Movin' on up, to the eastside!

[callen]

Yes Congrats!!

How big is he? Details please

[spoot]

Good guess PA. I wanted to wait to show you guys pictures, but I don't want to stress them out now in their condition.

I picked him up from a friend, who a couple months ago, had 3 puffers in his 135g. He had the dogface, a burrfish, and a big gsp. The burrfish ended up dying suddenly, not unlike what happened to ours'. Then a month or so ago, his green spotted puffer got a huge, half body sized sting from a small carpet anemone, and then succumb to his injuries less than 48 hours later. He decided on turning his tank into a mixed reef, and needed to find his dogface a new home. I was hesitant at first, but our place really was the best option for the puffer, so nusquam said ok.

He's still fairly small right now, only 6 inches or so, but he's pretty healthy other than the ich now. One problem we are having now is that he doesn't get a fair share of the food. The ceylons are such aggressive/speedy eaters, and the dogface is still a bit shy. Even if we try to spot feed him, the ceylons come really fast. He has been getting better, but in the mean time, the ceylons are really really fat.

[puffer_archer]

Very cool! Congrats and glad to hear he is settling in and slowly coming out of his shell.

One thing you can try at feeding time is to feed them on opposite sides of the tank. Give the Ceylons something that takes some work to eat (like a partially open clam/mussel) and then feed the dogface clear on the other side of the tank where (hopefully) it can eat in peace.

[callen]

Thanks for the update and understand no pictures yet. But look forward to them in the future and hearing more about him.

I agree with P_A. We had to do this with the GSP, Porc and Sailfin tang. I felt at times the Porc was not getting enough. One thing I did do and it worked well I would smash a med size clam with a hammer (made it harder for the fish to get at it) and place that at one end and let the GSP and Sail go at that one and the Porc would get his at the other end but I didn't smash it I would just open is so he could get at it easier.

The other thing that worked well was large cocktail shrimp with skin on... they would each get a piece.

[spoot]

Great suggestions guys. We've given these ideas a try already actually. The ceylons are actually very wise, if they can't get to their own food fast enough, they'll go for the other food. So giving them a partially cracked muscle/clam will just be another meal for them once they eat the dogfaces food. I tried hand holding shrimp (fingers out of the water of course) and spot feeding the dogface, but he is a bit scared of the ceyclons, because they really come charging when there is food. So basically it ends up being me moving the shrimp around the tank and the ceylons getting bites if they catch up to me.

The thing that has worked the best so far is to drop many many little chunks of food in at once and hope that the dog face gets some. The ceylons end up eating a lot but the dogface at least gets some.

[Nusquam]

Sorry, PA, I did mean to respond, but I also wanted to respond with pictures.

He's getting a little better. They're still working out their differences, though. The other day, Donkey was poking at his old pirate ship, and a day or 2 after, the dog face was doing the same. Donkey didn't look too impressed and he ended up with missing finnage the next day. Ah well, they're still very perky and hungry. As long as they're still hungry and begging for food, I'm not too worried.

[callen]

Ah well, they're still very perky and hungry. As long as they're still hungry and begging for food, I'm not too worried.

Always a good sign.

[puffer_archer]

Yup, definitely a good sign!

[spoot]

Glad to announce that the dogface is now starting to eat his share, still has a bit to go before it's a fair share though. At least the ceylons are ecstatic with the amount of food they are getting. On the ich front, they seem to be getting a little better. We are continuing to lower the sg bit by bit, as we don't want to cause a cycle.