The Puffer Forum

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to share my beak trimming experience on my GSP.

She is a little one...about 1 inch. "She" (I don't know if it is a she or a he, but being so small I have dubbed her a she) is in a 30 gal with another puffer and a catfish shark...they are all very compatible...I got her when I moved my other puffer to the larger tank and he was sooooo restless...I took a chance, and got her and he has calmed down significantly...

Anyway, she has always been a little grayish...she is actually a "camelian" fish...she changes color all the time...but she has a gray ring around her mouth and her tail. So, I noticed she was having trouble eating...she would grab a chunk of food...try and chew it and spit it out. I couldn't see any teeth, but I read that some puffers teeth grow internally and you cant see them on the external mouth...so I researched the procedure that pufferpunk outlined...set everything up for it and went for it.

She never rolled over completely and I didn't want to over-anesthetize, so I took her out with the net when she was rolled on her side, and I used a cuticle nipper to kind of scrape her teeth after pushing back the lips. She really didn't have huge teeth on the inside. So I put her in the second bowl without the clove oil, and she slowly came out of it. After 10 minutes or so I put her back in the tank, and she was her old self immediately. I fed them and she did pretty much the same thing that she was doing before I trimmed the teeth.

I will say, that when she was in the second bowl coming out of the anesthetic, she looked the best I have ever seen her. She had no gray at all...I guess she wasn't stressed at all.

I wasn't scared at all because I had read pufferpunk's instructions, and some of the other peoples comments...they were extremely helpful.

Thanks all...

Yippe glad it went well

Congratulations.

What kind of puffer is your other puffer? You do know that your GSP will require high end brackish and 30 gallons himself, right? You won't be able to keep the catfish with it much longer. If you haven't already, you should read the GSP care sheet in the library that PufferPunk wrote.

So the teeth didn't need trimming after all?

gruntle wrote: I will say, that when she was in the second bowl coming out of the anesthetic, she looked the best I have ever seen her. She had no gray at all...I guess she wasn't stressed at all.
Thanks all...

I just re-readthat bit maybe she was a bit hi at this point and totally mellow

Boxermom wrote:Congratulations.

What kind of puffer is your other puffer? You do know that your GSP will require high end brackish and 30 gallons himself, right? You won't be able to keep the catfish with it much longer. If you haven't already, you should read the GSP care sheet in the library that PufferPunk wrote.

Shark Catfish (if it's an Arius species or similar) are high brackish/marine fish so could be kept with the GSP, but in a much larger tank. they desperately need the company of other shark cats also, so should be kept in 3s or above.

glad to hear the teeth trimming went well.

Hi all...I will try and reply to everyone all at once, and thanks to all of you that replied.

1. Yes, I know that each will require 30 gallons and will go to full or close to full marine when they are older...and eventually I will get them a much larger tank...but for now they are doing really well.

2. I have two GSPs.

3. I didn't know that the cat shark does better in three's...I will talk to my LFS about taking him back...don't want to stress him and give him a bad life. He seemed happy, always moving around, and kinda of playing with the puffers, but maybe he is really stressed and looking for his own kind...

4. I don't know if the teeth needed trimming or not, but this little puffer seems to be doing much better...more social, begging for food and her grayishness seems better too...either she had something stuck in her mouth that I loosened, or the clove oil made her more mellow...in any case, she is doing much better I think!

I have three Colombian Shark Cats at my parents place and they get quite big! I got them at about 4" and they are all now at least a foot long, a year and a half later! They are quickly outgrowing the 100G tank they have to themselves and I am giving them away soon. The Vancouver Aquarium is actually talking to me about them but I don't think they will end up taking them...I wish they would though. That would be an awesome home for them!

I would think about taking him back or getting a bigger tank!

The shark cats also fight a lot!!! Probably because they need a new home...although they have always chased each other around! I actually thought it was maybe bad that I had three because they were always trying to get away from each other and had their own corners of the tank...

Here is an example of size...

Christ that is a big fish, or do you have little hands

WOWOWOW!!!!!!!

That is a huge fish...I cant imagine why the aquarium wouldn't take them...they are beautiful specimens...

That did it...

I am taking him back!!

Thanks!

gruntle, how can you be sure the store won't just sell them to someone like you or worse, someone that doesn't do research like you are?

I really like my LPS...but you are right...I will take him down to the special fish store in San Antonio...it is frequented mostly by serious fish lovers..and the owners are VERY knowdlegable...they only sell fish, and fish products...

I now believe that it is quite hard to house Shark Cats! When I bought them, I was told that they would get about 10" or so but not very thick...Well that was wrong!!! I feel so bad about having them now and you can imagine how hard it is to find a good home for them. I had one guy who was serious but he had a 200G which I still don't think is big enough. I want them to go to the aquarium and they do want them but are worried they will eat a bunch of the other fish in the brackish tank they would go in...So Im stuck right now with these friendly giants! They are very cool and will actually let you pet them, although I try to resist as its not so good for them!