Pufferfish not eating, looking emaciated

[Hannahhhh]

I got my blue spot puffer a month or so ago. It’s never been a good eater, to the point that I was pretty worried about him at first. But he seemed fine, so I figured he was getting enough food from the tank. Today I found him resting on s rock looking not great. I gave him a nudge, and he swam away to rest on another rock. I was finally able to get a good look at him, and he’s so skinny. 

I don’t know what to do for him. I’ve been trying lots of types of food but no luck. 

 

I put him in a breeder box tonight to try giving him better access to food, but it seems to be stressing him out even more. 

 

Does anyone one have any thoughts? I feel so bad for him. 

[Tired]

What have you offered him? Anything live? 

 

Let him out of the box. You can put food directly in front of him, it's getting him to eat that's the issue. Doesn't matter how close the food is if he won't eat it.

 

Where did you get him? He may have been cyanide-caught. 

[Hannahhhh]

14 minutes ago, Tired said:

What have you offered him? Anything live? 

 

Let him out of the box. You can put food directly in front of him, it's getting him to eat that's the issue. Doesn't matter how close the food is if he won't eat it.

 

Where did you get him? He may have been cyanide-caught. 

I’ve offered pods but nothing else live. I put him in the box in case my other fish were outcompeting him for food. 

I got him from my LFS. They’re very knowledgeable and do their best to stock captive bred/sustainably caught fish, so I seriously doubt they would deal with anyone that used cyanide. 

What else would you suggest I try feeding him?

[Tired]

How big is he? 

 

Have you seen him eat at all? What "lots of different types of food" have you tried? 

 

Try frozen mysis shrimp, frozen bloodworms, small live snails, clams on the half shell, bits of silverside, any sort of meaty food that people give predatory fish. Start trying things, using a turkey baster or tweezers or the like to put the food near him, and try drifting some past him on the current. If he won't take any of that, try soaking it in water with some garlic in it. Don't feed him the garlic, just the garlic-juiced food.

[Ratvan]

Didn't notice double post so will put my response here as well

 

Can you get a photo of its beak? What foods have you tried and did it show any response to any of them? I know its not the same but I had Pea Puffers that i had to trim back the beaks of (nightmare)before they could eat. Also when you attempt to feed do you try a single food at a time or a mixture?

[Hannahhhh]

 

7 hours ago, Tired said:

How big is he? 

 

Have you seen him eat at all? What "lots of different types of food" have you tried? 

 

Try frozen mysis shrimp, frozen bloodworms, small live snails, clams on the half shell, bits of silverside, any sort of meaty food that people give predatory fish. Start trying things, using a turkey baster or tweezers or the like to put the food near him, and try drifting some past him on the current. If he won't take any of that, try soaking it in water with some garlic in it. Don't feed him the garlic, just the garlic-juiced food.

He’s maybe an inch and a half or two inches. 

The only thing I’ve ever seen him eat enthusiastically were my acans. Aside from that, he goes around biting my live rock but I’m not sure what he’s getting off it. 

 

I will pick up some bloodworms and clam today.  Where do I get small live snails?

3 hours ago, Ratvan said:

Didn't notice double post so will put my response here as well

 

Can you get a photo of its beak? What foods have you tried and did it show any response to any of them? I know its not the same but I had Pea Puffers that i had to trim back the beaks of (nightmare)before they could eat. Also when you attempt to feed do you try a single food at a time or a mixture?

I will try to get a picture of his beak today. It doesn’t seem overgrown to me. I’ve tried single foods at a time. 

[Hannahhhh]

Do you still think I should take him out of the breeder box? I’m worried about my other fish snagging any food I offer him before he gets a chance to eat. 

[Ratvan]

8 minutes ago, Hannahhhh said:

 

The only thing I’ve ever seen him eat enthusiastically were my acans. Aside from that, he goes around biting my live rock but I’m not sure what he’s getting off it. 

 

I will pick up some bloodworms and clam today.  Where do I get small live snails?

I will try to get a picture of his beak today. It doesn’t seem overgrown to me. I’ve tried single foods at a time. 

I know that I used to be able to buy dried small snails for mine, not sure if you can get that

Rock nibbling is most likely trying to keep the beak shaved down, glad its choosing the rock and not the acans. 

My Pea Puffers I had to mix foods they enjoyed eating (Mysis) with foods that I wanted it to eat (MTS Snails), how does it react when there is food in the tank?

 

 

https://phytoplus.co.uk/products/dried-whole-mixed-snails-tropical-marine-fish-puffer-fish-eel-food-all-sizes

[mitten_reef]

9 hours ago, Hannahhhh said:

I got him from my LFS. They’re very knowledgeable

If they didn’t give you a full details of its diet requirements regarding the need for hard-shelled food, 🤔... are they really knowledgeable about their fish?  only saying that because among many food you has offered the fish, none has been the hard-shelled variety.  But maybe they did tell you and just don’t have anything in stock at the time. 

Is this also the same LFS that sold you a sailfin tang?  

[Rob22]

try live ghost shrimp if you can find them. Freshwater or saltwater won’t matter if you are just trying to get a feeding response. 
 

You can also try frozen krill. It shouldn’t be the staple diet but most fish eat it like candy. It is usually not a good diet because sometimes when puffers or lions eat it, they refuse all other food. It can also cause lockjaw if it is the only thing it will eat.  

[Hannahhhh]

1 hour ago, mitten_reef said:

If they didn’t give you a full details of its diet requirements regarding the need for hard-shelled food, 🤔... are they really knowledgeable about their fish?  only saying that because among many food you has offered the fish, none has been the hard-shelled variety.  But maybe they did tell you and just don’t have anything in stock at the time. 

Is this also the same LFS that sold you a sailfin tang?  

They said at this size mysis is ok as long as there is also live rock for him to nibble on. When he gets larger they said to start offering hard shelled food. 

 

3 hours ago, Ratvan said:

I know that I used to be able to buy dried small snails for mine, not sure if you can get that

Rock nibbling is most likely trying to keep the beak shaved down, glad its choosing the rock and not the acans. 

My Pea Puffers I had to mix foods they enjoyed eating (Mysis) with foods that I wanted it to eat (MTS Snails), how does it react when there is food in the tank?

 

 

https://phytoplus.co.uk/products/dried-whole-mixed-snails-tropical-marine-fish-puffer-fish-eel-food-all-sizes

Lol he only stopped eating the acans once he finished them. 

He is interested in food but he doesn’t eat. Sometimes he will put mysis in his mouth but then he spits it out. 

1 hour ago, Rob22 said:

try live ghost shrimp if you can find them. Freshwater or saltwater won’t matter if you are just trying to get a feeding response. 
 

You can also try frozen krill. It shouldn’t be the staple diet but most fish eat it like candy. It is usually not a good diet because sometimes when puffers or lions eat it, they refuse all other food. It can also cause lockjaw if it is the only thing it will eat.  

I will try to get some ghost shrimp today. 

[Hannahhhh]

Well I figured out what he wants to be eating. He likes flake food. I tried all sorts of fancy foods for him with no luck. I threw in some flakes just to see, and he immediately ate them all. I’m glad to see him eating. 

[Tired]

Weird. It would be good to try to get him to eat other stuff, flake food isn't the most nutritious, but it's a start! Get him plumper, then try mixing the flake with something else.

 

By any chance is it a brand of flakes with garlic? I wonder what it is that he likes.

[Hannahhhh]

17 minutes ago, Tired said:

Weird. It would be good to try to get him to eat other stuff, flake food isn't the most nutritious, but it's a start! Get him plumper, then try mixing the flake with something else.

 

By any chance is it a brand of flakes with garlic? I wonder what it is that he likes.

Lol no it’s not even garlic flavored. I think he likes eating it from the surface. Once they sink, he’s much less interested. 

[JulieG858]

I have a green spotted puffer fish, he stopped eating and I noticed his beak was badly overgrown. I attempted to trim it myself, but after numerous attempts, had to take him to the vet . The vet had to use a dremmel to trim the beak because it was so overgrown and hard. It ended up cracking, a bit. It’s been two days since the vet visit, and he is still not eating. He hasn’t eaten anything in over a week.

any suggestions? I’m terribly worried that he will die of starvation.

[Toomanymatts]

Live brine shrimp have always gotten my picky ones going.  Hatch the baby ones or find a LFS with adults.  People will say the adults aren't as good, but you need to get him eating...

[JscottS]

I have a puffer. Can't remember which one, but it's kind of a blue gray color with spots and a bright orange tail. 

 

He did fine for a long time, but he ate every single one of the guys on the cleanup crew. Once all the snails and hermit crabs had been eaten, he wouldn't eat anything else. He's now so skinny, he's very nearly emaciated. This might sound harsh, but I won't be sad if he doesn't make it, because not only did he eat my cleanup crew, he also killed my blood

shrimp, which was one of the things in my aquarium I liked best. I'll definitely get another blood shrimp, but not while the puffer is still there. I also need a new cleanup crew. 

 

I've tried both frozen and fresh foods, and he won't touch any of it. The only thing he seems to like are my snails. 

[Tired]

Yes, pufferfish do that sometimes. 

 

If you're not going to keep providing him with a steady supply of foods he'll eat, whatever those foods are, you should give him away or humanely euthanize him with clove oil. Letting him starve to death is cruel- it's not like he's doing this out of spite. 

 

You could try ghost shrimp to get some calories into him,or give him a few cheap snails for the same reason, while trying to wean him onto frozen foods. Have you tried clams on the half-shell? 

[mcarroll]

Can you return the puffer where you bought it?