My puffer is eating Macro Algae,Normal?

[DRRT]

Hmmm, I personally can't really see the spot you are referring to. It doesn't look like any diseases I've seen in the wild puffers out here. I did notice he looks a little on the thin side (as compared to wild and personally kept Canthigaster spp. puffers)

Your tank by the way looks lovely. So do you have 2 damsel fish? I know for sure you have either an A. abdominalis or viagiensis (look the same as juv) and was that a possible C. vanderbilti? It was hard to see. Just wondering...

[Josh88]

Thanks,sorry more question and some of my limited info about the damsel.
I think he looks thin since I'm trying to keep him away from my macro and I am somewhat confused about feeding him. Is it okay that he picks at macro all day long,I'm looking at his belly as an indicator of when to feed him but I don't want to overfeed.
I'm very hesitant to use live nerite snails again,are they okay could I give him a disease with them?
I'm not sure how much to feed,any pics fo a just fed marine puffer for reference?
I'm trying to keep his teeth down. Would introducing some unseasoned fresh ahi poki into his diet help him?
I'm trying to diversify and get him on track.
Alright enough questions

The damsel is a Sergent Major(the species you just mentioned)I think,who will get big and mean(I hope he is something else).
If they would stay the size,since they eat whatever they find I'd have a half dozen of them.

Thanks about the tank,I posted it on nano-reef and got no response.
Guess they only pay attention to a tank with tons of coral
I'd have the tank almost bursting with coral,but with Aloha Coral's rather pricey frags,
unless I find it I'm not going to have it.
I got(partially built) the whole 20 L setup for $220 and I'm pretty happy since a tunze costs more than that.
The LR I have been culturing from the white dead stuff for the past 8 months,
it was in my 1 gallon then I transferred it to my 7 now it's in my 20.
I got to cherry pick the base,just took forever to make it colorful

[LilGreenPuffer]

You can feed nerite snails if you QT them, no prob.

Look at your puffer's vertical height, imagine 1/3 that, and feed until his/her stomach has gained that amount of height - i.e. until he/she is about 30% "taller." Agnate posted a diagram once; I couldn't find it again.

I'm not too clear on what ahi poki is, though as long as it's crunchy and raw, it will help.

[Josh88]

You've got to be in hawaii to know
It's basically ultra fresh fish that is usually cubed,spiced and eaten raw.
I'd use non spiced fish,but then again it's not crunchy..
I usually freeze the snails before I feed them,would that kill any perspective pests?

[LilGreenPuffer]

Yes, if you freeze for a full week. Some can survive less deep-freeze time than that.

If it's not crunchy, it won't help with the teeth.

[Josh88]

Okay that sounds simple enough
Every time he eats them,even though I've crushed them I hear lots of crunching.

[DRRT]

no, DON'T feed the ahi poke, for a couple of reasons:

puffers, particularly toby puffers, don't eat other fish, especially ahi (tuna for those who don't know)
I also don't know what the effects of the spices would have on the puffer's digestion

Go ahead and let the puffer munch on the macro algae, that's what he'd be eating anyway. One thing you might want to do is mix nori and maybe brine or mysis shimp in a concoction with some insta-gelatin, smear that on a rock that you can take in and out of the tank. This way, the puffer gets the food it needs, and has to bite it off the rock, helping to wear down its teeth.

Ya, that sergent will be real mean one day. Did you also collect that one from the wild as well?

You can always, i'm assuming, collect a bit of rock with lots of growth from the ocean, let it sit in a quarentine tank for a couple months, and see if there are little amphipods, copepods, and tiny brittle stars crawling over it. Then, if they survive the quarentine, take a rock or two from the tank and place it in the QT so that the new rock seeds the old one with the little critters. Then cycle the rocks so that you create a population of critters in a separate tank and have one in the tank that the puffer can munch on. This will help with the teeth and diet.

Hopefully Corvus can see this spot thing and help with that

[LilGreenPuffer]

A few puffers do eat fish. It'll say whether or not they do in the PufferPedia. (It'll say "piscavore," which means fish-eater.)

[DRRT]

this is true - i always forget about them because they tend to be fw

Canthigaster and Arothron spp. puffers don't regularly eat other fish in the wild

[Josh88]

Well when I was thinking poki,I was thinking plain without anything but for the reasons you mentioned I won't do it.
You don't need to worry about the teeth since I will freeze some snails for 2 weeks,
and since that is what he has been eating ever since I've got him(along with shrimp).
But his diet is going to be more broad,I'm just syaing I've got something that can grind his teeth down.

The damsel did come from the wild
It was added 4 days after I noticed something then wrote it off as nothing(it could be something)
I won't be doing it again,I'm going to QT everything I get for now on.

At the beach I found some ulva,placed it in a bucket then shook it but I didn't see any tiny critters
I'd really like to find pods,brittle stars and bristle worms for my tank since they would be great food for him.

Edit:
More questions so that I can establish a proper feeding schedule.(Sorry for all the question
Should the macro be free choice ?
Should I feed him daily,then skip one day out of the week?(according to the pufferpedia I should)
How many of the feedings should I be using 2 week "deep frozen" snails for his teeth,like 2X a week?
How often should I be feeding shell on,raw shrimp ? 1X a week?

[Corvus]

Sorry, I cannot see the spot thing either.
Nonethless, especially C. jactator are often effected by nematodes as DRRT noted and a assymetric belly is the most important symptom, especially when it is growing.

Did you have a look at the IP article in the library? : library/hospital/internal-parasites-pre ... treatment/
What anti-worm meds are available to you? Sera Nematol is one designed for aquarium use treating nematodes.

As a side note: of course it is good to prevent the introduction of parasites by treating/freezing foods, but the vast majority of parasites is introduced with the fishes themselves. So aside quarantine one of the best methods to prevent parasites is to buy from reliable sources (e.g. without white spot dieseases) and where fish underwent reasonable acclimation procedures.

[Josh88]

I've read that article 4 months ago
Almost anything med wise needs to be shipped,
there is a slim chance they have something but I'll swing by and see.
It wouldn't hurt to give him some medicated(soaked in) food to kill any possible IP,
since it would go through him then the carbon I run will absorb it so the meds won't bother
my tank's inverts.

All the fish I get a from the ocean(so far),but when I buy a non native fish(maybe a clown) i will go with my LFS that keeps everything in perfect condition.
One of the employees gave me a pamphlet,that had this site's information on puffers.
That same employee,talked to me about why you should QT fish and various other information.
Almost all the information they gave me I already knew but it's cool that they care.

[DRRT]

Sounds like you have a good place over there.

As for feeding, I don't know which macro alga they prefer. I may just have to try all sorts before you figure out which ones yours likes. Most of them will eat nori though. I would let him munch on the algae at any time, see how much he eats and then go from there. The more algae he eats, the less often i would feed the other stuff. Just try to mix it up and be sure he gets a variety. Shell on for the shrimp.

Ask away, that's why you're here.