alternative diet for teeth?

[kido]

guys, just got myself a fahaka..

where im located though, there isn't any place to source snails.. any ideas what alternate foods i can give this guy to make sure its teeth don't outgrow? the only thing i can source here with any regularity is market shrimp (dead) do you guys think the shrimp shells would be enough for maintenance of its teeth? i feed him mainly shrimp & cut up fish..

[cobra1713]

once he gets large enough you could prob use mussels with the shells, i know ive seen a mbu eat a mussel with the shel on so i dont see why a good sized fahaka couldnt eat a small mussell ecery once in a while with a little shell on it just to shave his teeth down a bit, but you would have to freeze them first to make sure to kill any parasites and then thaw them out. but as far as smaller food, you might be able to mail order some snails and start breeding them, it really only takes a small tank and some time and youll have a huge population going.

[kido]

thanks will try mussels when he's big enough.. what size would you suggest i could use mussel shells though? also, can i get away with just feeding shrimp shells til then?

[StormySkiez]

IMO shrimp shell is not hard enough to keep puff teeth trimmed. I pull the mussel out of he shell and put the shell in the tank. My puffers go after every little bit left on the shell and then some. Check my gallery pic . I have also cut up cooked frozen thawed shell on snow crab, held it in the tank to feed the puffers. To much waste for me to throw it in. It's a pain but that is what puffers need is the hard shell to keep the teeth trimmed. You could order ramshorns from ebay, QT them and breed them in a small tank. There are some topics in the library about breeding snails.

Any shell that feels hard should be good enough. Shrimp shell feels soft to me.

[Pufferpunk]

Why do you take the mussel out ofd the shell? That's the best part! As the puffer is trying to get at the meat, he's scraping his teeth on the shell--trimming them. I rarely bother to feed snails.

Excellent feeding ideas in our Library.

[StormySkiez]

If I didn't take out the mussel my puffers would explode. I hand feed them a reasonable amount of mussel then drop the shells in. They still scrape the shell for hours.

If I had not ever started a snail tank I would not be feeding snails.

[kido]

thanks guys.. we have a different type of mussels here.. the shells are colored green and they come from the sea, i'm not sure if those that you guys use are freshwater.. we usually buy them from the market (already dead).. i boil them until the shells open then remove and store until used to feed to my fish.. if i don't boil them the meat is too soggy and will spoil the water..

right now i only feed my fahaka market shrimp (with out shell) once i buy more from the market, i'll leave some of the shells on.. i recently also tried superworms..

[Pufferpunk]

Yes, they are messy foods but boiling removes many of the nutrients. Freeze to kill off any nasties & then thaw in room temp vitamin water. Remove any uneaten meat.

[Freshy]

I noticed my puffer will occasionally bite/chew on those dead coral bits that are scattered around the tank.
perhaps that's their natural way of keeping the teeth in check?.

Alternative 'diet'