The Puffer Forum

My arrowhead lays eggs every few weeks. I know, I know, if I could get a hold of a male I would. Usually I have a small army of ghost shrimp in the tank that eats the eggs and in return they get eaten by the puffer.

My LFS has been out of shrimp for a couple of weeks and once again, the puffer laid eggs in it's usual spot, a dug out hole at the back of the tank.

So it went over to the eggs and started circling them. Then it turned a really light shade like I've never saw it before. Finally it started eating the eggs. Wasn't expecting that although I guess a fish is a fish and it was just doing what most fish do.

This is the shade it turned. The flash makes it look lighter than it really was but still, it was unusually white.



And here it is having a feast. I'd just given it a silverside 20 minutes earlier.

Very interesting...I've heard similar accounts of puffers turning lighter shades when in "breeding mode".

Have to assume she's "recycling" her investment. Cichlids will do this if they decide they have no chance of raising their spawn. They eat the eggs, so the energy isn't wasted, and spawn again later. Puffers seem pretty close to cichlids in terms of behaviour, so I'd assumed she's doing the same thing.

Good luck finding a male. It's great to finally see people managing to get pufferfish to spawn.

Cheers,

Neale