Pufferfish not eating

Question
QUESTION: Hi Alex! I recently got a green spotted puffer [T. nigroviridis] about 2 days ago from my local pet store. From what I've seen of him [I've been habiting the store, haha, they're too cute to deny] he's very healthy. He's in a light brackish tank and doing swimmingly [no pun intended]. His tank mate is a pleco and they get along quite well. The temperature is running about 82 degrees F. I'm not sure if it's just that he's new to the tank or not, but he hasn't been eating. I fed him half of a 1" cube of frozen bloodworms the first night, which he gobbled up, but yesterday and today he hasn't been eating. His behavior seems normal, but he doesn't stay still enough to see if maybe his teeth have outgrown him and it's not possible for him to eat. I'm pretty sure the pet store only had him on bloodworms, no snails or other hard-shelled food. What can I do about this? Is this normal?

ANSWER: Well he might just like the bloodworms from what i'm hearing. I would try snails and ghost shrimp and see if he will eat those that is what i would do. Also when you say he is not eating do you mean the bloodworms or a different food? How big is your puffer? I hope your puffer will eat again and try to answer the questions and then i will be able to tell you what is wrong.

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---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: All I've tried so far are the bloodworms. [Also, I forgot to mention, the tank is 10 gallons... I've heard that they need bigger, but the pet store has been keeping about 7 of these little buggers together in about 8 gallons] He's about 1-2 inches. Also, my pleco isn't eating either [I've tried lettuce, watermelon, and algae flakes...I'm trying cucumber tonight] Could there be something wrong with the water, or are neither of them hungry?

Answer
Ok the puffer is going to need a 20 gallon tank to himself and bigger depending on what kind of pleco you have. The only reason the petstore has the puffers in that size tank is because they are going to be sold it isn't a home it is just a pit stop thats how i think of it. The pleco might be full from eating all the leftover food,waste, ect. and i would feed him algae wafer from now on maybe one once a every 2 days or so. If you arn't checking your water for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, alkalinity, P.H., and the hardness of your water you should start. The ammonia or nitrites might be high because a half a block of blood worms is alot of food and the leftover food makes the ammonia level raise. This is what i would do for feeding your puffer i would go out and buy maybe about 10 ghost shrimp and feed him 1 everyday in the morning and then the 1\5 cube of bloodworms,snails, or a pellet food he will eat at night.


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