Split Pea the Murder Bean

After long searching & prep, a new pea puffer has arrived & is settled in their tank. Split Pea the murder bean is about 1/8" & was unexpectedly found in a LFS community tank being decommissioned. They say they've never stocked peas & there were none other in the 55g bare bottom display tank.

Seems to appreciate the plants in this 6g & while ferociously interested in the snails, hasn't managed to eat any yet. I'm holding the frozen shrimp the community was fed in reserve to give him a chance to successfully hunt. 1st puffer for me & am as fascinated with him as he seems to be with us, coming to the glass to ogle his admirers. Hope he settles in & you all enjoy.

cdwag29 - you asked to see him so here he is!

 

Love it! My daughter and I were admiring them at our local LFS this week. Is it by itself in the tank (besides the snails)?

 

Love it! My daughter and I were admiring them at our local LFS this week. Is it by itself in the tank (besides the snails)?

All by his fish self but he's directly next to a 20g he's acutely aware of. He's aware of everything it seems, inside & outside the tank. Hope he's not lonely having been in a heavily stocked tank for at least the last couple months or more. I don't know his gender actually & given that he seems to have been a fry hitchhiker with no puffer interactions, I'm curious to see whether 'he' becomes male or female. Until I know I'll hesitate to upsize the tank & add puffer companions. Too, he'll be the same size as my nano rasbora (under an inch) & I wouldn't want to lose them. So for now, he'll remain alone, gazing at the fish next door & sharing coffee breaks with the humans. I'm glad you enjoyed him & hope one is right for you. This one at least, has a ton of character & desire to interact.

 

I just love him!!!! They are so cute and unitque!!!

And I love his name, too!!!

 

All by his fish self but he's directly next to a 20g he's acutely aware of. He's aware of everything it seems, inside & outside the tank. Hope he's not lonely having been in a heavily stocked tank for at least the last couple months or more. I don't know his gender actually & given that he seems to have been a fry hitchhiker with no puffer interactions, I'm curious to see whether 'he' becomes male or female. Until I know I'll hesitate to upsize the tank & add puffer companions. Too, he'll be the same size as my nano rasbora (under an inch) & I wouldn't want to lose them. So for now, he'll remain alone, gazing at the fish next door & sharing coffee breaks with the humans. I'm glad you enjoyed him & hope one is right for you. This one at least, has a ton of character & desire to interact.

I'm blaming this on you, I'm weak!!! After reading your post, I found my only adult ramshorn in my 7g dead. That left only very small ramshorns and a few odd shrimp. Then I kept thinking about that little face, lol. It's the eyes! I think his name might be Mr. Bean. Since he's here because of you, you have veto rights on the name.

 

I just love him!!!! They are so cute and unitque!!!

And I love his name, too!!!

Naming credit goes to my eldest who objected to The Executioner. I'm growing into Split Pea tho!

I'm blaming this on you, I'm weak!!! After reading your post, I found my only adult ramshorn in my 7g dead. That left only very small ramshorns and a few odd shrimp. Then I kept thinking about that little face, lol. It's the eyes! I think his name might be Mr. Bean. Since he's here because of you, you have veto rights on the name.

Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. I love him & have a particular affection for Mr. Bean who has the same oh so innocent googly eyes despite his similar ability to wreak mass destruction. Good for you & congratulations. We'll be newbies together with our murder beans.

 

Has Split Pea successfully hunted a snail yet? I was a nervous wreck for two days because I couldn't catch Mr. Bean eating anything. The LFS was feeding him live guppies three times his size. I didn't want to do that, so they said he would eat frozen brine shrimp or blood worms. My daughter finally thought she saw him pecking at a ramshorn and sure enough I found an empty shell later, so I'm a little less nervous. He's just so small!

 

Has Split Pea successfully hunted a snail yet? I was a nervous wreck for two days because I couldn't catch Mr. Bean eating anything. The LFS was feeding him live guppies three times his size. I didn't want to do that, so they said he would eat frozen brine shrimp or blood worms. My daughter finally thought she saw him pecking at a ramshorn and sure enough I found an empty shell later, so I'm a little less nervous. He's just so small!

Oh I'm nervous too. Split Pea doesn't seem to have any idea what to do with snails, even the bittiest ones. I'm manually removing the larger ones & giving them to my betta so as not to overrun the tank, but so far SP is only eating frozen brine shrimp. That's what he's eaten all his life at the LFS & he's never seen a snail or another puffer. I guess it will take a while.

So seriously, they were feeding live guppies? I mean I'd try it if it will kick start his prey drive but .... reluctantly. Thus far he'll take the shrimp if I leave it right in front of him on a leaf, but not from the tongs or if it lands anywhere near an active snail. I think he needs lessons from Mr. Bean!

They *are* sooooo tiny! I mean, I keep nano rasbora that are about the same size as him in adulthood, but none of them evoke quite the same anxiety. It's the blasted googly eyes. Hope Mr. Bean continues on his snail destroying path! Glad you finally got him & thank you for updating!

And ... please... they really fed live guppies to Mr. Bean successfully?

 

I didn't personally SEE them eating the guppies, but when I asked what they were feeding him the girl said the guppies that were in the tank with them. When I expressed my surprise because of how much bigger the guppies were, she said "well... they just take bites - they don't eat the whole thing." Lol, I probably could have figured that out.

 

Thank you. I may eventually try it but hope he takes to snails as Mr. Bean has!