Live Fish for Piscivore Suvattii?

[pufferpuggirl]

Hi,
I know my two suvattii are fish eaters, but the question is: Should I actually feed live fish to them? And if so, what sort of fish should it be?

They ate two of my tetras that I wasn't able to get out of the tank. I did not get to see it, as it happened during the night. I have been feeding them frozen bloodworm and good pieces of shrimp, which they must like because it disappears during the night as well. I always have my puffers best interest in mind and I'd like to give them some of the things they'd be getting if they were wild and free.

I can see that mine are growing. We went back to the LFS that I got my two suvattii from and they still have some of the other siblings and theirs look rather small compared to my two. Something funny happens to all the fish I bring to this house, they all get huge! Even the snails!! Speaking of snails, the suvattii have not bothered with the couple of snails that happened to get in that tank by accident. Maybe they are too small and the puffers don't notice them, I don't know. I wonder what would happen if I put one of those huge Apple snails in there??

Any suvattii owners out there?

Cheers,
Suz

[pufferpuggirl]

Hey I have just resized some pics, here's one of the piscivore in question .... Natascha!

[Troender]

Believe it or not: in Norway it's not legal to feed with living fish. But I think that must be the only country in the world where that is a problem. I wouldn't feed with living fish anyway, because of the chance of transferring IPs and also some other illnesses that is transferred by fishes eating other fishes (i.e. some say that fish TB is transferred that way - I am still not absolutely sure whether it's for sure, but it sounds sensible).

[andy198712]

i stick to frozen prawn and muscle and shelled cockle,

i wanna try something new though, tried shrimp and he couldnt care less lol

gonna try breed some shrimp to try again,

alot of people dont recomend live fish, i guess if you quarinteen'd (sp) it for long enough ect ect.....

i'd like to try a crab or a cray fish i think.

i just ant to keep my suvatti's mind happy so he doesnt get bored

[Pufferpunk]

If you really feel he needs fish in his diet, go the the produce dept of your grocery store & buy strips of smelt or whatever fish is cheap there. Freeze & thaw in vitamin water, just like most any foods you'd feed him.

[pufferpuggirl]

I wasn't saying I felt that my Suvattii's should have fish, I was only asking if anyone thought it would be okay to give them live fish since that's what they would eat if they were in their natural habitat.

I put a cube of bloodworm and some pieces of shrimp in after I've turned off the lights, and it's gone by morning. If I put food in during the day, while it's light, or while the lights are still on, they won't eat and it just lays in the tank and starts to putrify. So I am feeding them only at night now.

I'm just trying to keep my puffers happy, because if I were stuck in a box I'd want to be as happy as possible.

[Myaj]

Read this article, its a pretty unbiased view of both sides:

library/feeding/feeders/

If you do decide to feed live fish, there are health concerns you need to address such as the type of fish (livebearers are best), the health/parasite load potential, etc. Its often best to breed your own supply that you know is healthy.

[marksrush]

If you really feel he needs fish in his diet, go the the produce dept of your grocery store & buy strips of smelt ...

Man, PP, if I could find smelts - frozen or fresh - I'd buy them for myself! I just can't find them anymore. My dad used to cook those on Fridays for us when I was a kid, and I loved them.

[Pufferpunk]

Folks fishing smelt out of Lake Michigan all summer here.

I highly suggest not throwing cubes of anything into your tank w/o melting & rinsing off the "juice". All that adds is nitrate to your tank.

[Dadof4]

If you really feel he needs fish in his diet, go the the produce dept of your grocery store & buy strips of smelt ...

Man, PP, if I could find smelts - frozen or fresh - I'd buy them for myself! I just can't find them anymore. My dad used to cook those on Fridays for us when I was a kid, and I loved them.

I go up to the Ashland, WI area every spring and catch them. Now, them's some good eatin'!