Color Changing Puffer
Friday July 29, 2005
Puffer owners - does this sound familiar? Share your experiences ...
"My son has a tank with 3 spotted puffers and I've noticed that the under side of one of them will turn a black color at times. Is this normal or a sign of sickness? I'd appreciate any input.
"My son has a tank with 3 spotted puffers and I've noticed that the under side of one of them will turn a black color at times. Is this normal or a sign of sickness? I'd appreciate any input.
Comments
I recently have started aquariums in my home which I have had 5 green or spotted puffers, which as soon as I seen them I had to have them. I fist started off with 2 very young ones which were very aggresive to their tank mates,chewing fins and chasing them everywhere. After afew months and afew fins we noticed thier underside had turned black. shortly after one died and I thought it could have been a filter problem, so we fixed that problem and unfortunatly the other one was eaten by a tank mate which was killed in the process. Since then I have purchased three more green puffers which were aa bit bigger then my last two, one has turned black and died and I have notice fin nipping again but the other two puffers have also turned black and back to light coloured again and have not died I would also like to find out if perhaps this is from the fin nipping, poor filtration or do they simply take on a black belly as another sign of stress.
try feeding freeze dried krill. packed full of nutrients and vitamins to keep puffers fat and happy. also will stabilize their color and produce much brighter shades of green and yellow. if they are nipping try isolating them in a fish bag from the fish store for an hour or so. i have heard this will kind of punish them and they will become more docile. also a variety of live foods can keep them interested in their food instead of their tank mates. ghost shrimp, brine shrimp. what are you using for food?
A few months ago I saw a collection of green spotted puffers, gsp, at Wal-Mart. I instantly feel in love. I went to research and I realized that pet stores advertise these puffers as fresh water, but need brackish water to survive. As the gsp’s mature they will slowly need a saltwater tank. Puffers are very aggressive and are known for fin nipping so by standards 1 gsp per 10 gallons will keep you fish very happy. If you are putting a gsp into your fish community make sure the residents are large and docile. **A Black belly means they are very very sick!! I would check your ph, ammonia, and chlorine levels. Make sure they have a stable temperature, and make sure not to overfeed your gsp (feed no more than once a day-as much as they can eat in 1-2 minutes). Tips: my gsp loves his UV light, and air filter. Puffers have an aggressive attitude so make sure you have enough tank space to maintain all of your fish and keep plently of hiding spaces.