Feeding F8 puffers
4/1/08
Good Afternoon,
I recently purchased a F8 Puffer and he shows great interest in the ghost shrimp
I have in the tank, but won't eat frozen Mysis shrimp, Plankton or Krill. I gave
him live blackworms which he really enjoyed but I would prefer if he would take
interest in the frozen shellfish.
<Puffers can be picky, that is true. Some brackish water fish go off their food
if kept in freshwater conditions. But assuming your fish is in brackish water, I
wouldn't worry too much.>
Is there anything I can do to stimulate this interest short of denying him live
food?
<Nope.>
The LFS I got him from said that they fed the tank frozen and had no problems so
I am a bit stumped.
<Don't get too concerned. Letting a puffer starve for a few days often gets
their attention focused on things they'd otherwise reject. My Colomesus asellus
have little to no interest in snails or krill when I give them bloodworms, so
some days I skip feeding them bloodworms until they're sufficiently hungry to
eat these other food items. Does them no harm at all. Almost all puffers eat
algae as well as invertebrates, so provided there is algae in the aquarium to
nibble on, they won't suffer.>
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
<Cheers, Neale.>
Snail/Puffer Eco System
11/6/07
Hello, I am cycling fishless, currently waiting to set up a Figure 8 puffer
in a 30 gallon tank.
<Very good.>
I have done a good amount of research and one of the things I have noticed is
that a lot of sites say F8s don’t need snails to wear their beak down, but the
ones that seem devoted to the brackish fish all say F8s needs snails, including
this one.
<It's one of those points where "your mileage may vary". Figure-8 puffers do NOT
seem to be among the Pufferfish species prone to overgrown teeth. South American
freshwater puffers (Colomesus spp.) and the Asian genera Auriglobus and
Chonerhinos seem to be much more troubled by this issue. This likely reflects
different rates of tooth-growth, presumably connected to different types of food
in the wild. But that said, Tetraodon spp. can get overgrown teeth. So providing
at least some shelly food is a good idea, and snails are very convenient.>
I am a bit of a softy when it comes to live feeding but under the right
conditions (one being I really really like the fish, second being tank
sustainability of the live feeder) I will.
<Indeed. Sticking live food into a tank adds a load to the filter, and in the
case of Pufferfish, there are clear advantages to keeping water quality as a
high as possible.>
My questions: What would be the minimum to feed F8s keeping them happy and
healthy. Say, a basic “Feed snails every six months for a week” response.
<It all depends. If you're giving the Pufferfish just soft food, such as
bloodworms, day in, day out, then you may find the teeth become overgrown. In
this case, using snails once a week would be a good idea. But if you're feeding
them unshelled prawns, frozen krill, live woodlice and other prey that have
shells already, the teeth may wear down just fine by themselves. So rather than
looking at snails as a "cure", take an holistic approach instead. Try and make
sure most meals are "crunchy" so that the puffer's teeth wear down all by
themselves. The grocery store and the back garden will both provide plenty of
suitable fodder. Unshelled prawns can be taken apart easily enough. You eat the
yummy meat, but give the legs and tail-fins to the puffers. My puffers love
woodlice, and these make a very satisfying crunching sound, suggesting that they
are plenty hard enough to wear down the teeth if used regularly. And so on. Use
your own common sense and see what you have to hand.>
Second question is, is there a snail that will out reproduce my puffer or out
reproduce my puffer enough that I would only have to buy a new set of snails
every few months or so?
<The ideal in many people's opinion are the small pond snail Physa spp. These
are the semi-transparent snails often seen in aquaria. They are easy to rear in
ponds. But I have to admit my puffers eat them only grudgingly, and normally
only if I crush them first. So again, your own experiences will have to colour
your actions.>
This site states that the Malaysian Trumpet Snails are okay for Brackish water
but I have read elsewhere that they can’t live in any salt water.
<Melanoides tuberculata will thrive at anything up to around 50% seawater
salinity. They are phenomenally durable animals.>
I do know they breed very fast.
<Indeed. But some aquarists have connected broken teeth on their puffers with
the presence of Melanoides snails. I have to admit to being skeptical of this,
having watched Pufferfish crack open oysters in the wild, but in the interest of
fairness I will at least recount those observations. I have Melanoides snails in
many of my tanks, and puffers will sometimes eat the tiny juveniles. But they
seem to show no interest in the adults. Quite possibly their shells are too
strong for the small Pufferfish I'm keeping to open. On the other hand, I don't
have "plagues" of these Melanoides snails in my tanks, at least not in the tanks
with Pufferfish. So the puffers presumably do kill enough of the juveniles to
moderate population growth.>
I know Olive Nerites ARE brackish snails but also read they are slow breeders.
<Nerites don't really breed at all in aquaria. Their life cycle seems to be
fairly tricky to accommodate in captivity. Some people have had success, but it
seems more by luck than judgment. Be that as it may, Nerites are practically
bullet-proof, and small puffers don't seem to be able to eat them.>
Is there another snail that would fit my bill?
<The pond snail Physa is likely the balance between size, ease of care, and
willingness to breed. Apple snails could be reared separately, but they don't
last long in brackish water so would have to be added "one meal at a time".>
Basically my thoughts are, if I have to feed live, I want to do it as minimal as
possible, or set up a system where, with other then a few interventions, is
nature-like and the live food can benefit from being in the tank also. I am I
crazy?
<Not crazy at all. I've found Pufferfish teeth get worn down "automatically" in
tanks with a combination of Melanoides snails and silica sand; one or the other
doesn't seem to work by itself. Possibly foraging in the sand combines enough
grit with the prey animal to do the trick. Others have experimented with
"feeding stones". These are rough rocks such as Tufa and pumice into which
suitable food (such as prawn) is smeared and then any loose food rinsed off. To
get the food, the puffers need to work away at the rock -- just as they would do
in the wild. Yet others simply get into the routine of doing the dental work as
and when required. It's really not that difficult, though admittedly requires a
steady hand! Cheers, Neale>
Feeding F8 Puffers 9/2/07
Hi,
<Hi Meghan, Pufferpunk here>
I have two figure eight puffers. One is a little bigger than the other but they
are both ~1" and I cannot get either of them to eat any snails. I have a long
pair of tweezers that I use to hold the snails in front of the puffers, they
will come over and try to nibble but they quickly lose interest. Sometimes I use
the tweezers to place the snails in a specific
area, the puffers will follow the snails as I set them down but then they just
swim away. I've also tried different sized snails....what can I do to get them
to eat snails?
<How large are the snails? Rule of thumb is: As large as their eye. You can try
squashing the snails & see if that makes it easier for them to eat them. They'll
still get the benefit of the crunchiness.
Here is more info on feeding puffers:
http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/library/category/feeding/ Good luck keeping
them happy & full! ~PP>
Meghan
Figure 8 Puffers,
overeating?! 8/16/07
I just recently got figure eight puffer fish. I have had them before, but
this time before I got them I had the aquarium run for about a month. In this
month, the few snails that I put in there took over. There are hundreds of tiny
spiral snails everywhere. When I put the two new puffers in the started eating
the snails immediately. The next morning their little stomachs are bulging,
huge, and they don't seem to have stopped eating. I'm getting worried, should I
take them out and try to clean out the snails? Help!
K. B. D.
<Greetings. While your pufferfish might seem overfed, a lot of what is filling
out their stomachs will be indigestible snail shell. So in this instance, I'd
leave things be. Obviously, don't add any extra food to the aquarium. The
puffers will eat the snails when hungry, but because this is an unprocessed food
with a lot of "fibre" (i.e., shell) you don't have to worry about water quality
or constipation. More than likely the puffers hadn't eaten a proper meal in
weeks, and so their arrival in your snail-filled aquarium was like taking a
hungry boy to an "all you can eat" buffet. After a couple of days I'm sure the
snail population will be much smaller, and this problem will go away. In the
meantime, enjoy watching your Pufferfishes doing what comes natural! Cheers,
Neale>
Feeding Figure 8 Puffers 4/2/07
Hi,
<Hi Meg, Pufferpunk here>
I have two baby figure eight puffers, they are about 0.5". I have been feeding
them once in the morning and once at night. I switch their diet up with brine
shrimp, mysis shrimp and blood worms. Sometimes they will nibble at a cocktail
shrimp tail while I hold it. They are in a 55 gallon tank with three scats and
I typically feed all four fish about one cube of frozen food in the morning and
one at night.
<Defrosted & juice drained off, I hope. Otherwise it will raise your
nitrates. Here's an article for you on feeding your puffers:
http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/library/feeding/feeding-your-puffers/ >
I also hang veggies for the scats and haven't ever seen the puffers pick at it.
<Generally, they won't eat veggies, they are meat-eaters.>
Anyhow, I noticed that the puffers little bellies get bigger after they eat and
I assume its because they are really small and there isn't much room for food.
<Actually, a puffer's stomach is quite huge. That's where they inhale water to
puff.>
But I just wanted to make sure that I'm not over feeding my puffers or under
feeding the scats, because my little puffers are piglets and swim around to
catch every last piece of food they can.
<I would have thought the other way around. Scats are known to be quite the
pigs & produce huge bioloads. That's why they will eventually need 50g each, as
they can grow as large as a dinner plate! They will also prefer a much higher
specific gravity as adult--marine conditions. F8s do best in low-end brackish
water, around 1.005. Here's a great article on them:
http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/library/puffers-in-focus/f8/
Be sure to check out other articles on the care & feeding of puffers in the
Library there & post on the forum about your puffers. ~PP>
Thanks, Meg
Care & Feeding of Figure 8 Puffer 3/19/06
<Hi, Pufferpunk here>
I recently purchased a figure eight puffer at Wal-Mart for my son and
I. We have another tank with an Oscar and Pleco. I bought our figure eight
without doing the proper research. After bringing him home I started looking on
the net and realized I didn't have the right foods for him. I have read some of
your answers for what to feed, the problem is I don't know where to get the
food.
<Appropriate Puffer Foods:
http://www.thepufferforum.com/articles/puffer/food.html>
I live close to a river and see small snails all the time. Will these be ok?
<I wouldn't suggest feeding these directly to your puffer, although they would
make excellent breeding stock.
Breeding Snails:
http://www.thepufferforum.com/articles/puffer/basicsnail.html &
http://www.thepufferforum.com/articles/puffer/basicsnail.html >
Also I would like to buy fast breeding snails but don't know what type of
snails they are. Please help Bubbles (that is what my son named him) or he is
going to starve.
<Figure 8 article:
http://www.thepufferforum.com/articles/puffer/f8puffer.html
Also, check out the puffer forum those articles are in. ~PP>
- Pernicious Puffer Problems -
Hi wet web crew!!
<Greetings, Tom, JasonC here...>
I'm having problems with my puffer. I started off with 3 figure 8 puffers in a
55 litre tank. They were all fine for about a month, then the largest one
attacked the smaller 2 and they both died.
I kept it as just one puffer since then, but he has recently gone off his food
and has started to swim at the top of the tank, head up. It looks like he is
breathing in air, but he doesn't puff up. when I put some food in (brine shrimp
is what he is on at the mo, I couldn't find any bloodworm) he looks at it very
excited but doesn't eat it.
He hasn't changed colour, still seems quite mobile and hasn't lost much weight.
<Well... puffers sometime go on hunger strikes, why they do it is not easily
revealed. They are also sensitive to water quality, so you might want to look
there first. You should also read through all the FAQ's we've accumulated as we
get a lot of questions about these fish. Here's a good place to start:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/BrackishSubWebIndex/fwbracpuffaqs.htm
>
any advice you could give me would be very much appreciated!
Thank you
Tom Hird
<Cheers, J -- >
Live foods for figure-8 puffer
How do you feel about feeding a figure-8 puffer live earthworms,
crayfish, bugs, frogs or other things from outside? Is there really
more risk then with live foods from the aquarium store?
<This is a brackish water species which requires marine type foods, not
terrestrial foods like frogs, worms, etc. These fish are not generalists, they
eat specific foods.>
Also, is it possible to find live mosquito larvae outside?
<In the summer months, but not for feeding puffers. Please read the
information you need at WetWebMedia.com, just type "figure eight
puffer" in the google search! Craig>
Puffer can't/won't eat (03/11/03)
<Hi! Ananda here on the puffer patrol today....>
I'm really having a problem with a figure eight puffer fish I have. I've had him
for the last two years and not run into a hitch. He lives with two other fish-
another brackish figure eight and a brackish spotted puffer.
<One of the few puffer combinations I know of that can be maintained for any
length of time... I have both types in the same tank, too.>
Right now he seems to be on a hunger strike - this is the first time but he
hasn't been eating normally for a week now. He is looking really thin- the
second half of his body is barely thicker then nickel and his upper half looks
very bad too. He does seem to try to eat but
most of it just drifts out of his mouth after a while.
<Sounds like he may not be able to chew -- do check the length of his teeth.
If they're too long, you may need to clip them. A pair of good-quality nail
scissors can help.>
I have seen him eat some food and he still acts very interested but he's still
as thin as a before. I want to try to force feed him for now to try to keep him
from wasting away the rest of the way but I don't know if that would be good to
do since he looks like him might break if I try to touch him (that and I don't
know how to force feed).
<I'm not much of a fan of force-feeding. Try giving him some food that he
doesn't need to chew -- frozen bloodworms and live blackworms are always a hit
with my puffs -- and see if he can keep those down.>
Also I would love to have a hospital tank but I don't have one and I doubt if it
would be worth the time to cycle a new tank.
<Since you typically medicate a hospital tank, you usually kill off any
beneficial bacteria that may have established themselves in the cycle. So
there's less need for cycling a hospital tank, more need for daily water
changes. And any container that is big enough for the puff to swim around in and
contain an airstone can be used as a hospital container in a pinch.>
If u can help me keep this guy alive then your my hero and his hero too. I know
I'm supposed to be trying to feed him more tempting foods (I looked through all
the faq's u had for an
answer and I'm still not sure of the answer)
<Bloodworms, blackworms, snails, ghost shrimp, cocktail shrimp, krill;
sometimes Mysis shrimp, squid, clams...check the saltwater Puffer Feeding FAQs
for more ideas.>
but he acts just as interested in any food as any other time- he just can't keep
enough in to get a whole meal.
<Try using a different approach: keep food in his tank at all times. The best
way to do this would be in a separate tank. I'm thinking bloodworms or
blackworms in a worm feeder, or live ghost shrimp, or snails would be the food
to use with this approach.>
if my answer is to force feed him I'm going to need a link to a site that can
tell me how to do that for a puffer fish.
<Eh, I'm not finding one that gives specifics... but here's what I'm
inferring from posts about same: you would need to do is get a syringe (no
needle necessary) and fill it with a slurry of food and a good vitamin
supplement (Bob mentions Boyd's VitaChem as a favorite). Then catch and hold the
puff underwater and put the end of the syringe into his mouth. Use the syringe
to shoot the food into his stomach. More comments on force-feeding puffers here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/pufferdisfaqs.htm>
And thank you very much for your time. Please try to email me back as soon as
you can.
<You're welcome. --Ananda>
Oink!
