Porcupine Puffer Not Eating

[leopard_babe]

Like I said my puffer didn't eat for almost a week. He was fine, except for sticking his face in my powerhead, and puffing up. oops. He made it just fine. Just keep trying that is all you can do at this point. Little nips at the silverslides are better then nothing. i used to feed my puffer at night when he was active. I think I am out of ideas for you.
In the picture he looks good from what I can see. Keep us posted!!

 

[socal57che]

Ditto with the live ghost shrimp.

Living, moving food will often entice them to eat.

 

[leopard_babe]

I have been looking at that pix closer, does he have white spots on the edges of his tail, or is it the pix??
Puffers are prone to ick, and when being stressed and moved from the store to your tank, maybe he got ick and that is why he is not eating.
What is the status on the little guy??

 

[popalnet]

Actually, I just logged on to post an update. The spots on the tail are actually algae/ditritus on the tank that can be seen through its tail.
Update -
Well, I have good news and bad news. Anyway, as Leopard_babe had mentioned, that puffers are nocturnal - so I decided to spy on the puffer at night with the lights off. What I realized is while the dog face gets ready to sleep, the porcupine turns into a predator. The procupine was actively looking for food.
Earlier in the day I had added a few chromis. The porcupine was all over the tank chasing the chromis. When I saw that I decided to hold a squid tentacle in the tank and mimic a swimming motion. The porcupine showed interest in the tentacle and eventually ate it. Yes!!!

The bad news: when I checked on the tank this morning, I was missing a chromis. I can't find it anywhere in the tank. They way the porcupine was after the chromis, I'm sure it ate one. Bottomline, it looks like my porcupine is mainly interested in live foods. Especially at night when the lights are off.
Before I wanted to do whatever I could to keep the porcupine alive. Now I'm thinking about giving it up to a LFS. By the way its actiing, when it gets bigger it will eat more fish. I guess this is a reason some people end up owning multiple tanks.

 

[leopard_babe]

Good to hear he is doing better. lol
just remember if you move it out of your tank not to use a net. lol
They can get very big. especially when they have a big appetite!!

 

[prime311]

I got mine to start eating with live ghost shrimp. After that it was pretty easy to get him eating frozen foods. Its unusual for Puffers to go after live fish, they usually are more invertebrate eaters and they are slow swimmers. If the Puffer is starving it might go after a Chromis, although I'd be surprised if he caught one. Once hes eating prepared foods regularly I doubt he'll go after any live fish.

 

[leopard_babe]

I had multiple smaller fish when I had my puffer. I know he ate my clean up crew on a regular basis. But he never bothered my other fish... that i remember

 

[popalnet]

I hope that ends up being the case. Out of 5 chromis, I now have 2 left. As soon as the lights go off in the tank, the porc starts chasing the chromis. I bought a bunch of frozen feed so I'll keep the puffer till I run out. I'll then reevaluate whether I want to keep the puffers or not.
Thanks all for all your helpful suggestions.

 

[greatdayz]

My porcupine puffer didn't eat the first week he was in my tank. I used garlic and vitamin supplement to soak my frozen (Aqua Yums) fish food in. He was frenzied by the smell, but would just swim up to the food and turn away. I finally got him to eat by making a feeding stick out of hard airline tubing and putting it right in front of him. He eats like a champ now, even when I dump the food directly in the tank. You have to get them used to what you're feeding them. Also remember they're not the fastest swimmers, so if you have quick, aggressive fish (I have a lunar wrasse that gets most of the prime chunks of food) you have to give the puffer a hand. I plan on continuing to feed mine with the feeding stick b/c he really chomps on it when I put it in the tank and I'm hoping that will help keep his teeth from getting out of control. Good luck.