puffer antics thread!

[limitedslip]

I love my puffer, it does some of the weirdest stuff ive ever seen a fish do. But, I'm sure its just not my puffer, I'm sure lots of people (or i hope) on this forum have puffers who do stuff that makes you confused on what is going on in their lil mind. Anyway, I wanted to start this thread so EVERYONE can share their love, experience, and fun times they have had w/ their puffer(s). Post videos or just tell stories, its always fun to watch/hear about what adventures/troubles a puffer can partake in.





I guess I'll start

making my puffer do circles (w/ no food in my hand ^^)


This is the advantage of having big eyes


spitting


My puffer likes to sleep wherever it feels like in the tank on the ground, sometimes, i see it passed out in the middle of the tank where there is no rock for it to be near.

It also found a way to get food from my bamboo shark, If I feed the shark, and the shark completely finish the food, but holds it in his mouth, the puffer will puff up so the shark gets scared, drops the food, and the puffer swoops in eats the food, and swims away.

It also has a hard time seeing at night, and every once in awhile, i hear a loud THUMP, look over, and see the puffer looking confused at the glass. that one always cracks me up.








Well, now that I shared some of my puffers whacky antics, Id love to hear about your puffers!

[justinpsmith]

Mine spits too...it was funny when he was small but it really sucks now! He is getting big and he can soak me pretty good! He also likes to have his belly rubbed once in a while. I will have to get a video of this. But every once in a while I will look over and he will be upside down near the top and I know what time it is. I think this started because he was very sick once and allowed me to rub his belly a bit. Maybe he gets stomach aches and wants a belly rub??? He used to also collect shells and put them in one corner. I thought it was just a coincidence until day after day I would move them all over the tank and within hours they would be back in the corner! He doesnt do it anymore but it was cool. That lasted about a month.

They really have so much personality! I love it. Gets you pretty attached to them kind of like a dog in a way.

[justinpsmith]

Oh I wanted to ask what kind of ray you have in that tank? How is the puffer with it?

[limitedslip]

its a d.khullis ray (blue spot sting ray).

Puffer and ray do great together. At first, I was scared, because puffer was eyeing it, but i think when the puffer realized it wasnt food, it had no reason to mess w/ it. Puffer sometimes hovers around it, but the ray and puffer seem to not mess w/ each other, Everyone once in awhile, I see the ray swim right on top of the puffer and the puffer does nothing. I check everyday, no bite marks on its fin, and its tail is hte same length.

[sean48183]

I have never had a puffer but that video is hilarious. I think I am getting a small blue spot for my 150g. This is going to be a reef tank without motile inverts so I hope I'll be alright. I figure the small ones can only do so much damage compared to the big ones that can reek serious havoc.

[limitedslip]

Well, thats where I guess im lucky lol, I threw some inverts for my guys to pick at (hermits and snails). Its been a week, and the inverts are still in the tank *bangs head on wall*

[reefergeorge]

I was sitting at my computer a few minutes ago. I looked at my tank, and saw my porc puffed up. I have never seen him puff up in the year I have had him.
Does any ones puffer puff for no reason?

They are great entertainers. Mine always spits water at me if I don't feed him fast enough. When wiping the glass off he follows the cloth around in little circles.

[reefergeorge]

Originally posted by limitedslip
Well, thats where I guess im lucky lol, I threw some inverts for my guys to pick at (hermits and snails). Its been a week, and the inverts are still in the tank *bangs head on wall*

I bought mine some cheap snails off ebay, and he doesn't touch them (I think). He is also in the tank with a large cleaner shrimp that he hasn't bothered for a year. I do understand he more than likely will eat him eventually.

[justinpsmith]

All three of my puffers puff every now and then. My Porc puffs every few days that I see and Im sure many more times that I do not. Most likely its just the first time he has done it around you.

My Stars and Stripes knows what his feeding dish (I thaw out his food in it and he goes nuts when he sees it) looks like and goes nuts when I bring it out. He begins frantically swimming around the waters surface and splashing and spitting. If I make him wait even longer, he will puff up! Its so funny because its like he gets SO mad that he looses it and just blows!

[limitedslip]

refeergeorge, From what I understand, Puffers can and will puff up randomly or if they become overly excited.as long as they dont stay puffered, then you are fine.

[beaglelax]

funny vids i had a puffer never again though it would love to try and bite the glass never knew why but he just loved it

[justinpsmith]

Why never again?

[Goby1kenobe]

I am cycling my 110 for a fowlr tank and can't wait to get a porc puffer. keep the story's coming

[beaglelax]

just, i dont know i had a stars and stripe puffer who would eat from my hand but, the puffers just dont do anything for me, i dont know just one of those o they are cool but not for me

[justinpsmith]

Originally posted by beaglelax
just, i dont know i had a stars and stripe puffer who would eat from my hand but, the puffers just dont do anything for me, i dont know just one of those o they are cool but not for me

Oh yeah thats cool. I thought you maybe had a bad experience or something specific...Kind of like me and Tangs. Im really not a huge fan and will most likely not have any in my new tank...even though I have one as my avatar! I think they are nice looking but find they have NO personality! Same thing, they are cool but not for me.

[julianp]

My porcupine puffer gets wildly excited whenever he sees me open up the freezer door (he knows that's where I keep his food). Whenever I walk up to the tank with the food in hand, he swims as fast as he can at the top of the water across the entire length of the 5 foot tank with one of his side fins partially out of water -- splashing everywhere and making tons of noise. It's pretty cute to watch.


The other day I witnessed him do another strange thing. He was casually swimming around after the tank lights were out "hunting". He kept eyeing one of the sump return nozzles and the ripples/bubbles coming out of it. Finally, he took a "bite" of the water stream and immediately curled his tail, puffed about 1/3 of the way up and had the funniest "what the **** was that!?!?" look on his face. He was fine after a few minutes and to this day has not attempting to eat the bubbles again.

[AquaKnight407]

Lol, so many funny stories, I just may give up the reef (corals) part of my predator reef tank envision for a puffer. They had a little spiny burr (Chilomycterus antillarum) maybe 3", at the LFS the other day and he would follow your finger around the little holding tank. So cute...

[ZrC]

When I got my Stars and stripes puffer from the LFS his teeth were overgrown pretty bad. I was worried about getting them shaved down. But once he was put into my tank he went right to the live rock and filed his own teeth down to the normal size which was pretty amazing he knew how to do that. Every morning when the lights come on he will swim up and basically yawn really big and then start begging for food. He would also spit water out of the tank when i was working on the sump getting me wet.

[limitedslip]

I picked up a stars and stripes puffer, and him and my porcupine puffer are best friends now, together, they do anything to get my attention, double spitting, both going NUUTSS for food, they both sleep next to each other. its hilarious.

Well, for a few days, I was scared my S+S puffer was sick. it kinda hid in the rock structure and went into camo mode. It did that for 3 days. I wasnt scared, because it kept eating, It just decided to hide. after it took a bunch of food. Well yesterday, it swam to the top of the tank, took a big dookie, about the size of my maroon clown...and after that second, he swam towards me and begged for food ><.

[ZrC]

Mine did that a lot, he would hide out when constipated. Unfortunately he died due to some servere ich, I tried every method to cure it but it wouldnt go away. The shocker was he was covered in ich for about 3-4 weeks and still swam around like normal, he fought to stay alive better then any fish I ever had. Now I am debating if I want another Dogface, Porc, or another stars and stripes puffer.

[dstoneburg]

How do you gents think a valentini or smaller puffer will fair in an agressive tank with a porc/koran? They are both currently under 3".

[Kanicky]

I have both a Valentini Puffer and a Sharpnose Fiji Puffer and they're pretty good friends as well. At first, they kind of nipped at each other, but they've calmed down and usually even share the same rock to sleep on at night.

Diddy, my Valentini, has more personality than Blue, my Fiji, but they're both really fun to watch.

Diddy will beg for food and will spit water at me if he has the opportunity. He has pretty good aim, too!

As soon as the lights go off for the evening, Blue goes straight to his rock to sleep, while Diddy patrols the tank for a bit before finally settling down. (I think he waits to see if the snails and hermit crabs will come out, but they're smarter than that )

Blue is the biggest pig in the tank. He is sooo greedy! When I treat him and Diddy to freeze-dried red shrimp, I have to have a hand on each side of the tank, otherwise Blue will snatch them both!

While these two definitely have personality and an intelligence in their eyes that most fish don't, I think the bigger puffers tend to have more of a personality. I've heard of Dogface puffers actually sulking when they get mad. Must be really cute!