Am I on the right track???

[Nasser]

I recently bought two F8's (of about 1/2"). They are in a 30g previously inhabited by an african cichlid, so it is cycled. As far as their diet is concerned, their menu will include (if you give me the green light) frozen bloodworms, frozen mysis shrimp and frozen brine shrimp (I read somewhere around here that they are like "potato chips" to us, so I guess I will limit them to once weekly, right??). I am also breeding snails (following the article located in The Puffer Library). I have two questions regarding snails.

1. If I buy a plant and it has snails, should I take them off or can I simply throw them, along with the plant, into the tank to see if the puffs are hungry?
2. Should I be worried if the puffs do not eat the snails rightaway??

They were kept in freshwater at the LFS. When should I begin the process of raising the SG ( I got them on tuesday)?? I would be about 0.002 weekly whenever the time comes, right?

Thank you!!!

[SpockthePuffer]

Do you have live plants in the tank? Most plants won't survive in the brackish but some do. If you have live plants you'll have to raise the salinity even slower to acclimate the plants. I know some people on here have live plants in their brackish tanks so maybe they can tell you what you can use for plants.

You can start raising the SG now, just do it slowly

As for the snails I would take them off because they won't survive in the brackish. Just stick them in with your breeding snails so you get some more in there.

There is also a great article on feeding in the library and lists a bunch of different stuff to feed. I give my puffer people seafood too, like shrimp, mussel and clams soaked in tankwater and vitamins.

[zombiefetus]

You're going to have to feed other things than that, the frozen foods are okay, but it's really not an ideal diet. Live Ghost Shrimp are good (before offering them to your puffers feed the shrimp some lettuce). Scallops, clams. And if you can find any crabs small enough for them that would be an excellent meal. Hard shelled meaty foods are key with any puffer. I realize Figure Eights are rather small, so blood worms and brine shrimp would be okay on occasion, but try to find something a little more nutritious. A good feeding schedule is about every three days. You'll want to be able to add tons of variety to their diet.

Plants with snails can be added directly to the tank, but be prepared for the puffers to nibble on the plants. Some don't, some do, it depends on the fish.

And you can go ahead and start raising the s.g. now.

If the puffers don't eat the snails right away you can try smashing a few against the glass to see if they're interested.

[Jase]

lettuce has zero nutrition. try peas, cucumber, broccoli. any good vegies.

[SpockthePuffer]

I like to gut load my ghost shrimp with the seaweed stuff I feed to my sw tank too but Milton will just eat that without the ghost shrimp, he enjoys his veggies.

Also keep in mind that if you are using live plants you won't be able to add more as you raise the sg without acclimating them to the salinity.

[t1gerbee]

mine get to eat mysis before getting fed to the puffers...

peas would definitely be cheaper!

[Agnate]

A good feeding schedule is about every three days. You'll want to be able to add tons of variety to their diet.

Doesn't this only apply to older puffers (that are closer to their maximum size)? I understood that you feed them every day when they're young (the size you have), then as they start to get larger (say 1-1.5 inches), you cut it down to once every two days, and finally to once every three days as they get to about 2-3 inches (for Figure 8s). Maybe I was wrong... if so, my puffers are getting their share of food!

I'll give you a link to some homemade veggy food for fish that you might find quite useful. I made up a batch, and it's going to last me a lifetime. My puffers *really* enjoy it, and it's incredibly healthy for them! It took them a few days to get used to the idea that it's food, but once they understood, they devoured the stuff. Here's the article: http://www.aquariumlife.net/projects/di ... od/112.asp

The Spirulina and Multivitamins cost a little much off the start, but for the amount you get, you'll never have to buy it again (well, you might have to buy the vitamins, as they're good for soaking other foods in, but yeah).

[Troender]

A good feeding schedule is about every three days. You'll want to be able to add tons of variety to their diet.

Doesn't this only apply to older puffers (that are closer to their maximum size)? I understood that you feed them every day when they're young (the size you have), then as they start to get larger (say 1-1.5 inches), you cut it down to once every two days, and finally to once every three days as they get to about 2-3 inches (for Figure 8s). Maybe I was wrong... if so, my puffers are getting their share of food!

You're absolutely right, Paul. Small puffer need food more often than larger puffers. I experienced it with my GSP myself. Because of an advice here at TPF, I cut down on my feeding to every other day. My GSP started to look skinny, and I started to fear IPs. I even left a message in the hospital section with a question about it. But before starting giving meds to the fish, I decided to try going back to feeding every day for a while, and that solved the problem. Now she is big enough to get fed every other day, but back then, it was too early. I think you just have to get to know your puffer, to see how often he/she needs feeding. That's the way I stay - I see how thin or fat the puffer gets by the feeding schedule, and correct it if it doesn't seem to work. I've found differences between size, species and even spesimens (which is a problem if you have two specimens in the same tank, and they actually would need different feeding schedules). The level of activity of the puffer also will affect the feeding. That's what made my GSP in need of more frequent feeding at that time. She was pretty active

[zombiefetus]

It seems to depend more on the individual puffer. When I first got my GSP he was about 1.5" and I fed him every day, which simply didn't work for him. He got bored with his food very easily and just didn't want to eat, he just seemed aggravated that I would even put food in his tank that often. Feeding him every three days he was a lot more alert and active and ready to accept food.

And lettuce can contain many good vitamins, it's just iceburg lettuce that's no good. I can never get my ghost shrimp to eat seaweed. :/

[Agnate]

Yeah, one of my Ceylons stays a bit more rounded than my other one, so he gets a tad overfed at times. But he doesn't hate the food by any stretch, hehe.

I have a larger Abei (about 3 inches), and I feed him every day (which I probably shouldn't). However, most days I don't feed him very much, just enough to give him something to chew on, so I figure it balances itself out.