My Dwarf Puffer Hasnt Eaten Yet!

[alliersv]

Mine were hard to feed at first.
The guy at the LFS showed me a pond he had out back where he cultivated live food, and told me I could replicate it with a bucket.
Basically, I got a bucket and filled it with rainwater. I added a few leaves and clumps of grass and left it.
That was a few weeks ago.
Yesterday, I had a fish about in there with my net.The water was really green, and there were huuuge bloodworms and Daphnia like things in there, so my puffers had their first live home grown meal.
I'd recommend giving it a go if you can.
They had started to take frozen bloodworm quite readily by now anyway, but were not so keen on the other stuff in frozen blister packs, so at least I have a "fresh" option, albeit in the summer only.
I have also started a "snail hatchery" in a breeding trap in my main tank. Just got a plant in there for cover and chuck a bit of food in now and again.They're coming on quite nicely.

 

[iSnail]

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!

Apparently brine shrimps don't have much nutritional values. Try using a pair of forceps or a pipette to dangle and wriggle the frozen bloodworm when feeding the little guy. Starving for a couple of days also works quite well. They are more interested in the food when they are hungry. Starting a snail (pond/ramshorn/tadpole) hatchery is a good idea if you don't already have any snails in your other tanks. My DPs go hyper when they see snails.

 

[Orbit887]

My DPs go hyper when they see snails.

Haha as do mine - just a few snails a couple of times a week from my community tank put into the puffers tank and they're happy as larry! Really do go wild for the snails, and it's always comical to watch them hunting them down when i hide a couple in the floating plants.

 

[connorsbala]

This is sooo annoyine! He was feeding yesterday but i put some more live brine shrimp in today and he just looks at it! Ill check in a minute if hes eaten them yet
Also, i might change the substrate to sand, shall i just drain the water and take the puffer out and leave it in a bag, take the gravel out and replace with sand, put water back in and filter, heater and then heater.
But if i do this, will the puffer get all stressed and take ages to get used to his surrindigns again?

 

[iSnail]

Gravel is fine for DPs. Don't stress the little fella out. Being a small tank, just make sure there is no Ammonia & Nitrites in the water. DPs can go without food for up to 2 weeks and still be OK so not to worry too much that it's not taking food for the first few days. Be patient. You could also try live Daphnia (the bigger red ones are better). Mine seem to like them.

 

[connorsbala]

Ive got a 25 watt heater in the tank and the temp goes right up to 28 degrees celcius when its set on 25. Any ideas? I turned it off last night and put it back on this morning and it wetnrocketing back up! Ive just done a water change and have it still turnt off. When i put it back on(when it cools down a bit) ill put the heater on to 22, just incase!

 

[iSnail]

I have the same problem with heaters too. Very annoying. Just have to turn it down and use 2 or 3 different thermometers to keep check on the correct temperature.

 

[DarkEntity]

This is sooo annoyine! He was feeding yesterday but i put some more live brine shrimp in today and he just looks at it! Ill check in a minute if hes eaten them yet
Also, i might change the substrate to sand, shall i just drain the water and take the puffer out and leave it in a bag, take the gravel out and replace with sand, put water back in and filter, heater and then heater.
But if i do this, will the puffer get all stressed and take ages to get used to his surrindigns again?

One of my old Puffers didnt eat for 2 weeks, so if he isnt eating for a few days dont worry too much.