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FAQs about Tobies, Sharpnose Puffers Systems
Related Articles: Tobies/Sharpnose Puffers,
Puffers in General,
Puffer Care and Information,
Pufferfish Dentistry
By Kelly Jedlicki and Anthony Calfo,
True Puffers,
Freshwater Puffers,
Burrfishes/Porcupinefishes, Boxfishes, Puffer
Care and Information
by John (Magnus) Champlin,
Things That My Puffers Have Told Me by Justin Petrey,
Related FAQs: Tobies 1,
Tobies 2, Toby Identification,
Toby Behavior, Toby Compatibility,
Toby Selection, Toby Feeding,
Toby Disease, Toby Reproduction,
Puffers in General,
Puffer Identification, Puffer
Compatibility,
Puffer Selection, Puffer Behavior,
Puffer Systems,
Puffer Feeding,
Puffer Disease,
Puffer Dentistry, True Puffers,
Freshwater Puffers,
Burrfishes/Porcupinefishes, Boxfishes, |
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Valentini puffer, beh., sys.
10/17/09
Hi Crew,
<Nat>
I have a query about my valentini puffer; I have checked out lots and
lots of your pages and FAQs and haven't been able to find the answer.
Hopefully you can help or shed some light on this issue.
We have a 35 gallon tank with live rock, coral (Zoanthus),
<Mmmm>
xenias, 2 percula clowns, 1 purple Dottyback, 1 watchman goby, a cleaner
shrimp (hanging in there but with seriously manicured antennae) and our
little valentini puffer.
<"that little nipper..."
We've had him about 6 months now.
I checked the parameters last night and everything seemed to be ok-ish,
nitrate is fine, nitrite 0.1, phosphate 0, pH between 8.1 and 8.3 and
ammonia ok.
The issue is that for the last week or so the puffer has been attacking
his reflection in the glass really often,
<Not atypical behavior>
approximately 10/15 times a day. This is a definite increase in his
usual amount of attacking. I don't know if this is normal behaviour or
not but he seems really aggressive and persistent,
<Is normal... I would coat the side panel with dark paper...>
and afterwards he seems really tired with rapid breathing. I am worried
that he may injure himself. He usually attacks his reflection in the
front glass panel and not really the sides.
Could this be a developmental thing? Moving from being a juvenile to an
adult?
<Yes; much more so with age>
He is eating fine and otherwise exhibits normal puffer behaviour. We
usually feed him defrosted mysis shrimp and krill soaked in Lipovit.
Any advice and guidance would be much appreciated.
Thanks for all you help in the past.
Natalie
<This fish, all Canthigaster species do better in larger (volume)
settings.
Bob Fenner>
Lighting
Hello Robert,
Thank you having such a great
web site. I search it all the time. My name is Jim and I have a
question (if you have time to answer it). I have an 80 gallon SW
tank, with (among other things) 2 Sharpnose puffers
(Canthigaster
valentini and Canthigaster epilampra). I plan on keeping the puffers,
so I won't be keeping too many inverts. I currently have about 60 lbs
of live rock.
<Okay>
I want to upgrade my lighting. Right now I
have 1 10K 40 watt, and 1 Actinic 30 watt bulb. The tank looks nice,
but the lighting doesn't really show off the color of my fish very
well. It would also be nice to be able to grow more coralline algae
or maybe some Caulerpa algae. I wanted to upgrade to some power
compact lights and have been looking at the custom Sealife smart
light setup which has 2 x 65 watt bulbs. My concern is, if I do this
will unwanted algae grow completely out of control? My nitrates are
usually around 10ppm.
<No problem with the extra light (are you
adding the new (I would, or even about double it)>
Do you have any
other suggestions if my idea is not a good one?
<Just to increase the
illumination to about double what you state OR keep the old lighting
plus the new... and to utilize live rock with macro algae with your
Tobies/Sharpnose puffers... as they will really like this to eat, and
the algae will really improve their color and health>
Thank you,
<Thank you my friend. Bob Fenner>
Jim Moss Valentini puffer
Hi Bob, Anthony and Zo;
<Hello! Ronni here standing in for our under
the weather puffer expert.>
I am thinking of getting a valentini
puffer down the road. I now have a couple of peaceful tanks, and my
plan is to put this puffer into his own tank. My question is
twofold: How large does this tank need to be? My understanding is that
he doesn't grow to more than 3 inches.
<He could actually reach 4-5”.
If he’s by himself, a 30g tank would be fine. If you have any other fish
in there a 55 would be better.>
Second question: Would it be cruel
to put him by himself? If so, could you recommend a couple of small
fish to keep him company?
<He’s one of the Sharpnose puffers and
should be OK with moderately aggressive to aggressive fish. I have one
of the Sharpnose puffers (not the Valentini) and keep mine with a
Strawberry Basslet, an Ocellaris Clown, a Yellow Tang, a Blue Damsel,
and a 3-stripe Damsel. Mine is new to the tank but so far there have
been no problems and I talked to several people who didn’t foresee any
problems with this mix (except possibly the clown, I’m prepared to move
him if necessary). If you went with a 55g tank, I would get just one or
two Damsels and maybe a Basslet. This way you’d have color and activity
without overcrowding and stressing the puffer.>
As always, thank you
for your help. Connie
<You're welcome! Ronni> Valentini
puffer injury from pump
Hi, my puffer and I need help. I recent
attached a new pump and Aqua C skimmer to my tank. Stupid me did not
attach anything to the intake and this morn my Puffy was stuck in it.
<Arggghh!>
He sleeps by attaching his belly on something and
apparently tried to take on nap on the pump. I'm not sure how long he
was there was there but my husband and I turned it off and got him down.
This was 12 hours ago and he is still alive. His belly is a mess. All
distorted and crinkled. It does not appear to be an open wound and I see
no blood i.e. internal bleeding that is apparent at least. A fin may
have been injured or took away by the pump as well. He is not feeling
good at all and not moving much at all. He is behind a net which he
seems to like. This will protect him from the others. He is my first
fish and very special. He even knows his name. water parameters are
good. I do a 10% weekly and this was two days ago. He has made it
through two bouts of ich last year and seems to be a fighter. His eyes
are cloudy now and I've seen his eyes like this once before when he had
ick last year. How can I help him. Please, I spent $ last year to save
him from ick and I'll do what's necessary this time as well. I do not
want him to suffer either. Please advise me how to help him. Thanks,
Sharon
<I appreciate your concern. About the only "things" to do are
to provide a stable, optimized environment at this point... Try feeding
this fish foods soaked in Selcon or equivalent and "keep the faith"...
Puffers are very tough, resilient animals. I do hope yours rallies. Bob
Fenner>
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