LOL! Dwarf Puffers are hilarious!

jread

jread

The Dwarf Puffer Guy
Jan 4, 2004
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Austin, TX
www.jeremyread.net
Got three of them today. They're all females and still pretty young (about 1/2 inch apiece). They seem to like the tank (10-gallon planted tank). I dunno if they've tried a snail yet... the snails kind of disappeared... "Puffers!! Run for your lives!!"

I got some frozen bloodworms to feed to them. Broke off a piece and put it in the water but the puffers didn't eat much. The two guppies I have in there wolfed most of them down. Stupid, fat guppies! :mad: They're going to the LFS tomorrow. Their work here is done (cycling the tank).

The puffers have been cracking me up all night! I love their personalities! They're patrolling the whole tank at all times... seeing what they can find. They're scared of the guppies but will chase the goby, which is 6 times their size, all over the tank :p

The most interesting thing so far is watching them eat! I only saw two of them eat (just one bloodworm each), but the way they suck it in, spit it out, suck it in, spit it out, suck it in, spit it out was cracking me up. It's like they were "playing with their food". I had flashbacks to my mom yelling at me at dinner for making sculptures out of my mashed potatoes :D
 
It always reminds me of a little kid with spaghetti. You can also offer them frozen brine shrimp. Mine refused anything but live brine for quite some time, but now take anything. Snails and crunchies are important, but not as vital as for many other puffers. A few 2-3 times a week will be enough to keep their beaks in good shape.
 
In the summer I just set a shallow dish of water in a shady spot and check it once a week. There are always a few mosquito larva swimming around and puffers love them.
 
Went home and checked on them/fed them during my lunch break. I'm still concerned that they're not eating enough. I mean, they DO eat, but only about 1 1/2 bloodworms apiece. Then again, maybe that's all they need. They're seriously only 1/2 inch long right now. Their bellies aren't sunken, but they're not "fat" either. Just more of a "flat" look with a small "pooch" from the little food that they've eaten. Maybe it's just because it's a new environment... I dunno. Maybe I should try another type of food? Or maybe my very untrained eye does not know if they're ok or not. I just want to make sure they're healthy and happy.

Also, how often should I feed them? Once per day? Twice per day? Once every other day?

They're still not showing much aggression. They all three kind of stick together for the most part. They've been doing this thing where they go to the right side of the tank and swim up and down the glass. I don't know if they see something they're trying to get to, are just playing, or if something may be wrong with them.

Sorry for all the questions... just trying to learn more. They are definitely the most interesting and entertaining fish I have ever had :)
 
Puffers of all kinds tend to spend a lot of time swimming up and down against the glass. Marine puffers do it, brackish puffers do it, and all my FW ones will as well. Who knows--they are weird buggers.

For feeding--I fed my dwarves once a day. The little pooch will get bigger, and they'll gradually start to fill out. It takes a little while for the dwarves--feeding more might help, as long as the water quality stays up.
 
Ok, well it sounds like they're about where they' should be, then :)

I'm kind of reluctant to take the guppies out at the moment. The puffers don't really bother them and they're doing a great job of sucking up the leftover bloodworms (guppies will just keep eating as long as there's food... I guess they'd eat until they exploded if you let them). I'm going to watch them closely, though, and remove them if the puffers start nipping.
 
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