Hello world! I'll get irrubescos and I have a weird idea to feed them

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Ozcar
Puffer Fry
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun Aug 16, 2020 10:43 am
Location (country): Germany

Hello world! I'll get irrubescos and I have a weird idea to feed them

Post by Ozcar »

Hello puffer forum :D ,

I was lurking for quite a while and found this forum to be the best resource for all kind of information about puffers. I thought about getting a puffer for maybe half a year and got serious two month ago. Since then i got an additional 30L tank for shrimp/snail breeding (I have three of those now) and got a 125L tank for the puffers. Minus the huge hardscape, theres around 100L (27 US-gallon) swimming space left and my idea is to put 3 or 4 irrubescos in there. The plants still have to grow a bit, so I'll wait another 3 or 4 weeks until the puffers move in. The tank is divided into two sides by the hardscape and theres a little cryptocoryne-forrest in the back, so they can hide and avoid trouble with each other.

Now I had a weird idea and therefore I made an account to discuss it with you: Would it be a good idea to breed shrimp in the puffer tank? Someone in my area is getting rid of his shrimp stock and I could get a huge amount of red cherry shrimp for a really good price. I thought if I put maybe 100 shrimp in there, the puffers can feed on them and the shrimp reproduce at around the same speed as the puffers eat them. I wouldn't have any problems with food leftovers, because I don't put any dead meat in there and I could leave for a weekend without asking my neighbor to feed them. I would still feed red or black worm and snails now and then for a balanced diet.

My only objection is the fact that it's not natural for the puffers to have so much food available and therefore they could be overfed. I know that bigger puffers have this problem and get fat and sick if they eat too much. Does anyone know if that's an issue for irrubescos or other red-eye puffers as well or will they stop eating when they're full?

I'll make a new post in the right topic, if I don't get answers here or asking questions here is against the rules.

Anyway, I'm happy to be part of your community and I'm really looking forward to share a hobby with you all
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Pufferpunk
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Re: Hello world! I'll get irrubescos and I have a weird idea to feed them

Post by Pufferpunk »

I absolutely think they would eat until they burst. It's never good to stock a tmain tank with fod like that. Also, I would figure 10 gallon/puffer.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
Ozcar
Puffer Fry
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun Aug 16, 2020 10:43 am
Location (country): Germany

Re: Hello world! I'll get irrubescos and I have a weird idea to feed them

Post by Ozcar »

Alright, so three puffers it is and no shrimp breeding in there, thanks for your help!

If I put the shrimp into the smaller tank, would 100 reproduce fast enough to feed 3 puffers? I'm doing quite a lot to produce enough food, but I'm not so sure how much the puffers actually need. I have three tanks with ramshorn snails. There are about 10 to 20 grown ups, around 50 medium-sized (half an inch/1 cm) and hundreds of smaller ones so far.
User avatar
Pufferpunk
Queen Admin
Posts: 32764
Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
Gender: Female
My Puffers: Filbert, the 12" T lineatus
Punkster, the 4" red T miurus
Mongo, the 4" A modestus
2 T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
Also kept:
lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles
Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
Location: Chicago
Contact:

Re: Hello world! I'll get irrubescos and I have a weird idea to feed them

Post by Pufferpunk »

I wouldn't worry too much. You're still going to need to feed a varied diet. Be sure to gut-load those shrimp before feeding to your puffers, for better nutrition.
library/feeding/feeding-your-puffers/
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
Ozcar
Puffer Fry
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun Aug 16, 2020 10:43 am
Location (country): Germany

Re: Hello world! I'll get irrubescos and I have a weird idea to feed them

Post by Ozcar »

I'll try to worry less, thank you :D

I also had the idea of breeding the puffers, because I can only find wildcaught ones. But I'll try to get some experience first and maybe get another tank. That's definetly a long-term project, but I would really love to do it.
User avatar
Pufferpunk
Queen Admin
Posts: 32764
Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
Gender: Female
My Puffers: Filbert, the 12" T lineatus
Punkster, the 4" red T miurus
Mongo, the 4" A modestus
2 T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
Also kept:
lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles
Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
Location: Chicago
Contact:

Re: Hello world! I'll get irrubescos and I have a weird idea to feed them

Post by Pufferpunk »

These guys are actually pretty easy to breed. Finding food small enough to raise the fry is the difficult part.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
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