algae and Spirulina to help support a proper diet.

Although now I find that my Puffer doesn't even eat every bit of the snails, just bites off the heads and leaves the rest to rot in it shell...

I think I spoil the Puff and need to lower live food input so it at least finishes it's live meals!

Try crushing the snails, He'll have to get past the shell pieces (biting into them) to eat the meat.

I will do that but right now there are about20 live snails still in there so anything I do will get ignored. Once the shrimp and snails are culled I will try that.

Starving for 2 weeks fixes many behavioral problems in human kids too.
It works with adults as well, but they're harder to trick and lock in the basement.

sevenyearnight wrote:Starving for 2 weeks fixes many behavioral problems in human kids too.
It works with adults as well, but they're harder to trick and lock in the basement.

lol! i dont think i could go even a week without feeding my puffers. id worry too much about them...

This method must be good if your Puffer is the only member in the Tank as 2 weeks without food my DP would be doing the "HERE'S JOHNNY!!" thing!

jeromecarlyoung wrote:This method must be good if your Puffer is the only member in the Tank as 2 weeks without food my DP would be doing the "HERE'S JOHNNY!!" thing!

..lol... be happy you have 1/2" inch glass between you and the fish then :p

im trying this same method with my Fahaka right now

I have to laugh at Dragonfly now. There's nothing wrong with her appetite! I forgot to feed my puffers one night. I had taken the food out to thaw, but forgot all about it...until bedtime. I came into my bedroom, put on my night gown, and headed for my bed. I took a look at my tanks, and saw a pair of eyes staring back at me. She is always very calm, but now she was by the front glass, staring me down. It was like "Hey, it's supposed to be food here now! " Well I probably don't have to mention that I had to go back to the kitchen to get some puffer food...