IMO, A great thing to add to a puffer's food

rengnath · Post by **rengnath** » Thu Dec 31, 2009 8:32 pm

Hello Everyone!
I was at my LFS a week ago to pick up some freeze dried food, which I have always fed my puffer along with occasional pond snails. I always bought plankton, but this time I also picked up some krill. Ive read that you should soak freeze dried food in vitamin water, but I never have because I wasnt sure what exaclty was meant by "vitamin water." So this time I asked if they had any supplements to soak the food in before I fed my puffer and was introduced to the product Kent Marine Zoe. I wasnt sure about spending $15 on such a small bottle of supplement, but I decided to give it a try. I have soaked my GSPs plankton and krill in the Zoe about 3 times, and it has definetly made a difference. My puffer hasnt grown much since I got it, and it has never gained any weight. I was sure it didnt have a parasite though because its feces are no where near stringy. After 3 feedings in the past 10 days of so with Zoe, my puffer has gotten much brighter, and his belly has become extremly round all the time instead of just after a feeding. After I fed the puffer before, in about 24 hours he would be skinny again. He never has had a black belly or anything like that during the day, only while he sleeps and he has always looked fine during the day. NOW, he has become a beautiful bright green, and has a nice round belly ALL THE TIME. I am completly impressed with this product and never realized what a difference something like this would make or I wouldve done it a long time ago. So for anyone like me who has never added any vitamins or minerals to their puffers freeze dried food, I would recommend this. It worked great for me, and I will continue using it. I always thought my puffer was fine because I fed him the plankton and snails, but its obvious that he wasnt getting enough (if any) vitamins and minerals.

I just thought I would let everyone know my experience with this product. I have a GSP in a 30 gallon tank @ a specific gravity of 1.017 right now. He looks so much better since I started using this. The information from the label on the bottle is below. My only complaint for this product is it has a potent smell. I keep it in a freezer bag in my drawer with a box of baking soda, otherwise it smells up the whole area. Comments welcome.

Kent Marine Zoe: Vitamins, Minerals, and Amino Acids Supplement - Price @ LFS (Probably higher than at other retailers) $14.99

Bottle states: Kent Marine Zoe contains high dosages of natural marine algae, such as spirulina, to provide essential vitamins and amino acids not available in dry, frozen, or even live food sources. Zoe (pronounced zoay) is the Greek word for life. It means self reproducing life and is the root for word for Zoology. Four years of development have produced a refined product that will give you exceptional results. Does not contain glycerine, polysorbates, or sugar.

Directions: Shake well before using. To use as a food soak: in a small containter, liberally apply Kent Marine Zoe directly on dry, fresh, or frozen food and allow to soak refrigerated overnight. Then add the contents of the container to the aquarium. For instant feeding, apply several drops directly on any dry, fresh or frozen food and soak for 5-10 minutes before feeding. To use directly in aquarium: add 5ml (1 tsp) per 50 gallons of aquarium water twice weekly for invertebrates.

When raising brine shrimp and other live aquatic foods, add 5 drops per liter of rearing container water 30 minutes before feeding. Kent Marine Zoe increases the nutritional value of brine shrimp which are normally deficient in essential vitamins.

Kent Marine Zoe is the perfect compliment to Kent Marine Zoecon. When used together, they fortified foods with all the essential lipids, omega-3, vitamins and amino acids.

Guaranteed Analysis: Vitamin A ... 5,000 IU/mL
Vitamin B12 ... .5 mcg/mL
Thiamine ... 881.8 mcg/mL
Niacin ... 529.1 mcg/mL
Pyridocine ... 529.1 mcg/mL
Ascorbic Acid ... 881.1 mcg/mL

L!$A · Post by **L!$A** » Thu Dec 31, 2009 8:35 pm

Thanks for the info rengnath, another food that I feed my puffer, that helps with colour are King worms, very inexpensive as well!!

rengnath · Post by **rengnath** » Thu Dec 31, 2009 8:40 pm

L!$A wrote:Thanks for the info rengnath, another food that I feed my puffer, that helps with colour are King worms, very inexpensive as well!!

Hi Lisa,
Are they live? I have never heard of King worms before.

J-P · Post by **J-P** » Thu Dec 31, 2009 9:01 pm

yea me too .. what's a king worm?

PolishPuff · Post by **PolishPuff** » Thu Dec 31, 2009 9:06 pm

what is a king worm for 500, alex.

L!$A · Post by **L!$A** » Thu Dec 31, 2009 9:09 pm

Yes, they are live! & they eat carrots which give them carotene which in return makes your puffer or any fish for that matter bring out their colours

It looks like this, and they have a somewhat hard casing (not slimy!) You can hear the crunching as your puff gobbles it up!

J-P · Post by **J-P** » Thu Dec 31, 2009 9:10 pm

That's NASTY!! looks like a centipede ... exotic pet shops? Normal LFS won't have them ...

L!$A · Post by **L!$A** » Thu Dec 31, 2009 9:11 pm

I can get them from any pet store out here, you can get about 100 for $8

PolishPuff · Post by **PolishPuff** » Thu Dec 31, 2009 9:12 pm

can you get it at any LFS or is this on line purchase

busybones · Post by **busybones** » Thu Dec 31, 2009 9:57 pm

Those look like super worms....Pookie loves them too! You should be able to get them a bit cheaper (depending on your area) I can get them for $2 (50 count) sometimes cheaper at Reptile shows..

rengnath · Post by **rengnath** » Thu Dec 31, 2009 10:13 pm

Ill try going on Saturday to a pet warehouse by my house. They have a reptile section so that would probably be my best bet. How big are these things?

J-P · Post by **J-P** » Thu Dec 31, 2009 10:17 pm

a little off topic ... but is 100 cherry shrimp for $25 a good deal?

busybones · Post by **busybones** » Thu Dec 31, 2009 10:20 pm

rengnath wrote:Ill try going on Saturday to a pet warehouse by my house. They have a reptile section so that would probably be my best bet. How big are these things?

They are about 2 inches...Meal worms are great too! they are around an inch long or so...good for smaller puffs but my big Fahaka likes them too cause they are wiggly.....

rengnath · Post by **rengnath** » Thu Dec 31, 2009 10:27 pm

busybones wrote:
rengnath wrote:Ill try going on Saturday to a pet warehouse by my house. They have a reptile section so that would probably be my best bet. How big are these things?
They are about 2 inches...Meal worms are great too! they are around an inch long or so...good for smaller puffs but my big Fahaka likes them too cause they are wiggly.....

That might be to big for my GSP. Ill try to find them though to see if they have smaller ones.

The only thing I dont like about live foods is they are a little inconvinient if you buy them in bulk because you have another thing to take care of.

Post by **Pufferpunk** » Thu Dec 31, 2009 10:29 pm

Vitamins are always a good thing!

Be careful feeding those worms to your puffers. They are extremely fatty & their outer skin (chiton) are very difficult to digest. Even for reptiles.

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IMO, A great thing to add to a puffer's food

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