puffers seem ok, but I wanted to ask..
Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2012 10:40 pm
Hi all -
I am loving my 2 dwarf puffers - they are amazing to watch and so interesting in general. A while back I had posted about what to fed them, and I decided to mainly give them ramshorns snails (which I am breeding in a little tank) + frozen and sometimes live bloodworms which they also seem to enjoy. So, they are doing ok but I wanted to ask 2 questions:
1) There are 2 puffers in an 8 gallon tank. The tank is thickly planted, and the two have very clearly established territories on opposite sides of the tanks. They both seem healthy enough, but one is slightly bigger and I have noticed some pecking behavior where the larger one lays down the law and chases the smaller one into his corner. On several occasions, the big one actually got the little one by the abdomen and thrashed him around wildly - I was sure the dominant one would kill the other, but they seem to have settled down nicely and actually swim together a lot. Am I kidding myself that this situation will work itself out? The seem to be getting more peaceful, not less, but I would hate for one of them to be killed.
2) I never see them eat. Sometimes they'll nibble on a fresh worm but I have only seen them eat once or twice in the couple of months they've been here! I stopped feeding them for a few days and it was really noticeable how their bellies shrunk - very obvious. So, now I can tell that they are eating and they sure seem healthy enough and yet there are probably 5 decent size ramshorns cruising the tank right now uneaten. I am finding snail eggs around, so maybe the puffers won't wipe out the population as I expected. Should I just not worry about this?? They sure seem ok. There are also about 5 neocardina shrimp in there which I was sure will get eaten, but they are apparently breeding , too!
Also, what is the idea temp for these guys? I have them at 78.
I am loving my 2 dwarf puffers - they are amazing to watch and so interesting in general. A while back I had posted about what to fed them, and I decided to mainly give them ramshorns snails (which I am breeding in a little tank) + frozen and sometimes live bloodworms which they also seem to enjoy. So, they are doing ok but I wanted to ask 2 questions:
1) There are 2 puffers in an 8 gallon tank. The tank is thickly planted, and the two have very clearly established territories on opposite sides of the tanks. They both seem healthy enough, but one is slightly bigger and I have noticed some pecking behavior where the larger one lays down the law and chases the smaller one into his corner. On several occasions, the big one actually got the little one by the abdomen and thrashed him around wildly - I was sure the dominant one would kill the other, but they seem to have settled down nicely and actually swim together a lot. Am I kidding myself that this situation will work itself out? The seem to be getting more peaceful, not less, but I would hate for one of them to be killed.
2) I never see them eat. Sometimes they'll nibble on a fresh worm but I have only seen them eat once or twice in the couple of months they've been here! I stopped feeding them for a few days and it was really noticeable how their bellies shrunk - very obvious. So, now I can tell that they are eating and they sure seem healthy enough and yet there are probably 5 decent size ramshorns cruising the tank right now uneaten. I am finding snail eggs around, so maybe the puffers won't wipe out the population as I expected. Should I just not worry about this?? They sure seem ok. There are also about 5 neocardina shrimp in there which I was sure will get eaten, but they are apparently breeding , too!
Also, what is the idea temp for these guys? I have them at 78.