The Puffer Forum

Just got him home and all setup in the tank. Tank params are:
Ammonia- 0ppm
Nitrite- 0ppm
Nitrate- not tested

He was kept in brackish at the LFS. I know he is a freshwater puffer so I have a 1 week old tank that had 10 rosys and 30 snails in it and used bio spira to cycle.

When I put him in the tank he turned pitch black and was respirating hard.

My guess is he was so used to brackish water it took some time to adjust to fresh. Now he is a dark brown and his patterns can be seen again and he just struck at a rosy.

This is pretty normal right? He needs to get used to the new water stats.

It sounds like you are pretty lucky to have a live puffer! I would imagine a shock change from brackish to fresh water would be easily enough to kill a fish.
Depending on the salinity of the brackish water, I would have recommended a change to FW over a few weeks, if not a couple of months. Though if it was only in light brackish then a slow drip may have been enough.

well the fish wasnt meant to be in brackish, and i also made the water LOW END brackish. It was completly fresh. My GSPs were in brackish and I dumped them into 100% fresh and they were happy.

He just ate 4 rosys, he is now happily hunting now that its dark. Im sure there wont be anymore rosys alive in the morning

Perek, keep an eye on ammonia, nitrite and nitrates. If you detect ammonia or nitrites, change some water. I also recommend nvesting in a nitrate test kit - it is very useful in the long run, and will serve as a guide for your regular maintenance schedule.

Stress is common in moving a fish. Give it 24 hours and if there's no improvement, we'll look to possible causes. Get him feeding on crunchy, high-protein / low-fat, disease-free food ASAP. Feeder fish tend to complicate things.

Well I got my Rosies from an awesome local breeder who keeps the cleanest tanks I have ever seen. I was really just using them to cycle because after I'm done with the cycle they could be eaten. I have about 40 snails in there with him but as of right now he seems disinterested in the snails.

I am happy to say i just checked on him and he has brightened up and now all his pattern can be seen and his spot has gotten brighter. He was happily stalking some fish when i turned on the light. He quickly returned to his flower pot. He gave me an evil look

How big is the tank? How did you acclimate the puffer?

I would have done a large water change, before adding the puffer. The bacteria in there is enough to support the rosies/snails, not the extra puffer. For future notice, fish is not a good food to feed your puffer. He will reducde the bioload by eating them, but he'll also be pooping them out too.

Its a 20 long tank. He is now officially happy!

He has made a new home of the flower pot and has been hunting rosys all night. He had his first snail too, but his love is rosy reds. I have been gut loading the rosys BTW.

The LFS he came from only fed rosy reds for a year. So I will try to SLOWLY wean off the rosys. I guess they could be like people, and not be able to handle new food. Plus its fun to watch him stalk them, such an amazing fish!

Are there any possible tankmates for him? I hadnt planned on any tankmates, but if there are some then I open to try them.

A diet of fish will cause liver disease (fatty liver) & early death. Better to get them off sooner!

He has been sucking up some snails too.

What about ghost shrimp are they a decent food for him? I'm trying to find good live food for him to eat since I've had no luck with frozen so far.

You may have to simulate life with frozen foods. Tie some krill to a piece of thread and dangle it around. Ghost shrimp are a good way of introducing veggies into your puff's diet, if you gut-load them with algae wafers or similar foods beforehand.

I don't think you'll want to take your chances with any tankmates. I'm willing to bet they wouldn't last a day. And a 20 won't support much more bioload, either.

How long does it take one of these puffs to mature to full adult?

This guy is over a year old and roughly 4" long.

That number is highly dependent on water conditions and quality / amount of feeding, housing conditions, etc. I'm not able to even guess...

One thing which seems common among all species is that growth rate slows once the fish is 2/3rds its mature size.

He seems happy now, he ate about 7 snails. Also I just fed him his first frozen food! I fed him half a 80 count shrimp. The same thing my GSPs eat. That acceptable food?

Raw food is better than cooked. So try and get the raw shrimp.

Also, thawed frozen bloodworms and live blackworms are great things to feed your puff.

Mine likes squid, clams and mussels too.