Potato Puffer Glass Surfing and acting scared after eating

Vakkokin

Registered Member
Jan 26, 2025
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I have a red potato puffer that I got in July and she was about 1.5” and she is close to 3” now. I dewormed her when I brought her home and she is the only fish in a 29 gallon planted, sand bottom tank with regular water changes and good water parameters around 77 degrees.
She has been doing amazing almost always out and about or hanging in the sand. Not scared when you are around the tank or doing maintenance. I have never changed anything in the tank other than add some plants. Eats ghost shrimp, red wigglers, meal worms, black worms, baby sword tails(raise in a different tank) and have tried crickets a few times. Can only get her to eat live food but have tried frozen many times.
A few weeks ago she started to glass surf on occasion and it’s been increasing. More concerning is after she would take one food item from the tongs(usually gets 2-3 depending on size) and I would try to give her the second item, she would darken in color swim off and frantically glass surf like she was trying to get away sometimes splashing at the surface. She will be weird for several minutes so I will just leave her alone as I don’t want to stress her any more. I have started feeding her one item once or twice a day now since she will freak out sometimes. I haven’t done anything differently other than getting ghost shrimp every other week and not every week as they have been harder to find. nothing has happened in the past like getting hurt, sick, stuff falling in the tank, etc. Now when I come up to the tank she is a bit more reserved and will sometimes back into the plants a bit but she will then come back out after a few seconds but not every time. The rest of the time she is just swimming normally or in the sand. Any ideas on how I can help her out? Is she being a moody teenager? If you need more info about anything please ask. Thanks! IMG_1215.jpegIMG_1216.jpeg
 
I have no idea how to help but I don't want you to feel ignored. It's a beautiful tank. I hope she gets normal. As much care and love as you're giving her, she's got to get it together.
 
Thank you for your comment. I appreciate it! I made her sand bed a little deeper, put dark paper on the sides of the tank showed she does the surfing, and gave her some extra guppies and some ghost shrimp to eat. She has been a little better yesterday and today. Maybe she is just in a growth spurt and not getting enough to eat? Gotta love picky fish!

I have no idea how to help but I don't want you to feel ignored. It's a beautiful tank. I hope she gets normal. As much care and love as you're giving her, she's got to get it together.
 
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I don't see a downside to keeping guppies and shrimp in the tank. Neither of those add much bio load to your ecosystem.
 
I have a red potato puffer that I got in July and she was about 1.5” and she is close to 3” now. I dewormed her when I brought her home and she is the only fish in a 29 gallon planted, sand bottom tank with regular water changes and good water parameters around 77 degrees.
She has been doing amazing almost always out and about or hanging in the sand. Not scared when you are around the tank or doing maintenance. I have never changed anything in the tank other than add some plants. Eats ghost shrimp, red wigglers, meal worms, black worms, baby sword tails(raise in a different tank) and have tried crickets a few times. Can only get her to eat live food but have tried frozen many times.
A few weeks ago she started to glass surf on occasion and it’s been increasing. More concerning is after she would take one food item from the tongs(usually gets 2-3 depending on size) and I would try to give her the second item, she would darken in color swim off and frantically glass surf like she was trying to get away sometimes splashing at the surface. She will be weird for several minutes so I will just leave her alone as I don’t want to stress her any more. I have started feeding her one item once or twice a day now since she will freak out sometimes. I haven’t done anything differently other than getting ghost shrimp every other week and not every week as they have been harder to find. nothing has happened in the past like getting hurt, sick, stuff falling in the tank, etc. Now when I come up to the tank she is a bit more reserved and will sometimes back into the plants a bit but she will then come back out after a few seconds but not every time. The rest of the time she is just swimming normally or in the sand. Any ideas on how I can help her out? Is she being a moody teenager? If you need more info about anything please ask. Thanks! View attachment 233442View attachment 233443
Beautiful Miurus!! All the ones I’ve seen just sit on the bottom. I don’t know if this is the correct answer but I’m guessing it’s puffer puberty. I had a Fahaka that I got at 1” and around 7” it started acting stressed, sometimes puffing up for no reason, freaking out when anyone walked by. Parameters were perfect. Then a a few months later she returned to her normal self except she began laying eggs. So that’s my guess but I can’t say for sure. I’d just test the water and keep an eye on things and watch for signs of parasites, I’ve seen parasites that you can’t see cause fish to act strange, but that’s not what I suspect here.
 
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