Bored Green Spotted Puffer

[Doomchibi]

I have a single young Green Spotted Puffer in a 29g brackish tank and it seems bored. I have heard that when they go up and down on the glass repeatedly, it is a sign of it. I have some artificial plants, a flower pot and some artificial wood pieces in the tank that at first it seemed to enjoy swimming around and through, but now it spends more time either going up and down on the glass or very occasionally it seems to play in it's airstone bubbles. 
 
I have had it for about a month, maybe a little longer and it was housed with other puffers before, I wonder if maybe it is lonely? I had my Dragon Goby in with it for a while until my puffer started taking bites out of the goby's tail but it honestly seemed more of a curious thing than aggressive, more like "Is this food?" rather than "Get out!".
 
I would like to eventually get some mangroves and finally get some java ferns to survive in there but for now the puffer is still bored. Is more plants, decor etc in the tank all I can do to make him happier? What do you do to keep your puffer "entertained"?
 
I have heard of the possibility of housing him with one or two other GSPs in a larger tank and I wonder if I should try it seeing as mine is still small and hasn't been away from other puffers for very long. Would 3 juveniles total be okay in a 55 gallon tank by themselves, or how much bigger should they have? If I could do 3 while they were still small, how big could they each get before they needed to be upgraded? I was thinking 3 so I didn't just have two going after eachother all the time if they got territorial or nippy. I am not completely sure yet if I want to try housing more, but if it still starts to seem like a better option soon I may try. 
 
What I could probably do is get a 90g tank and set it up for 3 puffers, and worst case scenario I put dividers in and have 3 separate puffer tanks in one.. But i'd rather have them able to interact with eachother.
 
Any help will be appreciated

Thanks.

 

[ag-au]

What do you feed em? Maybe try live food to spice up his day if you don't already!

 

[Doomchibi]

He's only really happy at feeding time, he goes crazy until it's gone or he's got a big round belly, but he calms down soon after. I feed him whole krill, mysis shrimp, bloodworms, and occasionally brine shrimp and shrimp pellets. I'm really not a fan of feeding live anything and i'd really rather not start him on it since he is doing well with frozen. I have found a source of frozen micro pond snails though, and I was considering buying some to see if he would like them at all? It seems that no one has even heard of frozen snails before but I went searching for some and had some luck with a fishing store. These are whole, in the shell, and I figure they won't look any different than live. I don't believe he has ever had snails in his life either so he probably wouldn't know the difference. What do you think? 

 

[peegee617]

You found frozen snails? Dang.... I could do with them for my GSP.   
 
I have a juvenile on his own in a tank with a lot of hiding places etc, and thought it might be a good idea to give him a companion, i.e. another similar-sized juvi GSP.  WRONG! My Charlie went for him relentlessly, so I had to rather sheepishly take him back to the store.
Maybe if two young'ns are put in a tank at the same time they might tolerate each other, but that's all they'll do at best. I'd love to have a tank of puffers, just as I'd love a tank full of male Bettas, but their psyches don't permit our way of thinking... 

 

[HX67]

I don't think there's "being bored" in the mind of a fish.
 
Take swimming up and down the glass as exercise. An option for commuting a distance from where it is.
That is, of course, supposing that the water quality is to it's liking.
 
I've got two GSPs in a tank and they are doing great. They never show any aggression towards each other, feed and live right next to each other, constantly.
The tank they're in is largish.

 

[peegee617]

I don't really think there's "being lonely" either for non-shoaling fish.  I timid fish might be more comfortable with dither fish in the tank, but this is for security, not company.
 
The tank my baby GSP is in is small. It's temporary, until I get a much larger tank. Then I have to decide whether to put him in my 30gal and move my planted set-up to the biggie, or devote the biggie to either a brackish biotope, or go the whole hog and do marine. 
 
Decisions, decisions

 

[Doomchibi]

Well, I have always heard that puffers in general are very intelligent (for fish anyways) and the only thing i've heard this called is "boredom". I suppose i'll just keep planning on redoing the decor of the tank and getting some mangroves for it and hope he stops going up and down on the wall all day.

 

[Mads]

I'm feeding my figure eight puffer shrimps with shell, and it takes a great deal of time to eat the shrimp.

 

[nigsy]

Give him snails; but wedge then in between the wood or stones so he has to work to get them.
 
Live food...I give mine garden worms...also give them something to think about.
 
Also I switch the tank around weekly so the layout is never the same - I even switch the mangrove roots between my other tank to keep variety.