[jaggededges]

Hi Guys :-)

So glad I've found a forum for my new hobby...

We have just recently started a marine aquarium and one of our fairly new members is a false eye puffer, who is adorable and eats very well btw (loves frozen krill)
Was wondering tho' if anyone knows what the typical behavior is of puffers, are they normally very lazy and passive?

Thanks so much

[Arctic Fox]

Originally Posted by jaggededges

We have just recently started a marine aquarium and one of our fairly new members is a false eye puffer

Canthigaster papua?

Originally Posted by jaggededges

who is adorable and eats very well btw (loves frozen krill)

That's very good, a healthy puffer is a fat puffer who will literally eat until he can hardly swim!

Originally Posted by jaggededges

Was wondering tho' if anyone knows what the typical behavior is of puffers, are they normally very lazy and passive?

Normally I wouldn't say they are very lazy unless they've just eaten. I don't have any personal experiance with Canthigaster papua however; typical healthy puffer behavour is a pufferfish who constantly waves every fin except for his tail to buzz around the tank like a little helicopter, or bumblebee, or hummingbird, however you want to look at it. He should be very inquisitive, constantly checking his surroundings out. He should show a very good feeding response to crustaceans, and/or snails, depends on his natural diet. He shouldn't be puffed up, or puff up for no reason, nor should you EVER try to make him puff up.

He may be a little shy, or very bold, puffers have very different personalities.
Over time he should be able to reconize you. My puffers love to be pet like little dogs, but for some reason, only by my wife, they wont let me near them to touch, but they swim to and skim the surface waiting for her fingers to pet them, but if I put my hand near the surface they hide in their cave. They hover and watch whenever someone is nearby, and I often wonder who is watching who. Some puffers can be very mean, I've seen some puffers attak other fish more than twice their size, I've seen other puffers that were scared to death of a little chromis. I have a friend who had a puffer that was so skittish that one day he dropped a plate on the ground, the plate broke and crashed when it hit the ground and the puffer jumped right out of the tank and puffed up with air and as he tells the story it popped like a balloon. On the other hand I've also heard of puffers that are so unphased by anything you can grab them out of the water and toss him around like a football and put him back in the water and the puffer just kind of says "whatever dude". (Not that I'd ever recommend that, infact, your puffer should never be out of water because he can swallow air and get it stuck in his belly.) Soooo that was a little long winded but should give you a pretty good idea.