Any info on Green Pea Puffer

[thatlouguy]

Hi All

We just got the most adorable little fish that the lfs called a Green Pea Puffer. They're only about a 1/4 inch big and are only supposed to grow to 2". For the life of me I can't find any info on them so I thought I'd ask all the smart people here. I really need to know what they eat. I've tried flake, beta food (very small flake), Bio-blend (which look like very small pellets) frozen veggies, frozen brine shrmp and bloodworms but they refused all of it. Any advice? Thanks!

Lou

 

[freshwatergal]

Well, I think that pea puffers are the same as dwarf puffers. I have 6 of them and they love to eat frozen brine shrimp, they won't touch blood worms. It may take them a little while to get settled into their new surroundings, so keep trying. I know too that they prefer live food, so if you can get your hands on some live brine shrimp or something to that effect, they might like that. They also need a good diet of snails. My lil guys like to hunt these. They won't eat flakes what so ever. Make sure you have lots of hiding spaces for them as they will get more aggressive as they get older. And lots of plants to break lines of sight. HTH & Good Luck.

Oh, and be careful what you put them in with. They normally don't get a long with other types of fish, especially ones with long fins as they are nippy. I have mine in with 3 bumble bee gobies and 2 otto's. They all get along nicely.

Tiff

 

[Pufferpunk]

Dwarf puffers: http://www.rr.iij4u.or.jp/~kohda/en/en-dwarfpuffer.htm

Try live food--worms 1st then shrimp (not as nutricious).

 

[thatlouguy]

Thanks Tiff & Pufferpunk:

Yup, those are them! Great pic Pufferpunk, Tnx. These guys are really fun. They haven't hidden at all eventhough there are lots of hidyholes to choose from. They seem to be very happy and friendly with their tankmates. I suprised that they will even come to the front to say hi after less than a day in their new home. I'll make sure to pick up some live food today. What about those snails, Tiff? Are you taking about snails at the lfs? Thank again for the great advise!

Lou

 

[freshwatergal]

Yeah...any snail except MTS (I think) are good for puffs. Most lfs will give you their baby snails for free because they are annoying. I have been trying to breed my own snails, but it hasn't worked yet. Make sure you get the smallest snails they have cause they need to crunch the shells to keep their teeth trimmed. The bigger snails they can handle, but they just suck the meat out. My guys and gals meet me at the top of the tank every morning because they know they will be gettin food. Another live food you might try, and they are cheap, is ghost shrimp. I gave some to mine one day and they were gone in 3 days. So, good luck and let us know how it's going...

Tiff

 

[Pufferpunk]

You'll want to gut-load the shrimp 1st. Flakes or algae wafers.

 

[thatlouguy]

Greatl Tiff, Thx for the advice. I'll check on the snails and ghost shimp on my next trip to the lfs. It must be cool watching them feed on the snails.

Pufferpunk....

You'll want to gut-load the shrimp 1st.

What does this mean please??

 

[madasafish]

I second or third or fourth the live food advice. These guys LOVE live food (I've got some), esp. live black worms (they eat them like spaghetti). They also nosh on live brine shrimp. They'll get hugely fat after you feed them!

Be careful--they may starve if you don't get them live food. They're quite picky, esp. when young!

***Live food!!***

 

[Guest]

Gut-loading the shrimp means getting the shrimp to eat a lot before you feed them to your puffers. that way the shrimp are full of nutritious food, thus becoming... nutritious food!

As for eating the snails, to me it's 50-50. when they crunch up little tiny ones, pretty cool. Big snails, it's slow, ugh. the snail travels along with foot and head extended beyond the shell, and the puffers just sneak up and nip off the parts they can get to, which leads to a rather slow death for the snail.

 

[thatlouguy]

Yea, I need to get right out and get them some food. I don't like that they haven't eaten. Poor little guys .

Thanks for filling me in on the gut-load corvuscorax! Now I need to find out what shrimp eat!

the snail travels along with foot and head extended beyond the shell, and the puffers just sneak up and nip off the parts they can get to, which leads to a rather slow death for the snail.

Cycle of life - don't like to see anything suffer but I DO want happy Puffers

 

[thatlouguy]

Thanks everyone!! Any other advice is welcome and very much appreciated