# Hairy puffer on/eat dry food "video"



## Jackson (Jan 30, 2009)

I wasn't going to post this but figured maybe there might be some interests. I know theres some puffer keepers on here.

Well
It took me over 6 months of trying. No fasting nothing like that. 
Regular feeding of frozen krill home bred crayfish and A. Spixi snails. 
What I've noticed about this guy is he does not crush the shells when he eats the snails he just picks off the head/foot of the snails. 
Here's a short clip I shot of it eating dry food. It actually really enjoys it. It eats any type I throw in now.
My substrate was a bit messy so please forgive me.
I took this when I returned home from a trip and some floating plants melted away and the snails were making a mess of it.

Taken with my IPhone lol


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## greg (Apr 29, 2012)

Wow that's perseverance. 6 months!

I was looking everywhere for the puffer, then the rock in the corner starts moving, haha. Very interesting puffer.

Greg


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## Jackson (Jan 30, 2009)

Thanks 

Having kept tons of Datnoids in the past I've had battles with some that took over a year to get them pellet trained. 
It really does make things easier to have fish on dry foods. 

This guy took a few kelp discs today which really surprised me. 

I need to tale a few more videos to prove it's not a fluke lol


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## Jackson (Jan 30, 2009)

Video two shot today. Shows it's not a fluke my puffer is pellet trained


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## greg (Apr 29, 2012)

Nice new video - my wife just called me over to show me. I think she has fallen in love with your puffer. She would like to know if its freshwater or brackish, and where did you get it since all the sites she has looked at indicate it is rare.

Greg


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## Jackson (Jan 30, 2009)

Thanks Greg and please thank your wife as well 

They're full fresh water insanely aggressive absolute killing machines
Two examples





This is the story of how I stumbled upon it.

A member from this site posted an ad saying her puffer is sick/dying come get it. 
When I met her I asked where she had bought it because being a puffer fan/keeper I knew it was not a common import. Even where they're from it's hard to get one. 
She told me Luckys. So I took the one I rescued home and went to Luckys to just to see what the deal is.
I found it in a small glass square tank really pathetic set up they have on their walls. 
I had to take this one home too.
Here is what I saw









The one I bought who is in the videos was healthy from day one.

The one I rescued was in bad shape for a few months and would only eat from my hand it didn't even swim much. 
Brought it back around and was going to sell it but my sister wanted it so it's now with her.
Crappy picture but gives an idea as to how stressed out it was when I first put the rescued one in the QT/hospital tank









I haven't seen any since then. I guess you could ask Luckys I'd even buy another lol


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## greg (Apr 29, 2012)

Wow! Unbelievable videos.

Great story about how you rescued two of them and brought them back to health. I've visited Lucky's a couple of times - enjoy seeing their arowanas but the dyed fish are a real turn off.

Thanks for sharing.

Greg


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

That thing is amazing and freaky at the same time! What an eater! holy crow!


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## Jackson (Jan 30, 2009)

greg said:


> Wow! Unbelievable videos.
> 
> Great story about how you rescued two of them and brought them back to health. I've visited Lucky's a couple of times - enjoy seeing their arowanas but the dyed fish are a real turn off.
> 
> ...


Thanks Greg for the kind words  I'm happy you enjoyed them


Ciddian said:


> That thing is amazing and freaky at the same time! What an eater! holy crow!


Thanks CID

Eats like a pig looks like a turd lolol


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## SwimmyD (Feb 9, 2013)

*Sooooooo cute!!!!!*

Hi, this is Greg's wife. I thought I should register since I'm always looking at this site. Your puffer is just the cutest thing ever. I've never owned one, but always loved them....they always look like they have real personality. Anyways with his super strong munching jaws were you ever worried when you were hand feeding him? Or did you manage to tame him a bit? And how often do you feed him? Do you have other puffers? Thanks! 
D


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## Jackson (Jan 30, 2009)

SwimmyD said:


> Hi, this is Greg's wife. I thought I should register since I'm always looking at this site. Your puffer is just the cutest thing ever. I've never owned one, but always loved them....they always look like they have real personality. Anyways with his super strong munching jaws were you ever worried when you were hand feeding him? Or did you manage to tame him a bit? And how often do you feed him? Do you have other puffers? Thanks!
> D


Hi Welcome to GTAA 

Thanks I'm happy you like it 

This one wasn't hand fed. The one that was is the one I took home from the member off if here that couldn't keep it healthy. The fish didn't really move for about two weeks just sat breathing heavy. It's not as aggressive as this one in the vids. Its been through a lot so it took a lot out of it.

The one I have in the vids is too aggressive for that. It destroyed my nets and goes after anything that moves. I don't want to know what it's bite feels like  I try to vacuum the sand as little as possible because it goes crazy when I do and I'd hate to stress it out. I hope I can tame it but I really doubt it lol the fact that it eats pellets is good enough for me. I like how aggressive it is. It's part of it's personality and shows spunk 

I feed it two maybe three times a day now with one pellet each time and twice a week It gets a crayfish. It's fed six out of seven days. Snails are always in there but it hardly ever touches them.

I down sized a lot over he last year or two. Too many tank had me feeling overwhelmed and I felt like I was working more than enjoying the hobby. I had a MBU which I sold at that time. I the last I've had suvatis, fahaka and congos. 
The fahaka I lost to a jäger heater malfunction and the Congo was a victim of ghost shrimp picking at it when it was resting I guess. I went away so dumped some in for it to eat came back and it had a big wound on it's side. It didn't heal and died. 
The suvatis I sold they're very boring puffers IMO.

For now I'm happy with this one it's unique and fun to watch. I guess I'd buy another puffer in the future probably a Congo you'd like those and they're not too hard to find. Check them out


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## SwimmyD (Feb 9, 2013)

*Thanks!*

Thanks Jackson!
Well you must have had some pretty large tanks to house an Mbu and a Fahaka! Too bad about your congo....I've heard before that ghost shrimp can go from being prey to predator. I hate the look of them actually! They look like bugs to me! 
So I googled the Congo, and you are right! They are pretty cool the way they dig into the sand and wait to ambush their prey. Maybe one day I'll get one! But right now we have so many tanks....I don't know where we could put another!
D


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## Jackson (Jan 30, 2009)

SwimmyD said:


> Thanks Jackson!
> Well you must have had some pretty large tanks to house an Mbu and a Fahaka! Too bad about your congo....I've heard before that ghost shrimp can go from being prey to predator. I hate the look of them actually! They look like bugs to me!
> So I googled the Congo, and you are right! They are pretty cool the way they dig into the sand and wait to ambush their prey. Maybe one day I'll get one! But right now we have so many tanks....I don't know where we could put another!
> D


Your welcome

I had the fahaka and Mbu at separate times. Both were still young/small so I was growing them out I think in a 90gal

My brother had a large fahaka who was kept in a 180gal but he switched his tanks around a sold him to a guy that used to work at big Al's North York 
This was years ago before they became cheap and common puffers which should of never happened IMO

I regret selling my Mbu


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