Tim Wheatley
Aquarium Advice Addict
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2011
- Messages
- 1,342
Hey folks,
Just wondering if anybody has experience with these Puffers?
Mine has been in my care about 8 months. He has grown from about 1.5 inches to 2 inches during that time. He is always brightly colored and has what is basically his own tank (he shares with guppies and ghost shrimp). The guppies breed in there as food for my Oscar in another tank while the Puffer does eat the ghost shrimp when hungry.
He is a delightful fish to watch, especially when hunting. It is amazing seeing him actually using objects to take the line of sight away from his prey. He only really eats ghost shrimp when very hungry as I feed him either beef heart or brine shrimp every other day and a small crayfish every two weeks. I don't know how many of you actually watch feeders being eaten but the intelligence this little thing shows is amazing. He always (without fail) will take out the eyes first, then the claws, then will take his time. It's like he knows to disable the crayfishes ability to defend itself before anything else. He also has MTS snails in there and I don't see him eating those, I just find the shells.
I guess my only real disappointment is the slow growth rate. And that's what I am asking about. Is my GSP growing at a normal rate? Don't fish normally grow quickly when small then slowly when bigger, does this mean years at this size?
I have (lol, yes, with this many tanks) a limit and giving a tank to one fish at a time when I really want to continue exploring the hobby feels limiting. I can give him back to the LFS without issue but I did regret giving back my 18" pleco (who I grew from 2") and it's tough thinking that I might regret giving back the GSP at some point...
Here's my photos of him:
Flickr: Search T Wheatley's photostream
Any thoughts?
Tim
Just wondering if anybody has experience with these Puffers?
Mine has been in my care about 8 months. He has grown from about 1.5 inches to 2 inches during that time. He is always brightly colored and has what is basically his own tank (he shares with guppies and ghost shrimp). The guppies breed in there as food for my Oscar in another tank while the Puffer does eat the ghost shrimp when hungry.
He is a delightful fish to watch, especially when hunting. It is amazing seeing him actually using objects to take the line of sight away from his prey. He only really eats ghost shrimp when very hungry as I feed him either beef heart or brine shrimp every other day and a small crayfish every two weeks. I don't know how many of you actually watch feeders being eaten but the intelligence this little thing shows is amazing. He always (without fail) will take out the eyes first, then the claws, then will take his time. It's like he knows to disable the crayfishes ability to defend itself before anything else. He also has MTS snails in there and I don't see him eating those, I just find the shells.
I guess my only real disappointment is the slow growth rate. And that's what I am asking about. Is my GSP growing at a normal rate? Don't fish normally grow quickly when small then slowly when bigger, does this mean years at this size?
I have (lol, yes, with this many tanks) a limit and giving a tank to one fish at a time when I really want to continue exploring the hobby feels limiting. I can give him back to the LFS without issue but I did regret giving back my 18" pleco (who I grew from 2") and it's tough thinking that I might regret giving back the GSP at some point...
Here's my photos of him:
Flickr: Search T Wheatley's photostream
Any thoughts?
Tim
