Impulse buy

[Tempestuousfury]

I bought 3 dwarf puffers yesterday from Petsmart.

I haven't done much research (aside from reading the pinned artcile), so I decided to start here.

They grow to 1", as I'm aware, but right now they're under 1/2".

So, what exactly do I feed them, seeing as how they can only eat smaller foods? Also, they are not interested in the flakes I drop in, and they are only slightly interested in the shrimp pellets. I did get one to eat a frozen blood worm, but the others weren't interested in that either.


Also, one of the puffers looks somewhat emaciated. It's got a flat stomach as opposed to the more rotund puffers I have, and its belly is white, not gold like the other puffers. Is this due to disease, starvation, or gender?

 

[Stryker]

For the fishies sake you should try and control your impulse buys

Then again all the research in the world didnt help me on my buy.

Right then, dwarfs are meant to have white bellies, its a sign they are not stressed.
Second, their bellies go flatish when empty, they are only rounded a few hours after a good feed.

They need meat! shrimp, blood worms, etc (read the pinned topic). Do you have any prawns or crabsticks or even squid in your freezer? if you do give them some now! its better than nothing as they are meant to be fed each day when young. Just put some tank water in a small glass and then defrost the food in that. Tip it in, let them feed till they have rounded bellies then remove any left overs.

Afterthought: to save the common worries for new owners.
1) They will often have grey tummies after a good kip. They may also have faded colours at times. So long as they dont stay grey or faded for like days on end.

2) They may be a little skittish and not feed as ravinously as they should for the first few days to week as they take time to settle.

3) On the bottom of the tank put plenty of stuff in to break their line of sight else they will fight, and generally never settle.

4) In time kiss goodbye to any other fish you've got in the tank with them. It could be some days, months or even a year but one day you'll find a bunch of bloated puffers and fishie suchi all over your tank.... well ok not that but they will bully other fish..... to the death.

 

[Tempestuousfury]

You know, it's not as though I went into this without asking for advice.

They're aggressive, so I moved all of the platies and the betta out of the five gallon to give them lots of room.

As for the golden bellies, I saw pics online of both types, and they were supposed to be healthy specimens.

I might have shrimp in my freezer, though there is an unlimited amount of red meat in there. How would I get it small enough? I don't think I can chop it that small by hand, so what level should I put the blender on?
I've got bloodworms, and like I said, only one of them ate it. What about brine shrimp? Either way though, it's all too big for them. How can I get the food smaller and not overfeed (turkey baster isn't working)?

I've got caves so that should work. I'll need those caves for the 3 shrimp and ADF, though they'll move to the 10 gallon once the gouramis breed.

 

[Stryker]

sorry my bad, by meat I meant seafood meat... pretty much anything, squid, shrimp, bloodworms, I also give mine some prawn on ocation, crab. you name it, if it has a face and lives in the water they will have a go.

Bloodworms would make a mighty fine corner stone of their staple diet. I have heard some people complaining theirs prefer live food. Now while its not practicle to harbour that preference in them it may be worth getting some live blood worms just to get them to eat.

As the for the flat bellied one, well so long as its not sunken. Out of my GSPs that survived the LFS snafu I had one that would not eat and died... fraid its just the way it were meant to be I guess.

errm, can you provide a pic of one of your puffers? I assume they all look the same yes?

Stress? grey belly and even a grey line forming at the corners of their mouths and making its way towards their tails. When a puffer isnt acting like its mad-starving that is also a very good sign of strett or something not right too. Although I must say it took the best part of a week for my GSPs to start acting anything like normal.

 

[Pufferpack]

You may be able to entice them to eat by adding a handful of pond snails (the lfs will usually give them to you from the plant tanks). you may have to smush one or two against the glass to get them to take an interest in the snails, but they catch on quick.
With my Dwarfs I found that they seemed to prefer the frozen brine shrimp when they were young and the frozen bloodworms once mature. I mix a bit of both together in a shotglass and thaw with tank water for a couple mins before dumping it into the tank. They even rip into the partially frozen chunks as well.
You can try frozen Daphnia or Tubiflex worms (personally I find the Tubiflex too messy and don't feed it to my puffs) for them when young, or if you have a good pesticide free source for small earthworms or grubs, they would probably enjoy them as a treat. I do occasionally feed live blackworms to my Dwarfs, but they don't seem to get as excited about them as the rest of my puffers do.
As for the color of the bellies, mine will display white, gold, as well as green at times, depending on their mood. The only time I worry is if they start to look more black than green, usually indicates a water change is long overdue.
Keep an eye on the one with the flat stomach, if it stays flat or shrunken, even after it eats, or its poop is stringy and clear, it may an indication of internal parasites (doubtful, as Petsmart are reported to be selling captive bred puffers rather than wild caught ones). Otherwise, as Stryker mentioned, it is probably just flat because the little gaffer hasen't eaten yet, and will chubb up when full.

 

[Stryker]

I'm still having problems seperating DPs from GSPs in my mind like with the diets etc.... sheesh

At least you got what you wanted tempestuousfury

 

[Tempestuousfury]

Thanks guys.

Well, I got my puffers to eat frozen brine shrimp. Even the one with the flat stomach ate some. Despite their small mouths and their previous distaste for the food I gave them, all of them dug into it. They're not even remotely interested in the flakes, though, but that's alright.

They are also getting somewhat aggressive towards the ghost shrimp (eyeing them and at times swimming to close to them for comfort) what are the chances of the shrimps' untimely demise? They're leaving the ADF alone, but is it only a matter of time...?

 

[Stryker]

A day will come when for one reason or another a DP will take a bite out of a ghost shrimp.... most likely in a scrap over food.

Then when them little piggies realise the ghost shrimp taste so nice I'd not go betting on the GS lasting the week/day.

Look out for missing legs or claws, thats the first sign of trouble.

Do you want the ghost shrimp for cleaning etc? if so you might be interested in my little mini project I'll be starting soon....

I'll be starting a sump for added water capacity (good as the puffers are messy), a home for the equipment, and as a refuge for cleanup critters such as ghost shrimp. I'll be making it pretty so it will be as much a display tank as the puffer tank above it. Also means I'll have a puffer tank with no bulky kit or heaters in it.

 

[Tempestuousfury]

Hmm. Well, I guess it all depends on the cost in the end, but will it work for a five gallon tank? If yes to both, then yes.

I thought as much, about the ghost shrimp. Well, at the first signs of trouble I'll move the shrimp.

Thanks for the idea about the snails, by the way. I don't think i actually thanked you for that idea. I'll probably get some from Petsmart and an lfs I know.

By the way, how do puffers take to dried foods, i.e. dried tubifex worms? The other fish don't really go for it, so I'd wager they don't take much delight in eating it.

Should i add more puffers to the tank now, or later? It'd be ok to add more right now because the tank is already cycled. What I'm afraid of is that the three puffers that are in the tank right now will take over the tank and become aggressive to the other fish.

 

[Stryker]

I'd not have more than 3 DPs in a 5gal tank.... if thats what you got.

 

[Tempestuousfury]

I guess you're right. However, seeing as how it's rather easy to discern between sexes in healthy stock, would it be ok to have 3 females to one male (at least that's what my research suggests...)?

Also, I've read that gouramis can hold their own against these guys, so would it be ok to move one of the males (I have two ) to the ten gallon tank?