Porcupine Puffer

[srfisher17]

After I lost all my fish to Katrina and moved further north;I finally have my first FOWLR set up and all is well. I'm now planning my 2nd tank and want to include a porcupine puffer-I love their personality and character! I don't know if it is just bad luck; but this one fish that I have not been able to keep in the past- and I've been keeping marine fish since the days of bleached coral and cyanide caught fish. I know puffers need some "tough" food to keep their ever-growing teeth in check--but does anyone have some little snippet of knowledge that might help? I think I lost 3 of them (from 3 sources) in a year or so. All other fish were fine and I never noticed anything unusual--they all ate well at first-and all lasted only a few weeks.

 

[miaheatlvr]

Originally Posted by srfisher17
After I lost all my fish to Katrina and moved further north;I finally have my first FOWLR set up and all is well. I'm now planning my 2nd tank and want to include a porcupine puffer-I love their personality and character! I don't know if it is just bad luck; but this one fish that I have not been able to keep in the past- and I've been keeping marine fish since the days of bleached coral and cyanide caught fish. I know puffers need some "tough" food to keep their ever-growing teeth in check--but does anyone have some little snippet of knowledge that might help? I think I lost 3 of them (from 3 sources) in a year or so. All other fish were fine and I never noticed anything unusual--they all ate well at first-and all lasted only a few weeks.
Description: This fish is loved because of its whimsical appearance and is an overall great aquarium fish. Like any curious type fish, they may pick on inactive species, such as scorpionfishes and frogfishes. You can keep more than one of these fish in the same tank. They may spend much of the day hiding or resting on the bottom when first added to the tank. This fish is best known for its inflation behavior – an antipredation defense response they exhibit when threatened. Although it is an interesting thing to observe, do not encourage your puffer to inflate. Again, this is a defense thing, not something you want to see regularly. These fish quickly learn to associate their keeper with food..
Recommended Tank size: minimum 55 gallon
Food and diet:Carnivore, provide a varied diet that includes frozen preparations for carnivores.
Reef Compatability: Not well-suited to the reef aquarium as it is likely to eat many types of sessile invertebrates.
Level of Care: Easy

 

[srfisher17]

Thanks; i would never get one to inflate just for the entertainment value. Although;I still like to give my a Lionfish a Betta (or Beta, as they're called at Wal-Mart) on special occasions!

 

[larryndana]

sorry you lost your tanks during katrina, i'm sure you lost more than that. Where were you before and after the storm? we had extensive damage here, 60k in damage....luckily our insurance company handled it.
for the puffer, try some shrimp or mussels. i watched mine eat at the lfs, he was in with another one and was smaller....but when the clerk fed them he ate more than the bigger one. so i got him.

 

[srfisher17]

We left Ocean Springs, Ms., and moved to N.E. Tennessee- we love it here. Glad your puffer is doing well, I don't think my problem was anything more than bad luck---and possibly a batch of fish that were mis-handled on their way to our LFSs--I think they all used the same supplier. I'm sold on online fish buying now. (Those puffers are sloppy eaters aren't they- worse than my kids!)

 

[robert0862]

try pieces of crab still in the shell. its what my wife used to do.

 

[firerescue]

I would recommend a 90 gal or bigger for a porcupine. That what mine is in and have had it for well over a year. I feed mine forzen shrimp and frozen cubes of anything for saltwater fish from the lfs. It was even eating freeze dried shrimp from the moment I brought it home although i do not feed it freeze dried anymore.

 

[srfisher17]

Thanks! Crab in the shell is a good idea. I'll bet they would go nuts over a piece of cuttlebone-the kind for birds, it's a natural marine product. (not medicated of course). How about keeping pieces of cuttlebone; along with a few drops of Selcon and a bit of garlic, in a jar and kept in the fridge?

 

[larryndana]

Originally Posted by srfisher17
We left Ocean Springs, Ms., and moved to N.E. Tennessee- we love it here. Glad your puffer is doing well, I don't think my problem was anything more than bad luck---and possibly a batch of fish that were mis-handled on their way to our LFSs--I think they all used the same supplier. I'm sold on online fish buying now. (Those puffers are sloppy eaters aren't they- worse than my kids!)
well hattiesburg here, yes very sloppy eaters. i've seen several puffers come through my lfs some don't look good at all. mine was in with another and they were both active. good luck.