Help with Valentini Puffer

Connie · Dec 15, 2012

I know I have a lot of questions today so please forgive me, but my husband brought home two fish yesterday to suprise me. It was very sweet of him; however one of them is a Valentini Puffer or Saddle Puffer. I don't know really how to take care of him or if he is truly reef safe. What am I supposed to feed it? So far, he has turned his nose up to frozen mysis, brine, krill, squid and table shrimp. He is picking at the rocks a lot, so I am assuming he is eating pods. I hate to assume. Gimme some knowledge pretty please.:attention: Here is a pic:

SeymourDuncan · Dec 19, 2012

My first hand experience is that they are the reef safest of them all.

I ha a coral banded shrimp that would clean him like corn on the cob.

Feed them clams on a half shell ever week to keep em off the snails and add any new shrimps at night when he perches on the rock work.

Great fish! Very smart! Very nice.

He will spend his day monitoring the rock work eating algae, pods, or any meats he finds. They will eat from your hand and even spit at you for food once he is use to your face. At first they are skittish and if scared can possibly jump 2 feet in the air literally

FishLipz · Dec 19, 2012

Mine is completely safe. I've seen one that was an occasional picker too. Mine is a pig though. Eats mysis, chopped table shrimp, new life spectrum pellets. He even eats nori. Just keep trying and hopefully he will come around

SeymourDuncan · Dec 19, 2012

I'd easily compare the diet to a tang with the addition of shelled animal like snails.

Watch the teeth. They grow like beavers. I am about to use Clove oil on my mums puffer to knock him out and clip his teeth bc they fused shut

Connie · Dec 30, 2012

Oh my! How do you know how much to clip?

SeymourDuncan said:
I'd easily compare the diet to a tang with the addition of shelled animal like snails.

Watch the teeth. They grow like beavers. I am about to use Clove oil on my mums puffer to knock him out and clip his teeth bc they fused shut

SeymourDuncan · Dec 30, 2012

You clip all the way to the lip but not past it. That's only if their teeth fuze together. Tossing them tiny snails and clams on a half shell prevents this.

fyrfytr · Dec 31, 2012

This fish is on my wifes list...keeping an eye on this so I know what I am getting into

Connie · Dec 31, 2012

He is eating fine now. Everything I throw in the tank, he eats. He is a little slower than the other fish at grabbing though. He has a great little personality, so cute and expressive. Only thing is, he is nipping at my clam. :mad2:. If he keeps doing that, he's gotta go back to the LFS. I already had hundreds of little snails. He is make a short order of those...lol

SeymourDuncan · Dec 31, 2012

Clam: puffer food

Connie · Jan 1, 2013

SeymourDuncan said:
Clam: puffer food

Yeah, I'm that's what I'm afraid of. He hasn't touched in a day or so. I'm trying to keep him very well fed.

RandysReef · Jan 1, 2013

Nice fish!

SeymourDuncan · Jan 2, 2013

As long as he's fat he should leave it alone

rapalaboy1999 · Feb 5, 2013

Has he ate any pet shrimp yet

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Connie · Feb 24, 2013

No, He hasn't eaten any shrimp yet, he occasionally eats a small snail and that's OK. The snail eggs and baby ones don't have a prayer...lol. They are cheap to replace. He acts like a dog, begging and following me. He spits at me, which is his version of barking...lol. He isn't mean to the other fish, but he isn't scared of the either. One of my favorite fish for sure. Something really funny......I can hold a mirror up to him and he puffs up! I should probably video that.