The Puffer Forum

I received a brand new F8 puffer on Wednesday. I had him quarantined and was monitoring water parameters morning and night as I did not want to put him in my big tank until I knew he was healthy and also I needed to get him introduced to the brackish water as he was shipped in fresh water. He was not eating and I was just trying to offer different foods. When I came home on Sunday he had already passed.

I was optimistic because we got another F8 puffer from them and he has been doing great.

I just do not know what went wrong. I noticed his colors were a little pale when I received him. He did not have a lumpy belly and it was white.

I had tried mysis shrimp, shrimp, scallops and krill.

Did he go to long without food?

I had worked his salinity up to 1.002.

Is there anything else I could have done? Did I miss something?

His water parameters were fine.

Should I not order puffers from online?

Sorry, I just saw this. Seems you are a great fishkeeper! Considering how far the poor fish has come to you, there is a certain percentage of death. I hope you try again.

There are some reputable online sellers. I've had good experiences with several online sellers, including but not limited to, The Wet Spot Tropical Fish, ExoticFish Shop on Ebay, Dave's Fish, Select Aquatics, Aquatic Arts, and Wes, of course.

Thanks Pufferpunk and astrid37! I am giving it one more go. The one healthy F8 went with my daughter to school. So last night I picked up a GSP from a LFS. This one is about 1.5" and partially bright. Made me slightly worried but the others were cream colored. I had read that they change color, so I am hoping I did not select wrong. This one seemed very friendly and was a voracious eater with white belly. They were feeding them black worms, so I bought a supply and just feeding that for now. He slurps them up like spaghetti, it is pretty amusing. I am hoping to do some mysis shrimp this weekend. I did buy some ramshorns and placed them in a 5 gallon tank. Fingers crossed they will start to breed and I can keep a supply as it is extremely hard for me to find them.

Thanks for all the help. My GSP is still doing great. Still does not have full body color but he is eating great and loves all food. Which is a relief for me. He explores and seems to be enjoying his environment. I have not witnessed any stress so I think he is happy. Still has a nice white belly.

Glad to hear this news!