The Puffer Forum

hey guys i got that arrowhead i was talking about this past thursday and he wont eat still...im gonna try worms tonight hoping he wil go for it but if not idk what els to do i have tried krill and clams and he has been eating krill from the LFS he was at b4 i got him

any suggestions?

They are very difficult to get off live foods. Start with live earthworms & then wiggle dead ones in front of him. You may have to bounce it off a thread. Then try bouncing a shrimp tail on the end of a thread. It may take hours to weeks.

should i toss a tetra or 2 from my other tank in there at the end of the week so he dont starve himself if he doesnt eat?

Never gonna get him to eat other foods then.

hes been eating frozen krill for the 5 to 6 months he was at the LFS so idk y he wont eat

warlord238 wrote:hes been eating frozen krill for the 5 to 6 months he was at the LFS so idk y he wont eat

Maybe try blood worms? That is my fall back whenever mine don't eat. I soak them in some vitamins with a little garlic, at least they can smell it and know it's there. Or crushed pond snails? He'll come around, he's prolly just really stressed.

just had a worm in there for about 15 mins right in front him flailing around all over the place and he didnt even move toward it

i tested the water and the ph is 7.8ish amonia is 0 nitrites 0 and nitrates are a lil high at 10 ppm, could the nitrates make him not want to eat?

I couldn't get a congo to eat a while back ago. It was very difficult, but I kept waving food in front of his face with tongs. He took a bite after a few starving days. Try leaving a live worm in front of him and leaving for an hour. I did that with my partly bare tank, and he ate it!

did his eating habits pick up after that?

Does anything else about him seem un-normal? It's not super uncommon for puffers to be picky eaters but you should make sure he's not constipated or suffering from any other illnesses. Do a water change to get your nitrates down.

Nitrate <20 is fine.

warlord238 wrote:did his eating habits pick up after that?

Yup. He ate only worms for a week or two, but then started eating from my tongs. I stopped feeding worms since my wife thinks its disgusting to keep them in the house.

nah everything else about him seems fine except hes missing his top lip and i can see his beak like teeth...his stomach isnt sunk in as well as not bloated he seems to be healthy looking

When i first got mine i couldn't get him to eat bloodworms or musscle so after a few days i gave him 10 guppies, after a week or so i dug up some big earthworms and he loved them instantly came to the top and snatched them up. I now feed him large earthworms as a main diet and he will never refuse them, They like little crabs like the thai red crabs and or corse they will eat any fish. I don't bother with trying dead foods it's not for him.

The top lip missing is strange he must have been with other suvattiis and had it ripped off. Mine won't bother with some foods like crabs untill they come close and he will come out the sand and eat it in seconds. I would try big eatrhworms.
Here a vid of mine from the other week eating...