HELP! Porc. Pufferfish has stopped eating!

[Ocyurus]

I have had my puffers stop eating for a weak before but they always come back pretty quickly. I can't imagine my guys stoping to eat and dyeing, love those guys.

 

[Gopherfish]

Hi all-

My porcupine pufferfish, which I've had for about a year has stopped eating. Normally it ate krill and romaine, but won't touch them suddenly.

Tank:
90gal FOWLR
Temp and chem levels have been constant
No changes to inhabitants or diet
Tankmates: Foxface, two damsels, hawkfish, yellow tang.

Anyone have any ideas?

Much appreciated-

Goph

[ October 12, 2001: Message edited by: Gopherfish ]

 

[hurrifan]

Gopher, I had a puffer that suddenly stopped eating. I tried everything, but had no success. From the information I got they do have a tendency to go on hunger strikes for prolonged periods of time (weeks or months from what I read). However, mine never started eating again and died after about 4 months. I tried treating for various illnesses, but nothing worked. I got advice from many people and no one could pin point what the problem was. I hope you have better success, and I wish you all the luck.

 

[Anonymous]

Are his teeth too big? If you don't feed a steady diet of stuff they can crunch and file their teeth down, they won't be able to eat anymore and will starve. Try some shrimp, snails, or crabs...

Peace,

Chip

 

[Gopherfish]

Thanks for the info. I had trouble feeding him when I first bought him, mostly because he was choosey about what he'd eat. So it was about 8 days before he finally found something he liked. I really hate to resort to the goldfish again, as they're not good for him and usually diseased.

What do your puffers generally eat?

-Goph

 

[Blowfishaq]

You can try two things. 1. Buy some fresh shrimp from the grocery. Be sure to get the raw stuff!! Shell it and cut it into small pieces and hope he/she eats it. 2. Try this last! Puffers have a tendency to get constipated and a fresh water dip can some times open them up. Catch it in a container like a cool whip pail so it is not exposed to the air then dump it into a bucket of fresh water. Wait about one minuet then scoop it back into the container and put it back into the tank. This worked for mine. Do not go back to the gold fish!!!! The swim bladder in the freshwater fish will plug them up fast.

Bryan

 

[Gopherfish]

Hi All-

Still no luck getting my puffer to take food. He swims up to it, but won't eat. I've tried fresh shrimp, romaine, sliced peas, and the frozen stuff I feed my other fish (which the puffer never liked anyway).

I gave him a fresh water dip on Sunday, but that didn't seem to effect him.

Any other ideas? We're going on a week. I'm already concerned- when do I get to freak out?

Help!

Goph

 

[naesco]

He is probably hiding in a corner.
Try using fresh shrimp or clams weighted to a rock placed in the corner of the tank after you have given the other fish a good feed at the other end.
Try a good water change and an put an airline with a diffuser in the corner.
If that does not work and you feel he is not going to improve consider a QT (quarantine tank) for a while with a regimen of neomycin (an antibiotic) and a double dose of vitamin C drops in the water (like vita-chem).
Good Luck

 

[davelin315]

Puffers often carry parasitic worms in them that will adversely affect them. I do not know of an effective way of removing the worms, you just need to offer a healthy diet and optimum water conditions. Is it a spiney box puffer (more squared) or is it a rounded one? Both are often referred to as porcupine puffers here in Chicago, but they're different fish. The boxier one I think is more prone to worms, and often a sign of distress is you will see the worms burrow into their eyes and it will look like tiny white pieces of spaghetti twirled up in its eye. If it won't eat, you could be in for some trouble. Try offering live foods to it, or maybe take a guppy and smoosh it a little bit so it can't swim away from your puffer. This is also a good way to medicate your fish, soak the live food (also try ghost shrimp) in some medication and food supplements and then feed it to the fish. Not a nice way to go for the feeder, but if you want to save your puffer, that may be the only option.

 

[LeoR]

Porcupines in nature feed on seashells, crabs, snails and shrimp.

You can get this food at most grocery stores.

Start with live clams, mussels or oysters.
Crabs can be live or cooked.
Shrimp should be raw, not cooked.

LeoR