GSP is ALWAYS hungry.

[laauurreeennnn]

Hi all! I've had my GSP for 5 days now and I noticed that he is always hungry. I actually feel like I feed him more than I am supposed to. Typically I would feed him two big freeze dried brine shrimps in the morning when I wake up and at 9pm. A couple times I would drop a couple snails in the tank just for him to hunt around and keep his beak trimmed down during the day. But today I noticed that he is constantly begging me for food like a dog would. He would stare at me for a minute and then skim the top of the water to see if I dropped him any food. Then he would proceed to look all over the tank for more food. I have caught him a couple times eating the sand and spitting it out (is that safe for him?). I feed him to the point where his belly gets round but not too round.

Is there anything I can do to get him to not be so hungry or constantly beg me for food? Should I just feed him more? I read around that they could go without eating for days but I don't think my little buddy can especially since he's always begging for food. Should I not feed him for a day and see if his behavior changes or not? I don't want to get him sick though. All the advice and help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you again for the help!

[fahucker]

Well you can not over feed them. Usually when they come up to the tank and look at you it isn't always for food. What it is that GSP are quite personable as in they recognize their owner. Although they could relate you to food. But I know it is easy to wanna feed them all the time but you need to stand strong. Snails should only be fed a few times a week like 2-3. What you might wanna try is feeding him something heartier like an earthworm. My fahaka can eat 2+ cubes of blood worms but he can only eat less than half an earthworm.
Also if he is a juvenile you should feed him 6 days a week and try either feeding him at the same time everyday so he knows when eating time is and when not eating time is!
I don't see why picking up sand and spitting it out would cause any problems unless he is actually eating the sand...so I am not quite sure about that one but I am sure PufferPunk will put her word in at one point in time!

Best of Luck and Welcome to TPF! any pics of him and the set up you can post?!

[sevenyearnight]

Hi there,
Begging constantly for food while you're within view is just something puffers do lol! Feeding him once a day, 6x a week, is the recommendation. Feeding until the belly is just rounded, like you've been doing, is great. Snails as well are a great choice, not so much the dried brine shrimp though. You can get some non-seasoned, uncooked seafood from a grocery store, like mussels, shrimp, squid etc. I also like to include tilapia and red wriggler worms, (available in bait shops or the bait section at Wal-mart) to offer some thiaminase (An enzyme that inhibits the body's ability to uptake b1) free/low food sources. If the seafood is fresh, freeze it first, and thaw/ soak the food in a bit of tank water (Don't use straight tap) with the addition of vitamins, such as vitachem and Selcon to make sure they are getting balanced nutrition, as freezing does break some of the nutritional value, but it is important to freeze to kill bacteria and or parasites.

What is your puffer's name?

[fahucker]

Great addition SYN!

[laauurreeennnn]

Well you can not over feed them. Usually when they come up to the tank and look at you it isn't always for food. What it is that GSP are quite personable as in they recognize their owner. Although they could relate you to food. But I know it is easy to wanna feed them all the time but you need to stand strong. Snails should only be fed a few times a week like 2-3. What you might wanna try is feeding him something heartier like an earthworm. My fahaka can eat 2+ cubes of blood worms but he can only eat less than half an earthworm.
Also if he is a juvenile you should feed him 6 days a week and try either feeding him at the same time everyday so he knows when eating time is and when not eating time is!
I don't see why picking up sand and spitting it out would cause any problems unless he is actually eating the sand...so I am not quite sure about that one but I am sure PufferPunk will put her word in at one point in time!

Best of Luck and Welcome to TPF! any pics of him and the set up you can post?!

Thank you! This is really going to help me. I had a F8 before my GSP and he wasn't as persistent with food as my GSP is haha But I will have to back off then and feed him a couple times a day and only that. I currently go to school in the city so I'll have to wait when it rains for the earthworms to come out on to the sidewalks. I will definitely try that though. I haven't tried giving him bloodworms yet and that was my next try on food with him. I just need to find a petstore around me.

And my GSP's name is Chewy He is about an inch and spare change with tail. And he is currently in a 30 gallon tank FW for now. When I finally get situated at school I will start raising the salinity up slowly.

[laauurreeennnn]

Hi there,
Begging constantly for food while you're within view is just something puffers do lol! Feeding him once a day, 6x a week, is the recommendation. Feeding until the belly is just rounded, like you've been doing, is great. Snails as well are a great choice, not so much the dried brine shrimp though. You can get some non-seasoned, uncooked seafood from a grocery store, like mussels, shrimp, squid etc. I also like to include tilapia and red wriggler worms, (available in bait shops or the bait section at Wal-mart) to offer some thiaminase (An enzyme that inhibits the body's ability to uptake b1) free/low food sources. If the seafood is fresh, freeze it first, and thaw/ soak the food in a bit of tank water (Don't use straight tap) with the addition of vitamins, such as vitachem and Selcon to make sure they are getting balanced nutrition, as freezing does break some of the nutritional value, but it is important to freeze to kill bacteria and or parasites.

What is your puffer's name?

Thank you for this! I really needed more advice on some food to feed him. I was actually thinking about the bait that walmarts sell and if I could feed them to my GSP. I just wasn't sure if they aren't soaked in chemicals or bad stuff, you know. And what you added about the fresh seafood was very very helpful! I don't have anymore snails so changing up his diet will be good for him! I figured the brine shrimp wasn't hitting the spot for him.

And his name is Chewy, after Chewbacca of course and well he chews everything too haha

[sevenyearnight]

Thanks fahucker
I will say that you definitely can over feed puffers, puffers can eat themselves silly! *Some* will stop eating when they're full, but most won't, some will eat themselves to death. It's also not conducive to water quality, and they already have a serious bioload output. Obesity is also a serious health concern.
Purely aesthetically speaking, I think obese puffers look goofy, and kind of sad.

[sevenyearnight]

Chewy is a cute name! I know I'd be a nerd and make chewbacca noises at him, and I'd pretend that he was making them.

[laauurreeennnn]

Thanks fahucker
I will say that you definitely can over feed puffers, puffers can eat themselves silly! *Some* will stop eating when they're full, but most won't, some will eat themselves to death. It's also not conducive to water quality, and they already have a serious bioload output. Obesity is also a serious health concern.
Purely aesthetically speaking, I think obese puffers look goofy, and kind of sad.

He actually stops eating when he's full. It really is impressive. He would just leave the food alone and swim around again. I just want to make sure he lasts a little bit longer than my F8. I was really crushed when he passed :/

And thank you! I think he's a cutie. I try not to make the sounds as often though haha I'm a pretty big nerd so I thought it was a perfect name. My F8's name was Spock

[sevenyearnight]

Yeah my puffer also doesn't seem inclined to over eat either, but I've heard some bad stories from other people, some really bad. So I mentioned it just in case

[sevenyearnight]

I agree with fahucker, sifting through the sand is harmless. Mine does that often, it appears to be a natural behavior.

[fahucker]

Yeah lol I saw a really really fat mbu at my LFS and it was sad all he did was lay around on the bottom of the tank...its sad...but its not my puffer! I told the manager and hes like oh ohk ill watch him! But my fahaka will chew on the crushed argonite and spit it out! So really he is trimming his own beak

[sevenyearnight]

I'm sorry to hear of your F8 passing. What happened? (if you don't mind talking about it.)

Fahucker, that does sound sad about that poor mbu!

[fahucker]

Terrible! dude was a douche! but anyways they had a target puffer that looked great! maybe they got him that way! their puffers are gone like with in the first week they have them!

[sevenyearnight]

LFS's must have odd employment applications, I imagine the ones they hire look something like this-

Please mark the following that apply to you:
[X] Pretentious
[ ] Honest
[ ] Many years experience in fish keeping
[ ] Some experience in fish keeping
[X] No experience in fish keeping
[ ] Courteous
[X] Douche
[X] Willing to wear a polo shirt