puffer problems

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lovecatfish

lovecatfish

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Nov 30, 2013
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209
hi Iam new.

Hi guys. Iam new to this forum. Currently I have 2 tanks, one 10gallon foot long and a 20gallon 2ft long. I also suffered on what aquarists call MTS(multi tank syndrome) . The 20g recently finished cycle and has 4black neon, 4Cory, 2guppies, 1crayfish 1 gourami. Soft water aquarium. The 10g has a Amazonian bumblebee puffer. Iam having massive problems with him... he keeps swimming away from me when I feed him, he would swim up and down the glass... so this is why Iam here, hope some experts can help me.
 
I just got this Amazonian bumblebee puffer 2days back. He hasn't been eating anything yet, and despite the planted tank. He still decides to swim against the glass.I asked my LFS where I bought him from, what was he fed. He gave me a packet of frozen bloodworms. Knowing puffer needs crunchy foods, I placed a snail in there hoping he would go for it. But all he does is just swim around glass!! He is in a 10gallon tank now. How can I fix this problem? I checked his mouth for beak overgrowth, his beak is finely trimmed and short. Does anyone have any ideas how can I fix this problem? The substrate is sand. This puffer is also known as SAP or bumblebee puffer.
 
Nope. Have not. I pour them into the tank directly. Please help me with my puffer. I have a post about my puffer but no one replied yet. Hope I can get a reply soon otherwise I would have to return to the LFS at a reduced cost :( thanks for the advice. I have snails and crayfish in there. Both live, he is showing no interest though...
 
Welcome! I have merged your 2 threads together since they deal with the same question.

Is the 10 gallon cycled? Puffers are sensitive to water quality. They're also very active swimmers and should really be in a larger tank IMO.

It's not uncommon for new fish to not eat for a bit. 2 days isn't very long for the puffer to settle down so hopefully it will start eating soon. What kind of snail did you feed the puffer?
 
Yes cycled. 1 and half month tank. I changed the gravel to sand as well. I gave him a mystery snail, he doesn't seem inquisitive as it should. I tried bloodworms this morning, didn't work. I have a red swamp Cray inside but he isint caring much either. Iam getting worried that he may starve... would he? How long would he last without food? Also I heard puffer fish are curious so shouldn't they be checking out the caves I set up for him? Thanks for the advice :)
 
It takes fish a long time to starve. You probably don't have to worry about that for a few weeks.

How big was the mystery snail that you fed? I do not keep SAPs, but I keep avocado puffers, and mine are expected to get a little larger than your SAP if I recall correctly. I feed my puffers pond snails, ramshorn snails, and some frozen foods (sparingly) like mysis shrimp. Mine really prefer snails. If you tried a large mystery snail with your puffer, he probably isn't able to eat it. My puffers are about 3" total length and would still not be able to eat a big mystery snail. If it's a small snail, I'd say give your puff some time. Mine didn't eat much at all for several days after I brought them home.
 
The snail is 1/2 the puffer length. He doesn't even try to hunt now... I hope he gets acclimated soon... I asked the owner I bought him from what's wrong. He said that since it's new surroundings. I'll try to find the Terrence guy. Thanks for the link :)
 
If the snail is 1/2 the length of the puffer, your puffer can probably not eat it. IMO you should try feeding smaller snails like pond snails or ramshorn snails.
 
How about brine shrimp? I can't find any pond snails around my shops. Brine shrimp is readily available here. Will it work?
 
At this point I think you just try to feed anything meaty to get him to eat and notice that you are food handler. Live blackworms perhaps? Soak your food in aquatic garlic (made for fish).

These fish are very skittish as a loner or in small packs. Your description of your fish behavior sounds typical for a lone south american puffer in too-small-tank. It makes a huge difference in behavior when they are in groups and have adequate space. 4ft long tanks is a size I would recommend for a group to live very happily.

I think your fish will continue to act this way indefinitely and things might get worse over time since the tank does not have adequate swimming space and volume (for bioload).

I also think you should check ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Post all 3 measurements. I think it would help if you took out the crayfish.


A successful SAP owner would recommend you to return your fish. If you decide to proceed with a lone SAP in a 10g, then post back for more advice as I will try to help.
 
Can't hurt to try but I would only use a little bit and see if he even goes for it, if he doesn't scoop it out , but repeat for a couple days. 75% of my fish tank 2-4 days before they start tanking advantage of what I'm giving them ;)
 
Okay. Then I think I'll return him on Monday(shop is closed) thanks for the help Terrance. And the rest too! I think I will swap with the owner for a dwarf puffer and more plants. Thanks for your advice guys!!
 
Would my puffer survive till Monday?? What can I do to keep it alive till then because I want to return him alive so I can get a small refund at least. Thanks
 
Kushgodrex said:
Can't hurt to try but I would only use a little bit and see if he even goes for it, if he doesn't scoop it out , but repeat for a couple days. 75% of my fish tank 2-4 days before they start tanking advantage of what I'm giving them ;)
Click to expand...

Im guessing you mean using a little bit of food tried instead of buying large quantities.
 
Terrance said:
At this point I think you just try to feed anything meaty to get him to eat and notice that you are food handler. Live blackworms perhaps? Soak your food in aquatic garlic (made for fish). These fish are very skittish as a loner or in small packs. Your description of your fish behavior sounds typical for a lone south american puffer in too-small-tank. It makes a huge difference in behavior when they are in groups and have adequate space. 4ft long tanks is a size I would recommend for a group to live very happily. I think your fish will continue to act this way indefinitely and things might get worse over time since the tank does not have adequate swimming space and volume (for bioload). I also think you should check ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Post all 3 measurements. I think it would help if you took out the crayfish. A successful SAP owner would recommend you to return your fish. If you decide to proceed with a lone SAP in a 10g, then post back for more advice as I will try to help.
Click to expand...

Wanna know something crazy, my real name is Terrance lol.
 
if my fish won't eat what he's supposed to eat, I always try and feed him a small portion of say a frozen block of brine shrimp or blood words but only a tiny tiny bit. My parents had an oscar he was a foot long, that wouldn't eat anything but flakes and pellets, even though all the other fish ate feeder fish a lot. Fish have personalities too and can be picky. Also, one of my rainbow sharks love to come to the front of the tank whenever I sit in front it he, I feel he enjoys my company haha
 
Rehousing him to my uncle's 7foot tank. Thanks for this warning guys. Much thanks
 
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