complusive puffer

[shes_an_island]

hello,

I'm fairly new to tropical fish (started a 30gal tank in april). recently i added what best fits the description of a Tetraodon shoutedeni aka Congo Spotted puffer to my community tank. I know this is ill-advised, but the tank has plenty of hiding places and the puffer is still a juvenile. anyway, i was wondering if anyone has noticed complusive behavior amongs their puffers and if this is sign that the fish may not be healthy. the puffer spends most of his time in the upper back corner of th tank staring at the heater. he will sit there for hours with his head practically pressed against the heater as if he were trying to decipher the words on it. he's also fond of swimming up and down along the edge of the glass in a straight line. just wondering if anyone has had similar experiences.

also there seems to be some debate as to which puffers are freshwater, and which are brackish. my tank is currently fresh and we occasinally add small amounts of salt.

 

[StingrayKid]

When I used to have a figure 8, it would do the same thing. They think that it is another puffer and they want to interact with it. there's nothing wrong with it, it's actually could be good for them to swim around a lot.

 

[Nethius]

yea pretty normal, could also be a peice of food there he's trying to get at

if you posted a pic of your puffer we could let you know if he is brackish or not

 

[SirMinion]

If our Dragon Puffer (Smaug) is feeling stressed (i.e. after a water change or filter clean) he goes up and down the glass in one corner.

puffer go up
puffer go down
puffer go up
puffer go down
puffer go up
puffer go down
puffer go up
puffer go down
puffer go up
puffer go down

He settles down after a while and goes back to lurking in the plants waiting for unwary guppy fry to go past.

 

[diVer]

Sounds pretty normal, my puffers go up and down when they want food and my largest dwarf will stare at pieces of gravel for very long periods of time.

 

[GP]

Quite normal, however I did read somewhere that if they do go up and down the glass often, it means they could well be bored of their environment and need more decor/hiding spots.