TorPeteO
Fish Crazy
Has anyone else who keeps multiple noticed puffing of their DPs?
I have three in my 15 gallon tank, two of which are male and one which is a female. The female took to bloodworm quickly and eagerly, but the males never quite understood the concept of frozen food; they still eat only snails. Whenever I drop snails into the tank, both males will go after the same one. When they see each other, they stop everything, stare each other down, and begin to inflate. They don't really look round like you'd expect puffers to look; they kind of just inflate at the top and bottom, making them look deformed. They then begin to swim up against each other. I believe they're doing it slowly, to try and wait for an opportunity for one to come over top of the other, and then come down on him. Has anyone else noticed similar behaviour?
It's not because of lack of food, or because of lack of space. I always drop 2 snails, freshly crushed, in at a time, and there is usually snail left to vacuum up the next day when it's feeding time again. There is plenty of space, since if one of the puffers wants to retreat, there are plenty of plants and obstructions they can hide behind. This is simply an honest, on-going battle over the female. There doesn't seem to be any particular advantage either way so far, they've all been pretty fair fights. No one's sustained any significant injuries yet, either (knock on wood), and I hope that continues.
Anyway, I'm just curious to find out if anyone has noticed any similar behaviour or found any literature on it. It strikes me as very interesting. Thanks!
I have three in my 15 gallon tank, two of which are male and one which is a female. The female took to bloodworm quickly and eagerly, but the males never quite understood the concept of frozen food; they still eat only snails. Whenever I drop snails into the tank, both males will go after the same one. When they see each other, they stop everything, stare each other down, and begin to inflate. They don't really look round like you'd expect puffers to look; they kind of just inflate at the top and bottom, making them look deformed. They then begin to swim up against each other. I believe they're doing it slowly, to try and wait for an opportunity for one to come over top of the other, and then come down on him. Has anyone else noticed similar behaviour?
It's not because of lack of food, or because of lack of space. I always drop 2 snails, freshly crushed, in at a time, and there is usually snail left to vacuum up the next day when it's feeding time again. There is plenty of space, since if one of the puffers wants to retreat, there are plenty of plants and obstructions they can hide behind. This is simply an honest, on-going battle over the female. There doesn't seem to be any particular advantage either way so far, they've all been pretty fair fights. No one's sustained any significant injuries yet, either (knock on wood), and I hope that continues.
Anyway, I'm just curious to find out if anyone has noticed any similar behaviour or found any literature on it. It strikes me as very interesting. Thanks!
