The Puffer Forum

Hello!! I am quite new to the forum and thankfully not new to aquarium keeping. I have been wondering for about a few months now about my year old Green spotted puffer. I am well aware that puffers need inverts, crustaceans, etc. to grind their teeth down but has anyone kept a GSP with a few ghost shrimp and bamboo shrimp? I know he isn't blind and can very well see them but he never bothers to eat them. Originally I got the ghost shrimp as a treat but ended up as his tank mates. I also have an small albino bristlenose, glass catfish, and one rainbow shark that he never goes near (he almost seems afraid of them). My 40g is almost always clean (10% water change a week) and between 72-78F. I'm not sure about salinity but I always taste to make sure its not too fresh (lol pun). I am aware of the brackish conditions he needs and its stable as well as his diet of freeze dried river shrimp, bloodworms, and whatever meat I can give him (without the seasonings of course). Is this just a personality quirk or is it because of the water conditions?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWyokdH- ... ure=relmfu
In the back you can see him window surfing (apparently he don't like anything around the tank)

how long have you had the GSP?

It is not really unusual for most puffers to "adopt" tankmates while they (the puffer) are small, ignoring the fact that they are potential food. Unfortunately, it is also not rare for those fish to get over their tolerance and decide to eat those same tankmates, especially during and post-puberty IME.

So, enjoy it while it is going on, but don't count on it lasting long-term. Personally I would rehome the bamboo shrimp. They are too nice and gentle to be potential food.

kpjenk21 wrote:how long have you had the GSP?

A year

Back when I bought my very first GSP he was very much was like that. This was back before the internet and most fish keeping knowledge came from books and your LFS. The LFS I bought him from didn't know much about them either. I thought they where interesting so I bought him and put him in with my cherry barbs, black mollies, honeycomb cat, and tiger pleco. He lived with them for years in a fresh water aquarium.

However you do have them in with there natural food source so it may not be to long before you Puff takes nibble.