My Dwarf Puffer Hasnt Eaten Yet!

[connorsbala]

I got a dwarf ouffer on sunday (todays tuesday) and he hasnt eaten yet! He was only fed on live brine shrimp so do you think he'll only eat that? Ive been putting in 1/2 a cube of frozen brine shrimp, mysis and ive just put in some fine cockle. Is this normal? Is he lonely as there were about 10 of them in on elil tank id say about 3 uk gals or something, where there were no signs of aggression or anything...i watched them as i work there !
So is this normal as hes getting used to his surrondings or do i need to do something? Ill get soem pics of my setup up soon to see if its something to do with that

Thanks

 

[Fella]

Sounds like you're feeding an awful lot considering you've had him just a few days. Try bloodworm.

Is the tank cycled? What are the parameters?

And no, Dwarf puffers don't get "lonely".

 

[connorsbala]

The tank has been setup for a good while. Ill try bloodworm then tomorrow and tell you the results

 

[Fella]

The tank has been setup for a good while. Ill try bloodworm then tomorrow and tell you the results

Even if the tank has been set up a while, i don't mean to patronise you, but it can be worth checking the exact stats anyway, especially if the fish isn't feeding.

Good luck!

 

[iSnail]

I agree... that sounds way too much food in there. Assuming your new DP is still juvenile, it only needs 2 or 3 bloodworms to fill it's stomach depending on the size of the worms. You'd rather starve it than over-feed it. Alternatively, try tiny baby pond snails if you can get hold of any. Also, it is quite normal for newly introduced DPs to not eat for the first few days so not to get too worried.

However, from reading your other post, how long have you had the filter in there and did you have anything else in there while the filter was running? Like Fella said, check the readings for Ammonia and Nitrite, which must be zero for DPs.

 

[connorsbala]

Ive taken all the food out now and put a couple of defrosted bloodworm(was feeding axolotls so gave some of their worms to the DP). There was a betta in there while the filter was running.
THe readings are:
Ammonia-0
Nitrite-slightly pink(no exact reading)
pH- around 8(maybe a lil lower)

I did a biggish water change earlier btw

 

[Lhutch]

pH is 8?

8 means higher side brackish

dwarf puffs are fresh water lower that pH

 

[Orbit887]

I bought 3 dwarf puffers about 10days ago to go into my 10g aquacube, and so far haven't had any issues with them. My pH level is at the same level as yours is, around 8.2ish, but that's the normal for the tap water around here, and very similar to the level that the puffers were in at the lfs. And it also is definately fresh water - not too sure what the last poster was going for, but pH is not related to the salinity of the water, in the fact that a higher pH doens't mean it's going to be brackish water.

My little puffers started eating on the first day they arrived - they've still got the massive appitite now! They go wild for bloodworms, but also totally love any snails that are dropped into the tank.

Is there much cover or plants in the tank you've got your dwarf in? If not then maybe he's just not settled down yet and doesn't feel comfortable. It's not unheard or that unusual for them to take half a week to a week to settle down and start feeling at home and start eating. Try him on some blood worm, or even better black worm - it's meant to be the 'crack' for dwarf puffers, none can resist it!

 

[andywg]

pH is 8?

8 means higher side brackish

dwarf puffs are fresh water lower that pH

pH of 8 does not mean it is brackish, just that the water is alkaline.

Brackish refers to a salt content.

 

[connorsbala]

No,there's plenty of plants Ill get some more thouugh,but my current ones are quiet tall so ill get some shorter ones.
Is there anything else they need to feel secure? FLoating plants? He swims about and everything but isnt eating! Ill try and get my mum to go to the LFS 2moz and get soem live brine shrimp

Would it help f i put the worms etc in a live worm feeder?

 

[Orbit887]

I've got floating plants in my tank, the little guys love to investigate them, searching for any snails that i've put in as treats, so maybe worth a try! What about the current in the tank, is it very strong? Also, how different is the LFS water from your own source do you know? If there's a big difference in the pH then it might be contributing to him not eating, whilst he acclimatises himself to the new water conditions. Is there any signs of illness or disease on the puffer? Or have you added any medications/ferts that contain any copper - as they're very sensitive to these.

I think Brine shrimp might be a good idea, but if I remember correctly they're more useful as a treat for the puffers as only contain a small amount of nutrients in them compared to other food that they'll eat, but if a shrimp or two starts to get him eating then it'll be worth it!
Personally I've not tried brine shrimp on mine, they're cleaver little blighters, and if they start on brine they might notice how tasty the bigger amano shrimp in the tank look that they're sharing quite peacefully at the moment!

 

[connorsbala]

I've got floating plants in my tank, the little guys love to investigate them, searching for any snails that i've put in as treats, so maybe worth a try! What about the current in the tank, is it very strong? Also, how different is the LFS water from your own source do you know? If there's a big difference in the pH then it might be contributing to him not eating, whilst he acclimatises himself to the new water conditions. Is there any signs of illness or disease on the puffer? Or have you added any medications/ferts that contain any copper - as they're very sensitive to these.

I think Brine shrimp might be a good idea, but if I remember correctly they're more useful as a treat for the puffers as only contain a small amount of nutrients in them compared to other food that they'll eat, but if a shrimp or two starts to get him eating then it'll be worth it!
Personally I've not tried brine shrimp on mine, they're cleaver little blighters, and if they start on brine they might notice how tasty the bigger amano shrimp in the tank look that they're sharing quite peacefully at the moment!

The LFS and my pH is exactly the same! Actually, i remember that i used the hot water tap instead of using water from the kettle Well ive out something in front of the filter as it was real strong at first.
Nope, no signs of illness.
I havent been using ferts but there maybe a bit of copper in there.
Will def try and get brine shrimp 2moz as thats all the LFS fed him

 

[Orbit887]

The LFS and my pH is exactly the same! Actually, i remember that i used the hot water tap instead of using water from the kettle Well ive out something in front of the filter as it was real strong at first.
Nope, no signs of illness.
I havent been using ferts but there maybe a bit of copper in there.
Will def try and get brine shrimp 2moz as thats all the LFS fed him

Ah might be the fact that you used water from the hot water pipe instead of the kettle. There's quite often a lot of not nice things in hot water storage tanks and heating systems - things like copper are very damaging to puffers health, and are quite hard to remove.

Keep up the water changes (not using the hot tap ) and with the water quality at as near to perfect that you can get and some time for the puffer to settle in you should hopefully find the little guy will start eating and all will be good! Keep us updated on how it goes.

 

[connorsbala]

Well got soem live brine shrimp and he chased them round abit and started eating them! All ive got to do now is get it to eat the frozen stuff!

 

[Lhutch]

could just have a brine shrimp hatchery, there very easy and ur fish love em