green-spotted puffer (my first post)

[iheartmyfish]

hello all!
this is my fist post. i had a green spotted puffer, in a brackish tank. he was a wonderful little guy, so cute! he was the friendliest fish i've seen! i know why they are referred to as 'puppies of the sea'. unfortunately he was sickly from purchase, and despite my hard efforts, he passed away two weeks later. (i talked to the lfs that i bought him at, they had problems with that batch of gsp) i bought a new one, a HEALTHY one. hes quite tubby, and beautifully colored. i've had him for 5 days now, and hes still extremely shy and hides from me. on rare occasions he'll come out and stare at me, but keeps his distance. i figured he's just settling in, and im giving him his time. i talk to him and coo at him and let him know i love him, but i worry. he ate 4 big snails since i've had him, but wont eat anything else. i've tried everything and called the fish store to see what they were feeding him. (i had 1 of the 2 items they fed him, im going out to buy the other)
has anyone had any experiences with gsp??? any advice on where to go from here, or what his complaints may be?
my levels are all perfect, and he loves my columbian shark that inhabits the 20gal brackish tank with him. (i know that is too small- but i am a college student and purchasing a much larger tank in a few months!!!)
thanx guyz!!!!!

 

[Menagerie]

[center:cdf032c1b0] Welcome to AA, iheartmyfish! [/center:cdf032c1b0]
You are in good company here. There are a few puffer owners that will chime in (probably by the end of the day ) and you can search the site. (I don't own any, but wanted to welcome you.)

 

[Patwa]

bloodworms will be OK for the GSP....either freeze dried, or frozen.....also krill, brine shrimp.

but if he's eating snails, that's OK....puffers generally LOVE snails...

Zach.

 

[iheartmyfish]

Menagerie and Zach,
thanks for welcoming me!!
Zach, i've tried freeze dried bloodworms, mosquito larvae, and freeze dried krill and plankton, and brine shrimp, and fish flakes. my other puffer would eat any or all of those!! i was told by the fish store i purchased him to try 'spectrum', so i am going to buy some of that to try.
he has only eaten those 4 snails though, in the 5 days that i've had him. and he's starting to look thin. should i just continue to feed him snails? i was hoping to have a varied array of food for him, i want him healthy as possible.
~thanx!!

 

[Menagerie]

If he likes snails, then that's what he likes. Although I do not own puffers, fish will not starve in only a few days. I think as the puffer gets used to his new environment, he may take different foods.

 

[cdawson]

I think that you should read this. If you're going to keep a GSP it's very important.

http://www.fishinthe.net/html/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10684

 

[Pufferpunk]

I'm afraid the crazyness of the shark may be keeping your puffer shy & not eating. Do you know that those sharks are schooling & grow to 18"? Not a good group of fish for the aquarium.

 

[iheartmyfish]

cdawson, i've read that article- thanx. i've talked to a lot of people who have kept puffers, including the gsp- so buying one, i knew what i was getting into.
pufferpunk- as i said to cdawson, i've done a lot of research before buying the puffer and adding him with my columbian. before i bought my columbian (a year ago) i did research on her, so yes i know shes a schooling fish and yes she gets to be 18" inches big. my friend, a truly intellegent man, and fish expert, has raised many columbians and i've seen how big they get. i had my columbian with another one, but the second columbian passed away. thats why i got the puffer.
as for her "crazyness" yes shes got that awesome columbian personality but she isnt "crazy". she doesnt madly swim around and try to kill the puffer. they get along great actually. he teases her and swims away, trying to blend in with plants, then he'll swim out at her. he follows her around and rubs on her all the time. they get along really well. my other gsp before him, also got along w/ my columbian.
and he has eaten. he ate all the snails in the tank, and i put in more, which he ate, along with some ghost shrimp. (he ate one of those, and chased the other around like mad)