I picked 1 up about 6 days ago and he just hangs around on the bottom. I haven't seen him eat yet. He looks healthy when he swims but most of the day he just lays there. Is this normal? I tried giving him frozen marine food and today I tried live brine shrimp.
Anyone have a Valentini Puffer???
- Thread starter azzoa
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I do not own a Valentino Puffer but my local LFS has 2, and I plan on purchasing one when I get my new tank set up. Since I do not own one I dont know all the exact facts on these fish, but the 2 they had in there store where very active little guys. They cruised around the tank, and when they werent moving they stayed at the top. I dont know what may be wrong with yours? How new is the fish maybe its still trying to settle in? If this keeps up you may want to check your water perameters and if they seem ok go back to your LFS where you bought and ask.
i had one for about a year and 10 months up until about a week ago. the little guy got stuck on a powerhead overnight when he tried perching on it to go to sleep.
they are very active. you might want to list your water parameters. any other symptoms? heavy breathing? is the fish fat and healthy looking? how do the teeth look? are they long and mostly covering the mouth or does it look likehe would be able to eat fine if he wanted to?
puffer fish have teeth like a rodent's; they keep growing and growing because of their crunchy food sources like clams and shrimps/crabs. you should feed your puffer krill often, and also live clams still in the sehll to help wear it down. Mine wouldnt eat clams, so his teeth got too large and i had the clip them off with toenail clippers (quite the ordeal... but not nearly as bad as the larger puffers like porcupines where you have to give them anesthetic and use a dremel!!).
a very personable fish.
they are very active. you might want to list your water parameters. any other symptoms? heavy breathing? is the fish fat and healthy looking? how do the teeth look? are they long and mostly covering the mouth or does it look likehe would be able to eat fine if he wanted to?
puffer fish have teeth like a rodent's; they keep growing and growing because of their crunchy food sources like clams and shrimps/crabs. you should feed your puffer krill often, and also live clams still in the sehll to help wear it down. Mine wouldnt eat clams, so his teeth got too large and i had the clip them off with toenail clippers (quite the ordeal... but not nearly as bad as the larger puffers like porcupines where you have to give them anesthetic and use a dremel!!).
a very personable fish.
I had a valenteni puffer a while back and they are great fish. Very personable fish. When he saw me walking in front of the tank he would follow me back and forth. I will be getting another soon.
They should be pretty active during the day and feeding fairly well. Did he eat at the LFS before you bought him? What are your water parameters? You need to make sure your water parameters are really good. I found that these guys are not very tolerant of bad water quality.
They should be pretty active during the day and feeding fairly well. Did he eat at the LFS before you bought him? What are your water parameters? You need to make sure your water parameters are really good. I found that these guys are not very tolerant of bad water quality.
I only had him for 8 days. He was dead this morning. I should have made sure he ate at the LFS before I bought him, that was my mistake! He didn't eat at all when I brought him home. I was hoping he was just in a little shock. Every once in a while he would get up and swim to the other side of the tank but then just sit there. I went back to the LFS after 5 days to ask for their advice, they said try feeding him brine shrimp. that didn't work. The lesson learned here is always make sure the fish eat at the LFS first before buying! I'm going to keep my eyes open for another puffer. Thanks for the help.
Sorry to hear about your loss. I have a VP that is by far the most personable fish in my tanks. It eats anything that I offer it, and it isn't aggresssive towards any of its tank mates.
It is always a good idea to observe fish before bringing them home, but these fish usually handle stress pretty well. You should check your water parameters and be sure that everything is stable. Proper acclimation is also important to reduce stress on new fish.
If a new fish (especially a puffer) isn't eating it may be helpful to offer it live food, such as small shrimp. Don't be discouraged, just do everything you can to offer new fish a suitable environment and to limit stress as much as possible.
Here's a pic of my puffer with its wrasse tank mates.
It is always a good idea to observe fish before bringing them home, but these fish usually handle stress pretty well. You should check your water parameters and be sure that everything is stable. Proper acclimation is also important to reduce stress on new fish.
If a new fish (especially a puffer) isn't eating it may be helpful to offer it live food, such as small shrimp. Don't be discouraged, just do everything you can to offer new fish a suitable environment and to limit stress as much as possible.
Here's a pic of my puffer with its wrasse tank mates.
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Very nice. I just ordered another puffer from liveaquaria.com they come with a 14 day guarentee! I also ordered a dwarf Lion fish. Hopefully they will be in good shape, this is the first time I ordered fish online! I will do a water change tonight before the new arrivals come in just to make sure everything is perfect.