do dwarf puffers puff?

[krap101]

because mine have gone through alot like (err fishwise) getting netted like 3x a week for about a week (because i didnt know they looked dead when they slept, getting pushed off a plant (by the siphon hose), etc etc.

are they like not made to puff? or have mine not like gone through enough yet.

[krap101]

err i made it sound like i wanted them to puff. its like im happy they havent puffed btu then i wonder why.

[Raimeiken]

i have the same question with peruvian puffers, when ever i clean the tank or net them, they never puff. 8O

[flipz]

no, they do not puff. i mean they have the capability to, but you really don't want them to. they can actually do harm to themselves by doing it. sorry if you did want to see them do it. heh

-brent

[madasafish]

They have the capacity to, but it's pretty traumatic for them. Only one of mine has ever puffed, and it happened when he got caught in the filter intake (and died...). I subsequently covered that with a filter sponge!

[grimlock3000]

If you manage to screw with one enough to puff, you can expect it to die soon afterwards because something really traumatic is going on in the tank. Puffing is a last ditch effort the fish will use to avoid death.

[grimlock3000]

Also, if you are netting your fish three times a week because you thought your fish were dead, you need to consider doing more research before getting different fish. Netting fish for ANY reason is very stressful to them and can cause injury or result in later infections from being in the net.

[krap101]

i did research but it never said they would sleep like lying on their sides. but i guess even me netting them wasnt enough so thats good. plus i didnt really net them. u can call it netting but it was pretty much they were in the sand on their sides. i touched them with the front part and then they swam away if ya see wut i mean.

[grimlock3000]

Oh, that is better then. Poking a sleeping fish is a lot different than scooping it into a net while it sleeps. My wife used to always thing our Guppies were dead, because they sleep on the surface of the water and barely move. She should wake them up with a flashlight or poke them to get moving again.

[flipz]

My GSP always sleeps on his side. Sometimes even his butt is kind of half way floating, and he's tilted to the side, and his face is on the substrate. haha. Looks pretty dead to me, but he's just sleeping! I got used to it after a while. lol

-brent

[iheartmyfish]

all these answers to your questions are correct. a puffed puffer = bad news. they normally do not live through it due to the stress on their bodies.
i have a columbian shark, who never sleeps, so when i first purchased my green spotted puffer i was scared when i first saw him curled in a ball, resting on the top leaves of a plant. but after i poked him he woke and gave me a mean "you woke me up for nothing!" look. ever since hes found a way to sleep in a more dead posure then the next. haha!