Need help with my freshwater puffer fish..

Joshua Agostoni · Oct 31, 2017

I know these forums are mainly for saltwater fish however i also know a lot of you have dealt with the green spotted or figure 8 puffer fish. I have one green spotter in my 10 gallon tank, hes very small about 1 inch so the size of tank is fine. So i'm looking for a bit more information on a couple of things. First off I had two of them but one died the other night he just seem to get sick don't understand why the other one is fine i feel like he just lost his will to live. He wasn't being picked on, or anything by the other. If anyone knows anything about there behavior it would be great to know.

Second question pertaining to feeding. I've bin feeding them krill, pe mysis shrimp and the occasional clam to help with their teeth, does anyone have any other suggestions on food as some time after the shrimp and krill have bin unfrozen for a couple of days they no longer want them. I know why its not fresh but I don't like wasting the food.

Third question, I need a small clean up crew for the this 10 gallon tank. Any suggestions on a fresh water clean up crew that will pair well with the puffer and not get eaten.

And finally if anyone knows of a freshwater forum that is basically as good as Reef 2 reef please link it.

jeff williams · Nov 1, 2017

Fishlore has a fw forum! Also you might try googling the info on food. And last I believe those puffers a brackish water

Michael Cronmiller · Nov 1, 2017

They are brackish, but do well in fresh when they are young..later on they will require a more brackish environment to thrive. I used to keep them years ago, never had any problems, they are characters. Krill and clams are what I fed .

Doug 7727 · Dec 28, 2017

Ok so I have 2 puffers in a 20 gallon tank there is also a angel in the tank they all get along together the problem I'm having is one the littler one is in bad shape it's eating everything I put in the tank he is a bit of a pig but his side is deformed just in front of his tail and behind his gills. I have pics. Please help as I am thinking about putting him out of his misery which will be hard to do as he is my lil Buddy.

Rakie · Dec 29, 2017

Monster Fish Keepers (MFK) is an amazing resource for freshwater fish. But true to their name, the puffer section has more information specific to something like this;

But that doesn't meant they won't be able to help. Just be aware the "Monster" moniker is no joke...

And yes. That guys catfish are crazy for hotdogs, it's apparently their favorite snack. (Catfish not pictured, hence him luring them over with juicy hotdogs)

Luna · Dec 29, 2017

I have 4 green spotted puffers in a 75 gal. I actually feed them turtle foad cause it float and kinda hard, to help their teeth. I too am trying to find a cuc that will go with them cause they are really really messy fish.

Sorcha2 · Dec 30, 2017

If you haven't already check out "the puffer forum". (Im on there under LadyDeathz or something similar) there really isn't a clean up crew that fresh or brackish puffers won't eat. In fact I feed my avacado puffer freshwater snails to help with the teath.( He also eats dried mysis, frozen blood worms, and every type of plant. A varied diet is very important for them.) In my limited experience fresh/brackish puffers are either very picky and difficult or litteraly capable of surviving a ceiling falling on them. (Grendel is a tough little fellow). They are smart little creatures though and require changes in their tank every two weeks or so to be happy.

mandi29221 · Jan 31, 2018

These are brackish fish. I fully acclimated my green spotted puffer and topaz to salt. Might be the issue

Kmsutows · Jan 31, 2018

Doug 7727 said:
Ok so I have 2 puffers in a 20 gallon tank there is also a angel in the tank they all get along together the problem I'm having is one the littler one is in bad shape it's eating everything I put in the tank he is a bit of a pig but his side is deformed just in front of his tail and behind his gills. I have pics. Please help as I am thinking about putting him out of his misery which will be hard to do as he is my lil Buddy.

Sorry you won't want to hear this but that setup will not work. Puffers need some salt as they are brackish and angelfish need a completely different environment. Additionally, the puffers will likely pick the angels fins even eventually kill it.

Jesterrace · Jan 31, 2018

Michael Cronmiller said:
They are brackish, but do well in fresh when they are young..later on they will require a more brackish environment to thrive. I used to keep them years ago, never had any problems, they are characters. Krill and clams are what I fed .

Agreed. One of the biggest issues is that people try to treat Figure 8 Puffers as freshwater fish when really they need Brackish Water to survive long term. Personally I would never attempt to keep one of any age in anything but a brackish tank.

Oldsalt01 · Jan 31, 2018

I had them years ago and did well feeding them little freshwater snails with pointy shells, can't recall what they're called. They'd bite off the pointy end and suck the snail out. Addition of salt to the water will help but ur live plants won't like it. I kept them with Mollies, also brackish fish.