My 1st Puffer!

[Sushiman]

My very first Dog-Faced puffer moved into his new home today, what a great fish! Who out there has had experience with these guys?

[fakename]

Lets see a pic of the little guy!
Aaron

[bulletsworld]

There great fish for sure. I love em.

What kind of dogface puffer did you get? What are its colors?

Of course they are called puffers for a reason but did you know they to can actually puff? I got video of when mine did that.

Also I at one time had a bunch of tanks going and thought...Wonder what my dogface would do in my reef tank. Yup, I did the try see. Well... He LOVED IT! In less than 5 mins he had taken a piece outta every coral I owned. NoOoOOo! Yup, loved mushrooms, stonies, went after the shrimps. It was a party for him. I was racing like crazy with the net to get him out. He sure didn't wanta come out I tell ya cause I caught him in the net and PUFF! Yup, it puffed alright! Puffed so bad I couldn't get him outta the net, had to cut the net to get him free! After he puffed down, sampled some more of my corals, I got a big container to get him out this time... He puffed again! Yup, just so I wouldn't get him again. Smart guy! Anyway moral of the story.... Dogface puffer MUST NOT got into a reef tank under any conditions. *chuckle* LOL

Another great word of advice for any puffers. **DO NOT expose them to AIR! They can take in air that may not be able to be released later creating serious boyoncy problems, where you have to manually help them. Also...NO NETS PLEASE with puffers. I find because its not good to expose them to air, the nets are really harsh, perhaps scratching there eye OR if they puff will in the net you wont have to cut them out.

That's my words of advice for these guys. Hope it helps. These guys are definitely cool for sure.


Lee

[geopod]

correct me if I am wrong but the puffer fish ussually puffs when stressed.I thought this was a bad thing to do if they keep puffing that they can die.Yes...No...??

george

[bulletsworld]

Originally Posted by geopod

correct me if I am wrong but the puffer fish ussually puffs when stressed.I thought this was a bad thing to do if they keep puffing that they can die.Yes...No...?? george

Yes, it is extremely stressful on the fish, hence the PUFF reaction. But all reasons I gave above are why "NO NETS PLEASE" with these creature and "DON'T EXPOSE THEM TO AIR" are good tips. Any encounter I have had with puffers they only puffed when frightened or scared by netting or capture. Again why I mentioned tips above to prevent the stress. I have never heard of a puffer dying from puffing up. Although if they were exposed to air, air can get trapped, making it hard for them to puff down, causing serious buoyancy problems then resulting in death. Regardless it would be very mean to try to make your puffer frightened just so you could see it puff. I was surprised when it happened to me.

Recap of tips... "DON'T EXPOSE PUFFERS TO AIR" & "NO NETS PLEASE"

I actually purchased a porcupine puffer on the weekend...adorable little guy. I asked the LFS if they can NOT use a net but a container to catch him and NOT to expose him to ANY air. The guy looked at me like I was crazy at first but did it. It took the guy little time to catch the porcupine puffer but by coaching it with a net into to the container. Once the puffer was in the bag it didn't freak out like it would have if it was netted & exposed to air. It didn't try to bite the bag to get out. Instead the travel was darkened to ease stress & before the new puffy new it, he was acclimated and in his new home.


I hope this info helps when purchasing & catching your puffy.

[OCDP]

I think you could very well use your two important pieces of advice to ANY fish, and not just puffers. The net rule at least

[bulletsworld]

Originally Posted by OCDP

I think you could very well use your two important pieces of advice to ANY fish, and not just puffers. The net rule at least

YEsss! EXACTLY! I try to preach "NO NETS" if all possible. I just dont want to sound to pushy. Hehe But for puffers I think "NO NETS", "NO AIR", its a MUST. Since puffers have the ability to inflate their stomachs which is not limited to water, when raised into the air, you run the risk of the puffer inflating himself with a stomach full of air. Which is not a good thing, many puffer have difficulties expelling trapped air.

I HATE nets though. Sometimes you just gotta use a net, but I just transfer the fish from the net to the container under water. Then I lift them up with water in the container. That way they dont get any air. I really do find it helps the fish in transfer. Less panic and stress.

Besides...I look at it this way on the topic of exposing fish to air... What if someone chased you & then pushed you under water, you would panic & wouldn't be able to breath. So I consider this the same for the fish being lifted into the exposed air. They can't breath! NOoOOo! Poor fishy!

[Sushiman]

Originally Posted by geopod

correct me if I am wrong but the puffer fish ussually puffs when stressed.I thought this was a bad thing to do if they keep puffing that they can die.Yes...No...??

george

Like most blanket statements or rules you hear there is more to it. Yes, the "puffing up" action is a defense mechanism possesed by these fish, however many simply puff up briefly & continue on their merry way. The trick as aquarists is to carefully observe you fish's behavior to determine if there are stresssors that require your attention or are these simply benign behaviors. If the puffer in question is spending a prolonged period of time inflated, there is something going on & requires your intervention for sure. Puffers are intelligent & extremely inquisitive fish which is what makes them so much fun to own.

[Stab_Master_Arson]

Speaking of nets. I netted my bi-colour angelfish and it got caught in the mesh. It's teeth got caught on one on the holes and it appeared to have spikes on its gills that were also caught. It took me some time but I got him unhooked. He died about a week later from starvation. I think I may have damaged his mouth and he was unable or unwilling to eat.

[rudy]

I agree about not letting your puffer take in air.

Read this thread about what happened to my Fahaka.
http://www.cichlidforums.com/showthr...ghlight=fahaka