South American Puffer?

Question

I just got a south american puffer and the person at the fish store said he'd be okay eating just flake food for a few weeks, so i didn't need to buy snails or worms yet. Well i've had him 5 days and he still hasn't eaten anything. I'm scared he's going to strave. Is there anything that i might have around the house that i could feed him? Or if you have any advince of south american puffers, let me know. Thank you so much.

Would it be okay if i went and got the food after christmas, since right now i really don't have any other choice...I think i might give him a small piece of raw steak and see if he'll eat that. Hopefully he will.

Answer 1

Puffers are very picky eaters and never eat flakes or even pellets. You are lucky to even get them to eat freeze dried food. You may be able to get him to eat a piece of raw steak or something. Or if you have to, go outside and dig up some earthworms to feed him temporarily. Do not do this long term though. South American Puffers have very fast growing teeth, so you need to be feeding him snails daily unless you want to trim it's teeth with fingernail clippers once a month. Trust me, you don't want to do that.

The above person has some very good info.

Answer 2

Common Name: South American Puffer Also Known As: Brazilian Puffer, Amazon Puffer
Synonyms: Family: Tetraodontidae
Origin: Upper regions of the Amazon River Main Ecosystem: River
Salinity: Freshwater Temperament: One of the most peaceful puffers, however, not safe with other fish or invertabrates.
PH: 6.0-7.8 Temperature: 74-80F (23-26C)
Maximum Size: 3 inches (7.6cm) Minimum Tank: 15 Gallons(US)
Activity: Hunter/Seeker Breeding: Largely unsuccessful in home aquariums
Gender: No sexual dimorphism Lifespan: 10 years
Diet: Feed Live and frozen foods, snails, freeze dried krill, frozen shrimp, bloodworms- live or frozen, ghost shrimp (gut-loaded). These puffers must be fed a daily supply of snails to prevent overgrowth of teeth. If not provided, the owner will need to trim their teeth every 4-6 months.
Care: These puffers are also sensitive to nitrites and ammonia and should only be introduced into a fully cycled aquarium. They do not require any salt in their water to live a healthy and happy life. Due to their messy eating habits, overfilatration is highly recommended.
Notes: These are highly active and intelligent fish. They enjoy a planted tank to engage in and explore. Like all other species of puffer, they should only be kept in a species tank. They cannot be trusted in a community tank because they may nip fins and/or attack other fish.

Answer 3

I don't think they will eat much flakes, and its not the food to acclimatize them with. You can buy frozen plankton for them at the local aquarium shop, and get him lots of snails and ghost shrimp.

It may be having a problem with left over food in the tank, as they like clean water and will not eat in poor water quality. Clean out any left over flakes and do a 30% water change. Get it proper food, puffers are not flake eaters.

Answer 4

SAPs are extremely hardy fish and are recent in one in each of those water circumstances from acidic to alkaline and so on. they often respond properly to medicine. Maracyn 2 is super for fin rot etc if there is not any underlying reason like a parasite. make certain to envision for little white spots. this is extra basic to work out them on the fins because of the fact the fins are sparkling. you will desire to be appearing 20-30% water modifications weekly attempting to maintain the nitrates decrease than 20 ppm. The cloudiness would desire to be for a pair of reasons. it might desire to be out of your tank water cycling if the tank has been working for decrease than some months. it might additionally be with the aid of a chemical imbalance which, with water modifications and time will stability out. it might additionally be a bacterial bloom. whilst medicating fish, you will desire to be doing this in a separate 10 gallon tank without substrate. No vegetation or inverts could be interior the tank the two. Get a grasp try kit out of your fish shop and show screen the ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and ph. purchase a 5 gallon bucket from homestead depot so which you would be able to practice the water until now including it interior the tank. in case you could, take care of the water interior the bucket an flow away it in one day. in the adventure that your tank is in basic terms too super for one bucket then get 2 or 3. The buckets are somewhat much less high priced. sparkling dechlorinated water is a sturdy element for fish as long as that's the comparable temperature because of the fact the tank water. Having the temperature, ph, salt gravity, and so on. substitute appreciably can ask your self fish to a level. non-end exposure to instability with be damaging to any fish. wish this helps.