Feeding my GSP's

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raymgnz
Puffer Fry
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri Apr 28, 2006 8:58 pm
Location: Philadelphia

Feeding my GSP's

Post by raymgnz »

Once a week I feed my two GSP's crayfish (2 crayfish to be exact). Normally I put one in and wait for them to finish then put the second. Sometimes they don't eat the second, they'll just play around with it for awile then eat him the next day. My question is: Since the GSP's are in full marine (1.024) and the crayfish are in freshwater at the store, how long could the crayfish survive in full marine conditions? Usualy it's not an issue cause they eat them right away but some times they don't and I wind up taking it out till later, not being sure how long it can stay in that SG. Which becomes inconvienent having to find a place to put it.
Nick
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My Puffers: Mine:
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Post by Nick »

Without acclimating them slowly to marine they will probably die in hours, if not less. They could probably pull a few hours to overnight if you slowly acclimate them to salt water. Howver, as they have pincers which are a threat to yoru fish, I recomment against feeding them anymore, one wrong poke or nip and one of your fish is down an eye. I'd try to get them eating ghost shrimp instead, which have feeble claws, or preferably supermarket fresh iced shrimp, you can keep a bunch of shell on shrimp frozen and add one when food is needed. How big are your GSP"s, anyway?
No matter how magnificent your successes or devastating your failures, the worlds' approximately 5 billion impoverished people could not possibly care less.
raymgnz
Puffer Fry
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri Apr 28, 2006 8:58 pm
Location: Philadelphia

Post by raymgnz »

The both are close to 4 inches long and pretty plump. I take care of the threat before I put them in the tank (I know that sounds cruel but I do realize the danger so I make sure there is none). The problem with ghost shrip is I only have 1 store near by that sells them and they don't have them in stock enough to feed on a regular basis. Besides aren't ghost shrimp fresh water too. They are very picky eaters. Krill, crayfish, and once in awile they will eat "Marine Cuisine". They won't eat blood worms and their not to fond of shrimp which I've tried, I wind up having to take it out after a couple of bites. I even tried squid and octopus with no luck. I wish they would eat like my Oscars, I think they'd eat the dog food if I put it in the tank.
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Nusquam
Figure 8 Puffer
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Post by Nusquam »

How big are the crayfish you are feeding them?
We recently got a pair from a family friend and were planning to feed the younger ones to our puffs if the pincers weren't too bad, and if they mated, of course.
The smaller crayfish they had didn't seem to have pincers that would do damage? Not sure, though...
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phish
Puffer Fry
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Location: Hancock Park, Calif. (moved - Yay!!!) :)

Post by phish »

My GSP's are in a full marine tank (SG 1.021) and for the last two years, I found their FAVORITE to all others have been earthworms.

Of course you need to get their attention since I doubt the worms are gonna last but a few seconds in salt water.

So, once I get their attention, I place the worm on the edge of the glass top...and the moment they know it's food, I toss the poor little creature overboard, and they gobble him up.
Yum!
Nick
Former Staff Member
Posts: 3231
Joined: Sun Oct 22, 2006 8:47 pm
My Puffers: Mine:
GSPs - Shakespeare and Jillybean
F8 - Velvet
My fiance:
DP - Emma Goldman
Narrow Lined Puffer - Ulrike
Location (country): Northeastern USA
Location: Middletown, CT
Contact:

Post by Nick »

My GSP eats mostly earthworms as well. They last about 6 minutes in salt water, btw, before they totally stop twitching.
No matter how magnificent your successes or devastating your failures, the worlds' approximately 5 billion impoverished people could not possibly care less.
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