I Got My Puffers!!!!!!!!

[RENEGADE]

Atlast!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
took me almost a year:eek: but I went to the LFS and they had them!

I wanted two but only had $5 and they were $2.99 but when I told the guy he said he would give me one for free!:cool:

but heres my problem:rolleyes:
I've been letting my snail tank go.......so no baby snails:sad:
I read somewhere on here that I could feed them Bloodworms too
Which are better Frozen or live? At one of my LFS a 1oz. is like 25¢ or 50¢ ....something like that.....
Also there babies (about the size of your pinky nail) so I should feed them everyday right?


Thats it for now (I think :confused: )

I'M SO HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!http://smilies.crowd9.com/contrib/corky/corkysm60.gif

[RENEGADE]

Well I read somewhere they like misquto larva so I was able to find a few....one of the puffers ate 2 but then the guppys found out that they tast good:mad: but on of them wouldn't eat them....I'm a little worried:(

But I went to the LFS and got live bloodworms but I haven't tried to feed them to my DPs yet (I hope they eat them)

[MonoSebaelover]

A lot of times dwarves come in with internal parasites so that could be why one has eaten. I would try frozen bloodworms, frozen brine, and frozen mosquito larvae. Anyway, hope this helps and good luck with them!

[RENEGADE]

Ok this morning I feed them the Bloodworms the bigger one likes them and I got the little one to get a bite before the guppy found out what they were:mad: I'm going to have to put them in diff tanks but I don't have any more room :sad

[DrDeath]

I have become friendly with my local seafood market. When they clean their displays each night they save me a few crab chunks (for free). I also buy a couple of shell on shrimp. My GSP loves them. It won't touch snails, and seems to like frozen brine shrimp also. Just keep trying different things!

[RENEGADE]

Thanks Dr.D

BTW will they eat raw fish?
I ask because I go fishing alot. (my freezer is full right now)


OH! I almost forgot,
I got the little one to eat a whole bloodworm! I had to take him out of the tank and put him in a cup:rolleyes: after he ate I put him back but he's really shy!!!

[Pufferpunk]

Crustaceons are their staple diet in the wild.

[RENEGADE]

yeah I'm waiting for my snails to get frisky:D
Figurs that when you need then they stop procreating:rolleyes:

[cdawson]

I wouldn't feed them anything from our oceans unless it's been boiled or thoroughly cleaned.

[Firsttanks]

Try distracting the guppies with floating flakes and then use a turkey baster to pump the bloodworms down to the Dwarves.

[RENEGADE]

Firsttanks, thats excatly what I'm doing now and it seems to work



Well the little one didn't make it through the night :sad
But the other one seems to be doing fine. hes more active but still shy:confused: I thought DP were bullys? mines afraid of guppys:laugh:

[Firsttanks]

:( Sorry to hear the little fella didn't make it.
I find mine were more "mischevious" than actually aggressive when they were young, and as they matured they became crabby and prone to bad moods if bothered by their tankmates. Keep an eye on the newbie over the next few months and you will probably notice some nipping (especially on the male guppies who try to get aggressive with the puffer) but the guppies learn to stay out of their way for the most part.

[OrionGirl]

It depends on the fish, and it's age. Young fish tend to be shy, and like groups. As adults, they are typically more aggressive toward both other puffers and other fish.

Raw shrimp is not bad for dwarf puffers. Mine gets it occasionally, and I've never seen any side effects. The bristlenose also enjoy the shrimp immensely. Unlike many FW animals, most SW animals are nutritious, and do not contribute sky high amounts of fats to a diet.

[Pufferpunk]

The bristlenose also enjoy the shrimp immensely

You should see the plecos fighting my fahaka over food! Plecos usually win.

[RENEGADE]

how many bloodworms should i be try to get him to eat?

[OrionGirl]

When I first got mine, I fed them large live brine--and i started them on 1 or 2 per feeding--more, and I worried they would burst. Once they'd grown a month or two, I fed them 3-4 per day, and at 6 months, I just made sure they had full tummies.

[RENEGADE]

Ok thanks
I think hes a month old.
I'll see if I can get him 3 before the guppys notice:p

[RENEGADE]

well hes full now:laugh:

I leave a big snail in my Q tank to keep any algae from growing out of control...this snail is as big as the puffer.....now theres no more snail:laugh: i don't know how but he did:rolleyes:

[OrionGirl]

Dwarfs don't usually break the shell--they just wait until the snails shows itself, grab on and pull it from the shell. Amusing on small snails--kind of disturbing to watch with the bigger ones.

[jread]

Originally posted by RENEGADE
well hes full now:laugh:

I leave a big snail in my Q tank to keep any algae from growing out of control...this snail is as big as the puffer.....now theres no more snail:laugh: i don't know how but he did:rolleyes:

LOL!

I got about 15 larger ramshorn snails from the LFS awhile back. Was going to put them in with the puffs, hoping that since they were big, they would be able to reproduce and the puffs could eat the smaller snails. I mean, these things are literally twice the size of the puffers!

No such luck :(

Within the first day, the puffs had pulled each and every snail out of its shell and eaten it! It was hilarious to watch, though, because they would stick their head all the way into the shell then start thrashing around. It looked similar to a cat or dog getting its head trapped in a paper bag :D

[Celura]

Originally posted by jread
Within the first day, the puffs had pulled each and every snail out of its shell and eaten it! It was hilarious to watch, though, because they would stick their head all the way into the shell then start thrashing around. It looked similar to a cat or dog getting its head trapped in a paper bag :D

:laugh:

[Pufferpunk]

My dwarf puffer would take bites out of a giant apple snail. The snail didn't seem to mind.