Valentini Puffer Puffed out of water!

[Chris's Fishes]

So, I recently bought a couple of 29 gallon tanks (buy one get one free, couldn't resist!), and decided that I wanted a saltwater puffer in one of them. I've only ever kept freshwater and brackish puffers, and have wanted a valentini for a while now. So, naturally, I ordered one in to a LFS and picked him up today.

 

I asked to see him eat, and he ate a bunch of mysis. I told the employee I'd take him, and went off to talk to the owner about some unrelated stuff. I looked over and saw the puffer out of water, inflated with air. I could have screamed, but when the puffer hit the water in the bag, he expelled quite a few bubbles. Did he get it all out? I had read that puffers can't expel air, and have found that to be true in the case of brackish puffers as well - I've had to massage the air out of a figure 8 before, and got a few nasty bites doing it.

 

He doesn't seem to be floating around in his holding tank, and he doesn't seemed stressed beyond what you'd expect for a fish in a new tank. No problem turning, and no abnormal behavior that I can see. He does seem to be spending a lot of time in the top half of the tank, but I'm not sure if that's related or just kinda stress behavior. He seems to have the ability to go where he wants without any trouble.

 

I could just be overreacting. Just kinda gun shy, as I've had several puffers just up and die on me. I'm going to start this guy on Prazi and possibly metro tomorrow, and he's wild caught and I have almost no doubt he has parasites.

 

 

[Tamberav]

Yikes, I would have asked the LFS employee and for some sort of guarantee for them handling the puffer incorrectly. 

 

I have a small leopard puffer but I never exposed him to air so I am not sure of the consequences. Mine did not hover near the top, instead hid in the rockwork and comes out more and more. 

[Chris's Fishes]

2 hours ago, Tamberav said:

Yikes, I would have asked the LFS employee and for some sort of guarantee for them handling the puffer incorrectly. 

 

I have a small leopard puffer but I never exposed him to air so I am not sure of the consequences. Mine did not hover near the top, instead hid in the rockwork and comes out more and more. 

I definitely should have asked for a guarantee, and I don't really know why I didn't. Kinda just shocked for the fish, I guess.

 

I wouldn't say he's hovering near the top - he's relatively active. Now that he's been in the tank for a bit longer, he's come down to the middle of the tank and is hovering over the rockwork.

 

I know that inhaling air can be fatal to puffers, because they can't usually expel it as easily as they can with water. So, they just sorta float upside down until they either A) starve, or B) succumb to exhaustion or predation. That's my understanding, anyway. This guy spat out a bunch of bubbles and has been swimming around fine, other than the fact that he's hanging out near the top of the tank. So I'm hoping he got it all out.

 

Other than spending a little bit of time eyeing some hermits I left in there for him to hunt, he's spent the entire time staring at me. He stays far away if I'm near the tank, but he turns and moves so that he always has an eye on me. I love puffers.

 

A couple of hours have passed now, and he ate quite a bit. I threw a few mysis in to see if he'd go for it, and he got basically every one of them. I threw in a few chunks of raw table shrimp (no preservatives added), and now he's got a nice, full, round belly. I'd say he's even more active now. Maybe he's just needing to settle in? I'll update in the morning.

[Chris's Fishes]

He made it through the night, and is much more active today - cruising around his tank, interacting with his environment, and interacting with me.  He's still suspicious of me, especially when I've got a camera up near the tank, but here's a couple pics of him. This is a 10 gallon I've been using to hold some macro clippings, a few hermits, and some dead rock. Had a cycled sponge on hand, popped it in, and BAM - QT tank.

 

 

[Ratvan]

Gorgeous fish, those markings are incredible

[Chris's Fishes]

Thanks! He is a stunning fish. Definitely been the show-stopper out of all my tanks since I got him.

 

I guess today would be the 5-day update, and I'm confident that the air-breathing didn't hurt this guy long-term. Not sure if perhaps Valentinis aren't quite as prone to problems with air, if the air got forced out of him, or if we just got lucky, but he's behaving perfectly normally. Scraping his teeth on the glass, pecking at hermit crabs (not really hunting them, to my surprise), chowing down on anything I put in there, and even catching a ghost shrimp last night. Fast little buggers, and I'm surprised he was able to catch him! I honestly can't wait to provide this guy with a bigger tank.

 

 

[Daniel91]

Beautiful fishy

[Matteo]

Puffers are the best! 

 

I have a narrow striped puffer in my predator tank. Loads of personality. 

 

Krill is a great food for his teeth and mini clams. I'd avoid shrimp though. Like all puffers I'm sure you know a variety of diet is the way to go. Seaweed too as a sort of fiber 😂 

 

Oh and you CAN overfeed. Puffers or at least my species don't know when they're full. Biological mechanism to always have eat because they don't know when their next meal is.

 

Just friendly advice, nice addition! 🙂

 

 

[Chris's Fishes]

On 6/18/2019 at 12:14 AM, OverCookedRock said:

Puffers are the best! 

 

I have a narrow striped puffer in my predator tank. Loads of personality. 

 

Krill is a great food for his teeth and mini clams. I'd avoid shrimp though. Like all puffers I'm sure you know a variety of diet is the way to go. Seaweed too as a sort of fiber 😂 

 

Oh and you CAN overfeed. Puffers or at least my species don't know when they're full. Biological mechanism to always have eat because they don't know when their next meal is.

 

Just friendly advice, nice addition! 🙂

 

 

Thanks!

 

I'm really liking my little guy - even if I am finding him to be a little less than "predatory". That's not really what I was looking for anyway, but watching him hunt a ghost shrimp is almost comical (although I do feel bad for the shrimp...) as he's almost too clumsy to catch the poor thing.

 

Should I look into frozen krill, or would freeze-dried suffice? I've tried clams on the half shell, and he just ate around the shell. I've offered him seaweed, and he kinda ignores it - although I do know he's eating chunks of macroalgae, as I see little teeth-marks on some macros. I assume he's going after pods and getting algae instead.

 

Why should I avoid shrimp? Is it bad in some way? It's not his only staple - he's getting frozen shrimp along with frozen clams and live snails. The live ghost shrimp are just a treat, and are freshwater, so I doubt any nasties would make it over.

 

I found out the overfeeding bit pretty quickly! Finding out just how much to feed has been tricky, but I feed him until he's looking just a little fat.

 

Thanks for the tips!

[DOJOLOACH]

Nice fish, how big is he? I just got a valentini about 2" length, not quite as colorful

[Chris's Fishes]

Thanks!

 

He's probably around 2 1/3 or 3" - and he's gotten a bit bigger and gained weight since I got him. 

 

Yours may still be maturing, or it could be a female. Females lack the iridescent green/blue lines on their back, from what I understand.