Hi, I wanted to know what you all feed your GSP. I've had mine for 2 weeks now and because I work in a LFS I can feed him whatever he likes. And he likes a lot I have to say.
He eats live mysis, live shrimps, live blood worms, live white mosquito larvae, frozen fish, clams, snails, krill and now there are live rocks in his tank he seems to eat them too
What should I make his staple? Clams or shrimps? I think he's getting a bit fat at the moment but while he's recovering from his problems and getting used to marine water I'm fine with that.
Boxermom wrote:I'm tell you guys, the food article needs to be made much more prominent. This seems to be coming up several times a day now.
I know what's in the food article but I do not think everybody feeds exactly what's in that article. I just wondered what GSP get fed in reality.
Fish as an example. Who feeds fish? I feed small fish and my puffer seems to love them. I never see him eat as fast and hungry as when I feed him small dead fish. Maybe I can learn a new food as I hear what other people feed their GSP.
Or am I doing something wrong here? Then please tell me as I do not see what's wrong in comparing diets for your animals. Everybody has other ideas. There are food articles for dogs too. They tell me to feed my dog some dry basic foods. Instead I feed my dogs raw meet and bones with some vegetable. Everybody can learn and try new things.
I feed my puffers everything from the food article that they will actualy eat. A large varied diet is probably best, however some puffers are picky and wont eat certain things.
Rocker wrote:Fish is generally not a good diet for puffers. There is a large enough variation of foods to offer them in order to omit fish from a GSP diet.
But what is the problem with fish then? Since a lot of puffers eat their tank mates if too small I thought fish was fine for him. He was of course wild caught and I really see a natural reaction in him when feeding him a fish. He turns, takes of the head and then just slurps the rest in like spaghetti. By the way he does that I thought fish was a part of his diet in the wild.
I feed him just 1 or 2 small fish a week, the rest is normal puffer diet.
I dont really think they eat much fish in the wild. They stick more to shelled foods I believe. I do know that fish is not so good for them, as it is has a lot of fat. I wouldnt feed him fish myself. Depending on what type of fish your are talking about too, they can be carrying disease. I find that my puffer will eat anything I put in the tank. He even eats algae waffers and marine pellets and flakes. His favorite foods are peas (doesnt get these often though), squid and prawn. He gets shell on mussel quite often as I have stopped feeding snails the past few months.
The fish I feed are very small baby-fish that are caught with mysis. They die during transport to the LFS where I work. Some are dead, some are dying. So they are very small and I freeze them to get rid of the diseases.
But if fish is not healthy I'll stop feeding fish.
I thought that they were very healthy because they were eating plankton and thus are full of nutrients
I also work for an LFS. Ask yourself the question, "Why did these fish die on the way here"? They most likely died from the pollutants that build up the bags during transport, not natural causes.
FYI, freezing does not destroy all diseases present. For this reason I rarely recommend frozen bloodworms, as they can be ripe with diseases and trematodes of some sort.
I know that those of us who work at LFS's believe our store is the best and no one can top us, but none of our suppliers are the best. There is no such thing as a perfect supplier. You need to stop feeding your puffer those fish, there is no telling what they may have.
sstimac wrote:I also work for an LFS. Ask yourself the question, "Why did these fish die on the way here"? They most likely died from the pollutants that build up the bags during transport, not natural causes.
FYI, freezing does not destroy all diseases present. For this reason I rarely recommend frozen bloodworms, as they can be ripe with diseases and trematodes of some sort.
I know that those of us who work at LFS's believe our store is the best and no one can top us, but none of our suppliers are the best. There is no such thing as a perfect supplier. You need to stop feeding your puffer those fish, there is no telling what they may have.
They die from lack of oxygen. Mysis uses all the oxygen in the transport buckets. The fish are in with the mysis as an accidental catch. I'll never feed dead fish from bags with fish I measured the values of their water and some are in water as loaded as seawater Some die, they can not be saved after that trauma.
The shop I work in has a very good quality and high standards. I'm a biologist so I'm very carefull and well aware of what I'm doing
Marx wrote:... I'm very carefull and well aware of what I'm doing
If you were, you wouldn't be feeding a GSP feeder fish, and if you continue to do so, you should be very careful about the species of fish you feed it. Not all feeders are created equal.
By the way he does that I thought fish was a part of his diet in the wild.
Some die, they can not be saved after that trauma.
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