Beauty of a puffer at LFS...quick advice on tankmates

[Wistler]

PM sent, but sorry I don't recall where the pic was taken. I was like a kid in a candy store touring the facilities at LAX where the fish arrive in boxes. They were wholsealers with little signage or markings on the block buildings. We saw over 5,000 fish in three days and visited over 8 destinations.

I'm sure any LFS with accounts nationwide can locate a 9-12" Clown for you, as I saw several.

 

[pooldude]

nice df

 

[LisaD]

Larry, IMO you are better off with the DF puffer you got than with a golden puffer. I had one. It was a little aggressive, especially food aggressive, and was bigger than a DFP. Nice looking fish, but didn't have the personality of a DFP.

 

[rpjaws74]

golden puffers arnt easy to get to accept food either! Mine died after couple weeks and I tried everything

 

[LisaD]

that's too bad. sounds like it may have had some kind of health problem coming in, since puffers are all usually voracious where food is concerned.

 

[Wistler]

Pic for LisaD

Pic for LisaD

Just an update that the puffer has been home for a week and is doing great in the stock tub. I have some LR in there, with a skimmer, powerhead, heater and an old canister filter running filter floss and ROX carbon on a simple inlet/outlet set up.

He is eating anything and everything and he floats to the middle of the tub and spits water at us when we enter the room. I could tell he was hungry the one day because he started nipping off pieces of the plastic wire loom I wrapped around all the submerged power cords....:debi: Its gonna be hard to put him in the 180 after the fallow period (due to ich) because he is so cool in the tub sitting on the fireplace at waist level.

My wife and kids named him "Maxwell" after the singing pig that goes ziplining on the GEICO commercials...:lol2:

 

[LisaD]

Larry, I'm glad he is doing so well. Are you sure you don't want to keep him where he is?

 

[Wistler]

I'm honestly afraid that while I am at work he is going to nip through one of the many power cords in the tub and cause a hazard. I am going to pick up a GFCI power strip today on my way home from work.

But he is really cool in there......and I can rub his belly and everything and he just lays on his side and twirls around my finger... Puffers are really cool, but man at feeding time when he exposes his beak its scary!!!

 

[LisaD]

I just got a gorgeous panda puffer, also a real sweetie! Very much like a DFP, but different markings. I haven't had a DFP bite through cords, but wouldn't be surprised. They are very mouthy, a lot like puppies.

 

[Wistler]

I saw a panda puffer for the first time on Divers Den and he was really cool.....AND $299.

Where did you put him.....Pics?!?

 

[LisaD]

Larry,

He is in my 90, and was from DD. Totally gentle. I'm a terrible photographer, but will try to get my 14 year old to help me with pics this week or next. I'm out of town this weekend. Truly gorgeous fish. I'd like to upgrade to at least a 125 (actually, I mean add a larger tank, and keep the 90). I'm regretting selling my 210, but kind of had to do it at the time, during our move.

Keep an eye out for me, for a good deal on a used tank. Anything from 125 to 210. In the next year. Not ready yet, I will have to fix up a spot in the basement, and work on my husband.

I have to give you much of the credit for inspiring this purchase (as well as the other two fish I bought). Our PMs about the wonderfulness of puffers inspired me to go for it. I'm starting a new job next month, and bought myself a couple little congratulations presents.

 

[sandwi54]

Wistler and LisaD, I'm a huge puffer lover too and was actually looking at the panda puffer on DD that Lisa just bought, but couldn't bite the bullet to pay for it as I already spent $449 on the golden puffer on DD in January.

My girlfriend and I just bought a small dog-face puffer very similar to Wistler's (with symmetrical yellow markings as well) from our LFS. He's at my gf's 75g tank now and we will probably grow him up in it until I get my 350g set up. The plan is to build a 150g sump to house him separately from the golden puffer, since the golden attacked our guinea fowl puffer who passed away a week ago from choking on a pellet (big heartbreak to both of us!!!).

The new DF puffer is beautiful and personable.

 

[Wistler]

Sandwi......how small was the puffer that choked on a pellet?

Maybe I should be asking how big was the feed pellet. I have never heard of a puffer choking on something and dying. I thought they were like a garbage disposal....lol

 

[sandwi54]

The puffer was around 5" and the pellet was the 3mm size NLS. I have done some research afterwards on fish dying of eating pellets. The consensus is that if a fish eats a pellet and not able to get it down into the stomach, it could get soaked in the water and expand, and gets stuck in the esophagus (or whatever the equivalent for fish is). This could result in death. It is always better to soak the pellets in water to let them expand first.

I learned a valuable lesson, although in a very hard way...

 

[LisaD]

I'm so sorry about your puffer, and will be very careful in the future with pellets.

 

[sandwi54]

Thanks Lisa. I don't think I would feed large pellets to puffers anymore. Small ones should pass down easily and reduce the chance of choking.

 

[LisaD]

I think I'm going to pass on the pellets and feed meaty foods, frozen cubes, gel - stuff that will go down easy!

 

[sandwi54]

Yeah I mainly feed meaty food, clams, mussels, etc. Every other day I feed some pellets so it gets some other nutritions too.

 

[jcmjoe]

My DFP loves the spectrum Thera A pellets ,he eats the large ones at about 6-8 a shot every other day! Thanks for the warning

 

[Wistler]

Ok gang..I have good news and Video to prove it!

My Puffer spent his tour in his "tub" while my 180 went Fallow for 59 days. I ran the 60 watt UV sterilizer with real slow flow the whole time, so I hope the Ich is gone. I added the surviving fish from the original ich outbreak back into the 180, after three weeks of Cupramine treatment and 5 weeks of observation. I also added the Orange Shoulder tang my son picked out from LA after his QT period in a 20 Gal tank.

"Maxwell" loves his new home and has been strutting all day in the 180. His Colors have never looked better.

Check out our website for two videos on the puffer and a tour of our 180 FOWLR.

www.Larrysreefservices.com

I have been putting a lot of work into our website so I appreciate any comments in the guestbook....