dwarf puffer problems

[MyraVan]

On Friday I got three dwarf puffers. They are in a well-planted 10g tank, 18" x 12" x 12". I don't know the sexes of them, since they are too small to tell. The tank is completely cycled; it has been up and running for 2 years. Other than the puffers, there are 4 Amano shrimp in it and 3 Otos, all of which are fine.

The tank had quite a few small pest snails in it, so when they didn't eat any of the defrosted frozen food that I put in for them, I didn't worry. But what I saw today did worry me. First, I could only find 2 of my puffers. There is one that is a bit bigger than the other. The bigger one will often chase the smaller one around, and the littler one flares its tail fin as it swims away, maybe this is a sign of submission in the drawf puffer hierarchy? The bigger guy didn't nip at the little one, so no damage is being done, at least that I can see.

Second, while the bigger one actually did eat a small amount of the mysis shrimp that I put in, the smaller one ignored it. And I put the food right into the stream of the filter, so it had plenty of movement. The little guy seemed to look at the food floating by, but didn't eat it. The bigger one looked at it a bit first, then tried some and spat it out, then actually seemed to eat a piece or two.

I think tomorrow I will raid my other tanks for some more pest snails to put in the tank, in hopes that the little guy will find the snails more attractive than the defrosted food. Is this a good idea?

Does anyone have any other advice? I have read all the stuff at dwarfpuffers.com, so basically I'm looking for advice from people who own these guys who might have experienced some of these problems.

[Ichthius]

Do you know if you have males or females? How many of each?

Try feeding them black worms or bloodworms to get them eating. Also, it's not uncommon for dwarf puffers to have internal parasites. Keep an eye out for that.

[MyraVan]

Well, this morning I found my third puffer. He (she/it?) was sitting on a leaf, looking a bit bloated, eyes glazed over. Fished out with fishnet, definitely dead. Poor little thing... But the good news is that the other two seem to be happily swimming around the tank together! No signs of aggression at all. In fact, I seem to remember that this is how they were yesterday morning as well. I wonder if they might be male/female, and the chasing was part of a mating or pair bonding ritual... Even though they are still fairly young, I'll have to read again on the indentification of sexes to see if I can figure it out. Now I just have to get the smaller one to eat, and my worries will be over.

I've got some frozen bloodworms, I'll try them on that when I get home this evening to see if it appeals to them more than the frozen krill and mysis that I have been feeding them. I have ordered some live food, so they have live bloodworms, daphnia, and brine shrimp on the way!

[MyraVan]

I tried the bloodworms, and my two remaining puffers liked them. Each of them had at least two! Hooray, things are looking good for my new little guys.

[Ichthius]

Glad to hear they're doing better . They're great fish. Good luck!

[stargate_geek]

There seems to be a high streak of deaths from new DPs, I've lost three with perfect water conditions and everything. Can you post a picture of the tank and the DPs?

[wm_crash]

Post a photo of the puffers. They are easy to sex, but I won't tell you how cause it's a trade secret Not really, I am too lazy to type now . . .

crash . . . . . see how lazy I am? . . . .