Old suvati not eating

[erythrinus]

I picked up a T. suvati a week ago. Not the best reason, but I felt sorry for him after being in a 1 gal. cubicle for 5 weeks. I put him in a 20 long with sand and driftwood. He is 6”, and the biggest one I’ve seen.
ive tried to get him to eat but he won’t. He buries in sand part of the day, but comes out and lurks in different places. There are fish in the tank and I offer various insects but no interest so far. He looks very healthy and is not stressed, judging by his color and behavior. He acts a lot like my Congo(ie- like a piece of substrate)z
I know suvatis can fast for a longtime, but any suggestions to get him going would be appreciated.

 

[kno4te]

Fat Homer

 

[Fat Homer]

erythrinus if you’ve previously owned a congo puffer (T.miurus) before then you’re likely used to feeding a lurker piscivore so will skip that...

As for food items my old palembangs that are similar to your suvati used to like eating meaty foods such as prawns / scallops / (live fish & shrimp) quarantined of course...

They also randomly got pieces of fish fillet but never really took to it, same with mussel meat, which also seemed to be hit and miss with mine before...

However, if you only had him for a week so far i wouldn't stress too much as hes likely still settling in after having been stuffed in a small tank for a period of time...

So just let him settle down a but more and make sure he has some cave like structures to retreat into so he can feel more comfortable...

Either way best of luck with your new puffer and be sure to post some pics...

If you have more questions feel free ask...

 

[erythrinus]

Funny, I got him an assortment of guppies, mosquito fish, minnows and goldfish and all were gone the next morning after my post. He’s very shy and easily startled, so it may take a while to get him to eat prawns and other not moving prey.
Out of curiosity, do your palembangensis live together? I’ve heard they tolerate one another.

 

[Fat Homer]

Funny, I got him an assortment of guppies, mosquito fish, minnows and goldfish and all were gone the next morning after my post. He’s very shy and easily startled, so it may take a while to get him to eat prawns and other not moving prey.
Out of curiosity, do your palembangensis live together? I’ve heard they tolerate one another.

I actually started off with 1 palembang then ended up with a 2nd one later on, which tuned out to be a female...

After un-successfully breeding them 3x i sold them off to a store as i thought better off giving them a chance to breed successfully and let the store make some money...

But to answer your question, if the tank is large enough and has enough decor to break up lines of sight, then yes technically the following puffers can be co-habed together with their own species:

T.Suvati / T.Palembang can sometimes be intermixed in the same tank but should only be done so with extreme caution. With their own conspecifics they are normally okay, but again, do it with caution...

C.Asellus can and is normally recommended to be kept in groups of 5 or more...

Dwarf puffers can be kept together quite easily due to their smaller tank size requirements...

T.schoutedeni is another puffer that can be kept in groups in the correct size tank with enough decor

And i think thats pretty much it for F/W puffers that will somewhat tolerate others of the same species in a tank with them...

I left out MBU mainly due to the size required to keep multiple of them in the same tank..

 

[erythrinus]

I can vouch for the T.schoutedeni. I have 4 that live together. They’re slow moving, and mostly creep around looking for worms, bumping each other on occasion when close. There is never damage or persistent harassing. I have 2 turgidus who hate each other though; wish they would get along...