Pea Puffers

[Burleson]

So I want to get fresh water pea puffers and I have attempted this before but the dang puffer wouldn’t EAT ANYTHING and died ………….so what do they eat I tried everything that my LFS said works (but then again my LFS always somehow tricks my into buying outrageous fish that I don’t need and then they give my false info so it dies and I come back and they give me more info so I buy it again and not to mention there PRICES!!!!!! But anyway back to the pea puffers) So if anyone out there is an expert on pea puffers and wants to tell me everything I need to know about them i will be ever so grateful

 

[Magnum Man]

one trick, I don't have a good local any more, is to ask them to feed the fish you are looking at, and watch for 2 things, what are they feeding them, and don't buy one that you don't see eat... if you see one eat, follow it, and tell them you want that one... I had a puffer a while back, and it ate anything Input in the tank... but they are often really partial to baby pest snails

 

[Burleson]

Ok do you thing they will eat freeze dried blood worms

 

[OMG_FL]

First let me ask few general questions

What did you fed them at first?
How long did they survive after you brought them from the store ?
Did they look less active or stressed while they we in the store ?
How large was the tank ?
How many puffers were there in the tank ?
How was your tank setup ?

 

[GaryE]

After you've answered @OMG_FL 's questions, because without those answers no one can offer a lot, you may get good concrete comments.

I've never kept pea puffers, but after I read your post, I went to Seriously Fish, a respected online site, to double check what I knew about their diet. 30 seconds later, I had the answer, so I wouldn't be risking giving bad info here. So please bookmark that site or one like it. Take your phone with you when you go to your local store, and you'll no longer be dependent on sellers for your information.

You have to adapt to a fish like that. It won't adapt to your needs. It eats snails and shelled creatures, and it needs the shells to deal with its teeth, which are evolved for that diet. I would assume the puffer's intestines are also evolved to need roughage. There is a certain amount of fibre in bloodworms (actually not worms, but wormlike insect larvae, btw), but not nearly enough. So if you want the fish to live a long, healthy life, go to its needs. It won't fit with what most of us have available for it.

Get a tank going with hundreds of pest snails in it, and keep those pests breeding. If you can't do that, don't get puffers.

 

[Burleson]

First let me ask few general questions

What did you fed them at first?
How long did they survive after you brought them from the store ?
Did they look less active or stressed while they we in the store ?
How large was the tank ?
How many puffers were there in the tank ?
How was your tank setup ?

So the guy at my LFS told be they eat ditrius worms an blood worms so that’s what I did and lone behold they didn’t eat

There where two in a ten gallon which was the same as the store

They survived for quite a while after I bought them but the wouldn’t eat anything actually I tried regular fish food at one point I was so desperate that they actually nibbled and then left it alone……….
They where very active in the tank at my house and the fish store

 

[MaloK]

The only time you can be confident what a fish store tells is a tangible facts,

Is when they say the price.

All the rest is up to you...

You had some time to discover what was happening... With today's information available, you could have deepened the research a little more...

 

[OMG_FL]

From your description nothing seems out of the ordinarily
So I'll just give you a overall guide to take care of them

1.when buying them try to get the ones that are most active and looks more healthy
(Or the ones that are eating well if you get to see them being fed as @GaryE said)
2.when setting up a tank for them(before buying them)try to do as natural as possible (with lots of plants, driftwood and preferably a sand substrate)
Also get the water parameters right specifically the temperature cuz pea puffers are tropical fish species and they require around 25-28°C
3. don't try to feed them in the first day give them time to settle down without disturbing them (try to keep the lights off)
4.once they settle and starting to explore the tank give them a tiny amount of LIVE FOOD (baby snails are the best but bloodworms/tubifex worms/vinegar eels are fine too) make sure to watch if they are eating if they aren't give them another day
5.after they start eating live food you can progressively move to frozen and finally to a good pellet or a flake made for puffers
(Make sure to give them some baby snails as treats for few times a week or you can get some snails to populate the tank which is even better)

 

[Burleson]

From your description nothing seems out of the ordinarily
So I'll just give you a overall guide to take care of them

1.when buying them try to get the ones that are most active and looks more healthy
(Or the ones that are eating well if you get to see them being fed as @GaryE said)
2.when setting up a tank for them(before buying them)try to do as natural as possible (with lots of plants, driftwood and preferably a sand substrate)
Also get the water parameters right specifically the temperature cuz pea puffers are tropical fish species and they require around 25-28°C
3. don't try to feed them in the first day give them time to settle down without disturbing them (try to keep the lights off)
4.once they settle and starting to explore the tank give them a tiny amount of LIVE FOOD (baby snails are the best but bloodworms/tubifex worms/vinegar eels are fine too) make sure to watch if they are eating if they aren't give them another day
5.after they start eating live food you can progressively move to frozen and finally to a good pellet or a flake made for puffers
(Make sure to give them some baby snails as treats for few times a week or you can get some snails to populate the tank which is even better)

I really appreciate this it was exactly what I was looking for

 

[Burleson]

The only time you can be confident what a fish store tells is a tangible facts,

Is when they say the price.

All the rest is up to you...

You had some time to discover what was happening... With today's information available, you could have deepened the research a little more…..

The only time you can be confident what a fish store tells is a tangible facts,

Is when they say the price.

All the rest is up to you...

You had some time to discover what was happening... With today's information available, you could have deepened the research a little more...

Trust me I did plenty of research and so did my family when it comes to anything animal related I am a research freak

 

[kiko]

ramshorn snails, cherry shrimp fry and bloodworms
if you don't like snails you can setup your tank with plants and lots of hiding spots and just get a shrimp colony of 20 shrimps or so
everytime they have fry the puffers become hunters xD
just make sure you have enough hiding spots so that the puffers don't just kill all the shrimp in no time...

 

[Burleson]

Ok