Dwarf Puffer Food? What To Feed

what would be the easiest thing to buy/feed my puffer...is there anything...to use as his usual diet...I can add some snails later..and some special stuff but what would be the easiest?

 

stuff like bloodworms, blackworms, snails, etc is usually what puffers eat. an occasional part of a pea is what some people feed, but i've never used that. i've fed the worms and snails. they usually prefer live, but it's a good idea to train them to eat frozen as well though. hope that helps

 

yes thankyou

 

yes thankyou

You could check the pet stores and see if they have plants with snails or snail eggs and if you're willing to chance it, bring one home to give your puffer a food supply. They could be more than his appetite could take though and you might put the plant in a container and feed the snails veggies, then pull some of them out of their water when you want some for your puffer to eat.

 

If you ask your pet store they will probably give you "pest" snails free. Some puffers eat only bloodworms, some only snails, but most eat both.

 

alright and they don't eat dried bloodworms right?
he's so small like 1/2 inch so I just hope the bloodworms live or freezed won't be too big for him

 

Get the HikarI frozen bloodworms, they are high-quality and small enough for him.
Brianna

 

ok and what would be the best snails...when are you getting your puffer brianna?
ive been sick the last few days so I have a lot of time to enjoy my new guy

 

ok and what would be the best snails?

pond snails, or ramshorns. they're usually both considered "pest" snails.

as for worms, the hikarI is good. I also fed live blackworms. just make sure not to over feed! they're pigs!

 

Yes, pest snails are perfect for puffers. Be careful though, I learned the hard way that they will eat every snail in sight, not just the small ones. Now I have snails growing in another tank, to be fed to them slowly, lol. Little piggies!

--R, happy keeper of green spotted puffers

 

hehe, not only will they eat every snail in sight, they'll beg for more!

 

hes tiny..are you sure he could attack and kill a sail hes 1/2 inch

 

hes tiny..are you sure he could attack and kill a sail hes 1/2 inch

They have their ways to get at the snail. Read this page and this site for that matter if you haven't already[/url]). I'm jealous, I've been planning a dwarf puffer tank for a few weeks now and just need to get through a few money humps here (got a kids birthday to pay for next week) and I'll be starting it. I can't wait!

 

I am getting mine late july/early august.
they suck the snails out of their shells to eat them.
Brianna

 

yea, those little puffers are resourceful at getting their snails. Radcliffe's suggestion of a separate tank to grow the snails in should ensure a continuous dinner supply for a hungry puffer.

 

Aren't you worried to give them parasites if you feed them live food? Live food seems a more wholesome thing to feed a fish, but I really am worried about parasites if I get a fish that requires live food.

 

I think if you grow the live food in a controlled, clean environment you minimize the risk of that.

 

So you have a tank with artemia and the likes?

 

So you have a tank with artemia and the likes?

I have 2 boxes that i'm using to grow the atermia cysts in, then I harvest a portion of the BBS 2x a day.

 

Small boxes, right? I mean, we're not talking sell your house and get yet another tank, are we?

I heard some toy stores sell artemia cysts as sea monkeys. Would these do? Would that be unnecessarily expensive and if so, where did you get the cysts yourself? What sort of maintenance/feeding is needed to grow them?

Is it a lot of work?

 

yea, just those little hatchery boxes you can buy at the store. I buy tubes of the cysts from the website we get our stuff from.. through experiments, I think i've got the proper amount to use per hatching of 1/2 tsp eggs, 1 tbsp aquarium salt, nearly 4c of treated tap water. I just put that in and stir it up, then use air stones to keep them moving around. once they start hatching, then I just will 2x a day turn off the air and wait 10 minutes for things to settle, then put the collection container over the hole in the box and their instinct to go towards light causes them to swim into the container. once I collect enough for the fry to eat, I take the collection container and pour it into their tank and start the air stones running again.

i'm currently running 2 as I want to have 'backup' in case of problems, spills, etc.. as my experiments proceed, I'll figure out how long each batch of BBS will feed the fry for and perhaps not always run 2 hatcheries - to extend the supply of artemia cysts.

 

Something like this? . From the menu list on the left, click on artemia, then look at the second to last item on that page ('kweekschaal'), the blue breeding box. Would that be a rip off and a basic tupperware would do?

I am also surprised at the look of the box the eggs come in. Why are they air tight tins? Are the eggs in a liquid medium? I thought they were dry cysts kept in basically airtight packaging.

Oh, and what fish require/like artermia? Would it be good for molly adults, fry, and otos?

Do you know what? Starting a thread on this.

 

I bought a dwarf puffer two weeks ago and they sent an extra one in case of doa but both ended up living. I got them partly because I've wanted them and I had a ton of pond snails breeding in my tank. I didn't imagine that the two puffer fish could eat all the snails, after two weeks they have little round bellies and a ton of the snails are gone. I expected the snails to be enough but since they're not I'm wondering if I can get more snails for the tank. My question is can I just buy more snails and let them live in the tank or will my puffer fish over eat?

Another side question:
For now the puffer fish sometimes swim apart but more so they tag along with each other and swim together
Is this behavior going to go away with age?

 

Tank size?

If you get more snails, I suggest getting a separate tank to grow them out. All those dead snail bodies and shells that the puffers can't get out is causing a ton of ammonia. I suggest removing all dead snails. They are absolute gluttons and will keep attacking things even if they are full, try to swallow it down, then just spit it back out to rot in the substrate.

Dwarf puffers get territorial with age unless mating. It is recommended 5 gallons per puffer.

 

The tank is a 28 gallon hex
24 inch tall
And each side is 10 inches

The problem is I don't really see the snail shells just laying around. I know the dwarf puffer more so suck the snail out of its she'll but I don't really see shells laying around. I'll look closer for them though.

They're still juveniles now so I don't think I can sex them (I've tried but I still don't really understand the difference between male and female so I'm waiting until they become fully grown to hopefully notice more differences)
And given their size and the plants in the aquarium for broken lines of sight I think if it ended up being two males they should be fine. If not then I'll get another tank.

 

Are they the only ones in that tank? They are recommended to be in species only tank because they get nippy.

As for sexing, you have to wait til they begin maturing. Males have "wrinkles" around their eyes and a line down their belly.

 

There's a female guppy and two juvenile guppies in there. When I first out them in the bigger puffer and the female guppy did seem to keep a close eye on each other for that day but after that, and up to this point everything has been fine.

Cool, thanks for info. When I got them I didn't expect them to be so small
Even then they were about half an inch and I guess I thought half an inch would be bigger than that.

 

The pea puffers may be nice now but as they mature, they may bully and nip the guppies so I would watch out for that.

 

Hello,
I have a few questions about pea puffers.
1. What are you feeding them?
2. How often are you feeding them?
3. How much are you feeding them?
4. Where do you store their food?

Thank you!

 

I have 6 puffers and I feed mine once a day with bloodworms and brine shrimp and about 0.5 mml is about 10 to 15 pic..

 

I feed mine bladder snails. They accidentally hitchhiked into my main tank so I just let them breed. I also tried ghost shrimp, but he only ate one out of the three. I feed three snails a day.

 

I have 6 puffers and I feed mine once a day with bloodworms and brine shrimp and about 0.5 mml is about 10 to 15 pic..

Did you buy frozen worms and put them in? Or is this mixed with shrimps?

I feed mine bladder snails. They accidentally hitchhiked into my main tank so I just let them breed. I also tried ghost shrimp, but he only ate one out of the three. I feed three snails a day.

Can they breed at all? Aren't they eaten too quick?

 

Did you buy frozen worms and put them in? Or is this mixed with shrimps?


Can they breed at all? Aren't they eaten too quick?

They breed fine, many stay up near the rI'm of the tank. My puffer only seems to like hunting snails in the bottom to mid level area so most survive.

 

T

They breed fine, many stay up near the rI'm of the tank. My puffer only seems to like hunting snails in the bottom to mid level area so most survive.

That's a great idea, how fast are they breeding?

 

T

That's a great idea, how fast are they breeding?

I would say at a moderate pace in the puffer tank. In my community tank they breed like crazy so I just steal some every day to drop in the puffer tank.

 

I would say at a moderate pace in the puffer tank. In my community tank they breed like crazy so I just steal some every day to drop in the puffer tank.

Thank you for your answer

 

I'm working on my own puffer tank at the moment and haven't bought them yet however my LFS are giving me their "pest" snails for free. Puffers will need them to help trim their teeth and are prone to boredom so even every now and then find or buy some snails for them to hunt to keep them happy and healthy. They need the simulation

 

I'm working on my own puffer tank at the moment and haven't bought them yet however my LFS are giving me their "pest" snails for free. Puffers will need them to help trim their teeth and are prone to boredom so even every now and then find or buy some snails for them to hunt to keep them happy and healthy. They need the simulation

Amazing, good luck and post some photos of your aquarium and fishes when you'll have the chance

 

I'm working on my own puffer tank at the moment and haven't bought them yet however my LFS are giving me their "pest" snails for free. Puffers will need them to help trim their teeth and are prone to boredom so even every now and then find or buy some snails for them to hunt to keep them happy and healthy. They need the simulation

I have been doing research on dwarf puffers and it was my understanding that they do not need them to trim their beak!?? Unless you are not referring to dwarf pufs??

 

I have been doing research on dwarf puffers and it was my understanding that they do not need them to trim their beak!??

That's right. Dwarf (Pea) Puffers don't have teeth that continually grow like other species. They don't crunch snail shells like other puffers. They actually suck the snail out of its shell.

One thing you should know about dwarf puffers - the are VERY picky eaters. Some will accept frozen foods. Mine doesn't. I've gotten him to eat frozen bloodworms only once or twice. Usually he ignores them. But he loves live brine shrimp and snails. I have a dedicated snail tank where I raise them. It's a little 2.5 gallon hex tank with a tiny heater and sponge filter. I also have some Malaysian trumpet snails that live in the substrate of the puffer tank. They come out at night, and sometimes become a midnight snack. But each dwarf puffer is an individual. You have to see what they like.