The Puffer Forum

My 3 dwarf puffers have been hiding for the last month among the thick plants. They used to come out to see me when I approached the tank, were curious about me, and very eager to eat. Now they appear terrified and only hide in small corners and only swim when trying to hide from me. They do not appear to have any disease as I can tell, but i'm wondering if an internal parasite might be a problem. Their colors look fine and they still have moderate to good sized bellies on them so I know they aren’t starving. But I have not seen them eat in the last few days and that worries me alot!

Addition Info: I’ve had my dwarf puffers for about 6 months. They are in a 10 Gallon tank with 2 Oto’s. The water chemistry is Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 15, pH 7.2. I do 40% water change/siphon/clean filters once a week. Change filters every month. I feed them live black worms which I know can have diseases. (they REFUSE to eat anything else... i've tried trust me)

Why have they stopped being friendly and appear constantly stressed? have others had this same experience? Could it be the Oto's annoying them? Maybe the feeding of live blackworms? Disease? HELP!!!

Have they been in that tank since you got them? Are the Oto's new additions to the tank or have they been there since you've had the dps?

let's see.

I got the Dwarf Puffers about 6 months ago or so... and I got the Oto's about 2-3 months ago.

The DP's used to come out even with the oto's swimming around.

Have you changed any decor? have you grown a beard, or changed your haircut? worth a shot

manutius wrote:Have you changed any decor? have you grown a beard, or changed your haircut? worth a shot

Lol... i change my decor around every two weeks. It's only 10 gallons so it's not like its too different. just move plants, caves around. they never seem to mind it. i think they like the new surroundings. or at least they used to like my tank...........

That could be stressing them out. Don't change it for a while see if that helps.

I'll try anything at this point. I just changed it last night so I'll leave it like that for a month this time... see what happens.

not that I think they do have a disease... but how would I tell if they had a parasite? I almost never see them poop so I wouldn't know from that... any other signs I should look for?

If it had IPs it's stomache would be sunken in. I think it's just because the stuff gets rearranged.

Why do you keep rearranging it anyway?

Also you might want to go to dwarfpuffers.com and post it there.

cuz someone recommended i try it. haha.

i thought it would keep them entertained and curious. btw, I've done the rearranging every two weeks since I got them 6-7 months ago and they never seemed to mind until the last month. they have gotten really weird since then.

there tummies are not sunken in... not yet at least... hopefully they will eat tonight.

You never know what changes might hit a nerve and make the puffers nervous. If they dont' eat tonight I'd probably redecorate right away to something simular to what they have approved of in the past, and if they settle down and seem to enjoy it, not change it unless they behave oddly again.

Nick wrote:You never know what changes might hit a nerve and make the puffers nervous. If they dont' eat tonight I'd probably redecorate right away to something simular to what they have approved of in the past, and if they settle down and seem to enjoy it, not change it unless they behave oddly again.

it can't hurt. I'll see what happens tonight in a few hours!

none of them ate when I was watching. the food would go right past their faces into the gravel.

2 of them have decent bellies still, but one is thinning down.

is there a disease that DP's commonly get?

Try feeding them some brine shrimp in the next couple of days,
The chase may get them going again!

Are they the only pets you have? Do you have littlekids? Have any odd visitors got up close and personal with your tank in the last month? All questions that sound odd I'm sure, but I had a figure 8 in the passed who would get very irritated and give me the cold shoulder for extended periods over that kind of thing. If the cat got into my office and made faces against the glass, or children of friends that visited tapped and made faces against the glass... That's all it took to incite over a week of "silent treatment" for lack of better term heh.

nope, no cats, no little kids. nothing... they have nothing to fear except... me i guess.

where can i get live brine shrimp? I don't think any of my lfs carry that.