dog face puffer

A friend of mine had to break down his tank and the one fish he couldn't sell was his puffer. I have a 210g fowlr so he gave it to me and I have to pick him up today. Can someone with first hand experience tell me about the care of this fish? He is going in the tank with semi-aggressive/ aggressive tank mates and I am worried about him holding his own. I have a banana wrasse and a tomato clown that can be pretty ornery to new tank additions. They chased my blue throat for 2 days until he finally had enough and put a little "whip butt" on them.

On a side note...does anyone turn off their power heads when they feed? I feed a mixture of mysis, brine, krill and chopped squid and silversides. It looks as if the stuff gets blown under the LR before they have a chance to eat it all. Someone told me yes to turning off while someone told me no to keep it in the water column. Which is correct? Thanks again for the help everyone gives when I come asking stupid questions !

 

Dont worry, this fish will hold its own.

Not really very active, they tend to just lay about until feeding time. When that comes they have a verocious appetite!
My freind has one, and it gobbles up everything and grows big.

But all in all, it is a typical puffer fish, inquisitive and gentle but not one to let you finger by! they have sharp teeth!

 

I agree except the not very active part. Mine swims all around all day long. doesn't hide, not shy at all, one of the bigger fish in the tank. he definitely holds his own i have a big gold banded maroon clown which is the only fish that gives the dog problems, he rams him over and over but dog acts like nothings happening. also depends on if tank raised or caught from wild. huge difference in temperment. If he's not big enough now, one day he will be the boss in your tank. Lots of personality, you can hand feed em, and they eat alot (I feed mine silversides, but he eats any food that goes in the tank), and definitely watch your fingers cause it hurts. Also watch your snails and crabs until you figure him out cause if he's eaten them before he'll clean you out. And watch his teeth cause they never stop growing and if he doesn't have anything hard to bite (like snails or crabs) they get too big and you'll have to file them down or he'll start rubbing them on the glass and scratch your tank up or not be able to eat and die.

 

Dog faced puffers can indure alot , but depending on how big it is compared to the already established dwellers in your tank.
ALL PUFFERS carry toxin in them , if he gets beaten
up to much he could become suseptible to dieing or inflating alot from stress.
( if this happens or he begins floating or you see that he is dieing ,REMOVE him and QT him if you think he can be saved, if you don't have a QT tank,
you may find your self having to be the executioner
if this puffer starts to be a "floater".
Wach him closely for fighting and such.
You can drop him in at night with the lights off , that might help as well.

since your a fish only, you may as well shut the power heads off while feeding.
But if most of the food is just falling to the bottom
any way you may try cutting back on the amount and divide your feeding up into sevral servings verses one whole PLOP """"here ya go guy's.

 

I just put him in the tank after 1 hour of acclimation. There is one thing I forgot about. I have a cleaner wrasse that I have had for 2 years now. He immediately went after him for a cleaning. The puffer did not seem to care for this at all. That guy can get really aggressive over new fish. I have chased the cleaner away numerous times and finally built a wall against the back of the tank for the puffer to hide. I have egg crate but the cleaner is small enough to get through the holes. He was light gray colored to start but now he is dark and appears to be stressing. He isn't floating but rather laying on the substrate. I turned off the lights to hopefully get him more relaxed. I wondering is it the wrasse or is it just being in a new environment?

About the size...he is a pretty big guy. Roughly 5 to 6 inches as my friend had him quite awhile. The other fish swam over to check him out then went about their business. As far as a QT tank, I don't have one set up as I wasn't planning on any new fish. I just got the call late last night and my 10g is in the garage. With work there was no time to set it up. The fish is healthy as a horse according to it's prior owner and looking at him I would agree.

 

Changes in coloration on a fish is ALWAYS significant.
either from breeding to stress.
Yes the puffer is stressed from the new inviroment im sure.
Lights off' and maybe that will help him relax , the cleaner wrasse is just trying to do his job, lol.
right now the puffer wants nothing to do with either, he's got alot of other tank mates to contend with and new things to see. ( friend or foe )
Laying on the bottom and in a corner is purely a defence mechinism, he's
stressed and scared.
leave the lights off for a few more hours, and do a lite feeding to the rest.
and watch for any bully's that may agrivate the puffer.

 

just watch him. he should be fine. mine turned dark too when i put him in about 5 months ago, and never went back. except when he sleeps. in the morning when the lights come on he's almost all white for about 20 mins, then dark all day? I'm guessing new environment. he'll get used to the wrasse. and about puffing up, i've only seen mine puff up once and for no apparent reason. when they get bigger about your's size they don't puff hardly at all, if tank raised. i have a pic of mine in my photos if u wanna check him out, he's about 4". and yes they do have toxins but they don't release them into the water unless they're dead and decomposing.

 

I might like to add if the puffer gets thrue his acclimation and stress period
( which most do, their very hardy ).
You'll see a big change, from wusss' to BIG daddy on the block, not many other fish will combat a healthy "im in the mood to kick your AZZ puffer".

He will most likely rule the roost on feeding and his area that HE chooses to call his own.
(any where he moves too lol )

 

Thanks everybody for the help. I briefly turned the lights on and he is back to light gray with only a few dark splotches. He was buddied up with a SF eel in his last tank and he may buddy up with mine. That is if he can find him..lol. The only time I see him is when he wants to be fed then POOF...right back into the rockwork. Wish me luck with my new guy. The only other fish I ever considered "cute" was my cowfish Moo but this guy has him beat with that face.

 

Does anyone know of someone with both a cleaner wrasse and a dog face in the same tank? That stupid cleaner keeps pestering the dog face and I am wanting to know if he will eventually back off. He has plenty of other fish to pick on. If not can someone tell me how to get that wrasse out ? He is too fast to try and net and I have about 150lbs of LR for him to hide in.