Tetraodon Schoutedeni (Spotted Congo Puffer) food

[christiansakai]

Hi, I am a new member of this forum. I have three Tetraodon Schoutedeni, around 2inch (5 cm size) each.

They ONLY eats frozen bloodworms. I think the LFS or whoever got them the first place only feed them frozen bloodworms. Up to today I already tried:
- NLS betta pellets
Obviously won't work

- Hikari Vibra bites
I've seen some people feed them this from Youtube, so I tried it. My schoutedenis tried chomping on it but spat it out and refused to eat it again

- Frozen mysis shrimp
They aren't even interested in chomping it

- Freeze dried krill
They chomped some but then not interested at it anymore

- Frozen brine shrimp
They tried chomping on it but spat it out and refused to eat it again

- Raw shrimp
At first they weren't interested at all, but I tried waving it to make it look like it was moving. They tried chomping, but didn't seem to able to pull off meat, and lose interest. Waving it on them again don't work anymore.

- Raw scallop
They weren't interested at all

Tonight I am going to try:
- Raw clam
- Live ramshorn/bladder snail

I don't know what else to do if they refuse to even eat raw clams or ramshorn/bladder snails. This tank is overrun by MTS though, but I doubt they actually ate those hard-shelled MTS.

EDIT:
I tried the food above after starving them for 3 days, still didn't work. I just tried frozen tubifex worms, raw clams, they weren't interested at all. They were interested in bladder snails. So this means I have to feed either bloodworms or snails that I need to culture, but most likely frozen bloodworms will be their staple.

Help me!

[Pufferpunk]

library/feeding/problems-feeding-your-puffer/
Where did you find the schoutedeni? Mind telling me how much they were?

[christiansakai]

library/feeding/problems-feeding-your-puffer/
Where did you find the schoutedeni? Mind telling me how much they were?

Monster Aquarium (NYC Flushing), I bought each for $100

[Pufferpunk]

Great price! Have you tried soaking foods in garlic, as that article I linked you to suggests? Also, you can get live worms at Walmart.

[christiansakai]

Great price! Have you tried soaking foods in garlic, as that article I linked you to suggests? Also, you can get live worms at Walmart.

Thank you! I think Schoutedeni's prices are going down because now there are quite some number of people that can breed it. I will check that article, will try it tonight, hopefully it will work!

[Pufferpunk]

Yeah, I'm hoping the price will go even lower, as I want 3!

[christiansakai]

Yeah, I'm hoping the price will go even lower, as I want 3!

So that garlic juice didn't work. Okay this means I am stuck with bloodworm for the rest of these schoutedeni's life.

[Pufferpunk]

Spoiled brats! I have a Hairy puffer who will only eat live earthworms.

[astrid37]

I have 7 schoutedeni and they are all picky about the size of the food in addition to the type of food. Mysis shrimp are too small, I think. The following is the result of lots of trial and error.
Would recommend trying
-thawed raw shrimp and thawed raw mussels cut into pinkie nail or smaller size pieces
- small (but not mini) freeze-dried krill soaked in water and a few drops of Vitachem for a minimum of 2 hours (I also smoosh them gently with the back of a spoon in the water to get air bubbles out.)
- live blackworms (these are a universal favorite of mine). I get them from here:https://aquaticfoods.com/BlackwormCareM.html
- thawed hikari frozen krill . I get them from here: https://m.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_ ... catid=3710
- the ramshorns might be too big for them. For my 3'' schoutedeni, I smush the ramshorns with the back of a spoon before feeding them to the puffers. They have trouble eating them otherwise and usually give up if I don't do this. I feel horrible smashing the snails like this, but all of the puffers LOVE them.
Hope this helps.

[christiansakai]

I have 7 schoutedeni and they are all picky about the size of the food in addition to the type of food. Mysis shrimp are too small, I think. The following is the result of lots of trial and error.
Would recommend trying
-thawed raw shrimp and thawed raw mussels cut into pinkie nail or smaller size pieces
- small (but not mini) freeze-dried krill soaked in water and a few drops of Vitachem for a minimum of 2 hours (I also smoosh them gently with the back of a spoon in the water to get air bubbles out.)
- live blackworms (these are a universal favorite of mine). I get them from here:https://aquaticfoods.com/BlackwormCareM.html
- thawed hikari frozen krill . I get them from here: https://m.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_ ... catid=3710
- the ramshorns might be too big for them. For my 3'' schoutedeni, I smush the ramshorns with the back of a spoon before feeding them to the puffers. They have trouble eating them otherwise and usually give up if I don't do this. I feel horrible smashing the snails like this, but all of the puffers LOVE them.
Hope this helps.

Thank you, this helps a lot. Also, off topic. Do you keep your puffer with plants? I am wondering if they bites plants?

[astrid37]

Very glad it helped.

Yep, mine sure do love to chomp plants.

[skink]

I just purchased 4 small ones last week. They are doing well but not very food motivated so far; they've been swimming up and down the sides of the tank since i got them, though they sit on branches occasionally. Mine are very picky with food so far; they are taking blackworms, brine and bloodworms, but not enthusiastically.

[astrid37]

Ramshorn snails are a surefire hit in this house. You may want to try those. The ramshorns might be too big for them. For my 3'' schoutedeni, I smush the ramshorns with the back of a spoon before feeding them to the puffers. They have trouble eating them otherwise and usually give up if I don't do this. I feel horrible smashing the snails like this, but this has often been the best way to stimulate their appetite.

[DDR2]

Have you tried live red worms? They're bigger than bloodworms and blackworms, but smaller and easier to munch than nightcrawlers. Live ghost shrimp are a good starter, too. Just make sure to gut load them first. I've got picky puffers of my own. My big boy also likes fresh shrimp (freshwater; he won't touch them if they're saltwater shrimp. Unless they're frozen; then he'll eat them. Go figure!). If you can find fiddler crabs small enough, try those. I have yet to see a puffer that won't at least try one. Hope this helps. Good luck.

[Niblet]

you HAVE to get them eating pond snails or ramshorn snails,,,for thier long tern health,, bloodwroms are ok once in awhile but snails should be the mainstay