davidb Posted December 18, 2006 Report Share Posted December 18, 2006 hey as some of ya know I picked up an arrowhead/mekong/pignosed puffer om the weekend. He is happy and fine and swimming round the tank but he does not seem interested in food. I know he can go a week or so without eating but I get paranoid I have tried him on mussels and mussel pieces and even ox heart (i know its not the best for them but thats what the guy said he was being bed) he seems more interested in doing acrobatics jumping out of the water to greet me rather than eating. I am thinking perhaps I will get some live fw shrimp and get him to try and eat that... Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwijaydee Posted December 18, 2006 Report Share Posted December 18, 2006 Did the old owner tell you what he was being fed on? If he's only used to live food, it will be a long drawn out process getting him to eat dead food. I'm *still* needing to tie cut onshell prawns into pieces and putting them on a piece of string.. mostly now I drop it in the water and within 10 seconds it's gone. Only one puffer will eat treat pellets that I drop in, and he has to see them and be ready for them... Also, puffers don't need to eat all that often.. mine eat on average once every 4-5 days.. depending on size, naturally. Overfeeding is always a big issue with puffers.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted December 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2006 well he had been feeding him live food but he also said he had been feeding dead-food Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwijaydee Posted December 18, 2006 Report Share Posted December 18, 2006 My puffers started on live food, then I slowly moved them to dead. If you're concerned for his health, and he needs a feed (concaved belly etc) then I would say chuck in a bit of live food. If you he'll be ok, try doing the dead food on a string thing.. when I first started doing it, I might be there for 30 minutes before they'd strike. Also, don't forget the snail option, since puffers need snails in their diet, it might pay to chuck in a few snails that are slightly smaller than his mouth.. he'll just chomp them up and spit out the shells.. :lol: And atleast it's a snack.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted December 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2006 yeah I put some of my snails in... I will prob get him some small angels or white cloud mountain minnows Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasmine Posted December 19, 2006 Report Share Posted December 19, 2006 I want a puffy fish! Hehe. I think they're really cute. However, I like having a few fish in my tank, which it sounds like the puffers don't get on well with others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwijaydee Posted December 19, 2006 Report Share Posted December 19, 2006 Mine started on tetras, but in hindsight, I wish I had used a slower moving fish.. as it took them awhile to catch them. :-? .. And yes, my three are in a tank on their own, as nothing else would survive with them. They easily snap through prawn shells, snail shells, etc.. and when they're grumpy they do some damage to each other.. big circle shaped rips and scars aren't all that pretty.. You're going to get addicted davidb.. You're going to want more puffers, I can see it now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted December 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2006 haha- Looking after the green spotted puffers at the zoo is good fun... The coolest is our octopus at the museum though!!! I really like puffers because they have so much personality, I remember reading in PFK that they are likened to helicopters if other fish are areoplanes because of the way they swim and their shape Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishy_t Posted December 19, 2006 Report Share Posted December 19, 2006 Hey Davidb I've got an arrowhead too! I give mine live food and he won't eat anything else - I've tried starving him for up to 3 weeks but he still wouldn't eat anything that wasn't alive! Do you have a pic of yours? Here's mine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted December 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2006 i'll try to snap a pic when he comes out tonight. Do you add water hardner fishy-T? Auckland tap water is really soft- it has a GH of 3 to 4... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishy_t Posted December 19, 2006 Report Share Posted December 19, 2006 Nah I didn't add anything to the water (don't like using chemicals anyway) but the tank is mainly rockwork with a wee bit of bog wood and the water is about pH 7.2. One thing I'd say from what I've found out is make sure you have a good depth of sand for him/her to bury himself in - I've been told that you should have it as deep as the fish is long so he can't bash himself on the bottom. Thats all I can think of at the moment! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted December 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2006 yeah thats what I heard, however I haven't een my puffer dig... my pH is about 7.2 also, temp 25-26, ammonia,nitrates and nitrites = 0ppm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishy_t Posted December 19, 2006 Report Share Posted December 19, 2006 Maybe your puffer isn't an arrowhead then - cause mine spends about half the time in the sand! Its easy to make a mistake with identification - I was told mine was a Congo Puffer and went along with that for almost a year before finding out he's actually an arrowhead! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted December 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2006 na he definatley is an arrowhead-he looks just like yours with a arrow on his head but the arrow isn't as definate as the marking on your puffer. my puffer prefers to hide in log tunnels during the day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted December 31, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2006 hey guys, just an update- my puffer is doing fime these days- he has gone though about 13 white clouds in the last two weeks plus heaps of snails- I put some golden apple snails in but he didn't seem interested so I had to take them out so they didn't die and pollute the water (Coz they are cold water snails) Any I have lots of ramshorns and common snails in there. just tested water- pH was 7.6, Ammonia, nitrate, nitrite all zero, GH has gone up to 6 now so its getting harder- I have been adding a bit of JBL aqua dur so thats all sweet... all the conditions are looking stable now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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