The Puffer Forum

It's good to be back and to also move on up in size from my dwarf species. Long story short, my other tank idea got shut down and then I noticed this poor thing at one of the more reliable LFS, and decided I had to save him. It was him and another, larger, palembang sharing a 10G tank for show. I knew I've seen them before, and I have, because they've been in the store since October! The larger one picks on the smaller one and eats more of the food. But they both eat.

I will post photos later tonight (when I get home) of the little one I chose. My disclaimer is "you will be upset and sad when you see him". Now I don't know how old it is, but given the 8 months he was there, and they said he was not a baby when he arrived, who knows. He's about 4 inches MAX. I've only had him since Saturday and now the biggest challenge is his diet and bulking him up. I am treating him for IPs: PraziPro in the water and Metronidazole in/on its food if possible. And also using garlic guard and vita-chem. The biggest issue at the moment is that the store was mainly feeding him fish. Now I get it that it's primarily a piscivorous species, and I know the issues with store feeders, but having him trained this way for almost a year is going to make transitioning HARD!

I have all sorts of food prepared for him. I treated frozen bloodworms for him after his first day and he took a small bite then ignored them. He also ignored live black worms, which is a first for any fish I've seen, as well as a mealworm and earthworm. The next day I tried various frozen seafood...not interested. I then decided to put a few platies in the tank, from a reliable source. I got a couple prego females as well, hoping for some babies. I didn't want to go the fish route but I wanted to make sure he continues to eat and if I got babies it will give him a steady supply to hunt and snack on. It was nice to see him active, albeit a slow fish. Well, that didn't last long. He is all over the tank hunting them (which is fun to watch), and I've lost one every night, 2 on Monday. I had to remove a nice little fish head Tuesday morning. He also ate the few ghost shrimp I threw in there. I did Not feed him yesterday as I want to now "starve" him a little until he's hungry and then try again. My feeding tongs have been in the tank everyday with some type of food so hopefully he'll learn.

There is still 1 pregnant platy in a breeder box in my tank. If she doesn't release the fry then I read a good option would be to kill/freeze her and then give it to the puffer on the feeding tongs. This would transition to the frozen silver sides I got, and then transition again from there. I also bought some frozen krill. Yes, I know of the potential lockjaw issues, but if I can get him to at least eat it he will be eating inverts vs fish, and dead vs alive. It would only serve as a random snack a few times month maybe.

I know these puffers should not eat all the time but when you see him you'll understand that I want him to eat all the time, at least for now. I am also open for any other suggestions and ideas to help me get this guy back to normal. Once again, pics will be up later.

Great save, congrats! Can't wait to see pics.

try some crickets and frozen/defrosted cherrystone clams

Here you go...





Sad right?

Would you recommend something that is higher in fat initially, or just stick with a high protein diet?
Never thought about crickets. Don't know if he'll go to the top for them. Will they sink, or at least move underwater?

*Would an increase in WCs or an increase in the amount of water in a WC help with growth at all??

?Poor thing... I woulda bought the other one. Not sure this fella's gonna make it but I have faith in you! He passed on earthworms

His appetite is there, it's just too specific right now. I'll let you know how the frozen silversides go later. He is also active and flaps his fins like crazy when he's excited. I have faith because if he could live that long in those conditions he must be loving it now. I give him 3 months till he's normal again. My Borneo when I got him wasn't as bad, but very similar. This guy is pretty colorful now. I can only imagine what he'll be like in his prime!

Is it a he or she by the way? Can you sex these?


EDIT: stubborn little sob. wouldn't take the silverside. I left it hanging near some waterflow in a clip on the side of the tank. If that doesn't work I'm going to try feeding him the platy with the feeding tongs.

Are you soaking in garlic?

Yes I am. As far as his condition and "starving" him till he's hungry. I'll keep trying daily, but what do you think a time frame would be when he'd get hungry again?

This guy is beyond stubborn! It's been 6 days since he ate anything so he must be getting hungry. I saw him nip at one of his big poops, so come on. He is still ignoring the silversides. I did freeze that pregnant platy (who released ONE fry before I took her out...still alive btw) and tried to feed it to him, but with no success. There is also one male platy alive and well in the tank that my puffer can't seem to catch. I think the platy has gotten to the point that he likes to tease the puffer.

I try putting the food in front of his face and pulling away, wiggling it on the tongs too. I have even tried to put the food on his nose to agitate him into biting it, and still nothing. It's only been 6 days, which I know is fine for most fish. I'm more concerned due to his emaciated state. I will get ghost shrimp on Tuesday (day and gutload those before I toss them in. I even left a live earthworm in the tank for about a day (inlcuding overnight) and nothing. The worm was still alive to my surprise!

I will start to get really concerned if this goes past the 2 week time period, so there is still some time. At that point I may have to force feed him, which is my LAST resort effort. I may need some help with that. I would be extremely nervous normally, but add in the fact that the puffer is already in bad shape, and is well, a puffer and can puff. Would I try this in the tank or would you guys suggest a small container of sorts to do this in? I have a syringe and some small airline tubing, just don't know what I can mash up that'll be able to be pushed through it. Probably medicated bloodworms and some mysis shrimp. For now he is still active (for a lurker), just doesn't physically look any better.

...I forgot you guys mentioned crickets. Should I try it? Will they move underwater?

They'll swim on the surface.

Crickets are a no go, at least for now. It is kind of funny to watch them swim at the top though.

So the ghost shrimp bananza began. I bought 15 from PetSmart for now. Then gutloaded them with medicated frozen bloodworms, soaked in vita-chem & garlic guard, along with a little bit of various other foods (invert calcium pellets, crushed NLS pellets, algae wafer pieces, frozen krill, live bloodworms, & earthworm flakes). These guys were pretty full. Then I put about half of them in the tank. My puffer is not the quickest fish and missed a few strikes so I tried putting one in my tongs. He didn't go after it till I crushed it a little and dropped it down to the sand. Maybe he is scared of the tongs? He seemed so happy to eat. I will see how many are remaining in the morning. He finally decided to lay down and rest after about an hour of the lights off. So maybe he's full for now.

Oh, I need something for the bottom of my breeder "box" net. The puffer nipped through it in a few spots. Nothing much, but enough to notice and I'm sure he will continue. Maybe I'll use a thin filter pad for the bottom. I will put the rest of the shrimp in tomorrow so he won't be going after them that much longer.

Yay!

I one I had some time ago refuse to eat silverside no matter what. Mine mainly ate market prawn. Poor thing.. He's in really bad condition. Maybe can try those cheaper guppies, not the feeder type. QT them for a few days.

The goal is to eventually get him off live fish. Figured the shrimp are a good start. Then hopefully off live food, primarily. I know this may take quite some time but he'll be worth it. However I do like to keep something small, cheap, and active (yet still nice looking) in there to fuel his hunting instinct. Just don't know if that's a good idea while I'm training him off of fish.

Look who had a pretty full belly when I got home. And apparently that also gave him enough energy to kill/eat the last platy.