New F8 puffer

[X24]

What should i feed my F8 puffer? For the time being he is in a 10 gallon freshwater tank, but within a week it'll be brackish, so thats not a porblem.

Back to my question, can they eat MTS's? i have loads of MTSs for my sand, but i was wondering if he'd eat them or not. also shouldn't he take shrimp or pellets?

[Boxermom]

No, MTS can break their teeth. There's a very good food article in our library. Few puffers eat pellets or dry foods.

[X24]

hmmm, well then i suppose i better start some pond snail breeding! i'm sure my yoyo's will enjoy a few aswell as the puffer!

[X24]

I got him eating frozen thawed shrimp tonight, takes chuncks out easily! i heard that if i can't get a good colony of pond snails going that i can also use shrimp that aren't shelled as an alternative....but this guy is so small that i couldn't give him a whole one, and if i cut off a piece there isn't going to be much shell left on the shrimp....should i just work fast on getting a good snail colony going?

[Boxermom]

A variety of food is best (see our food articles in the library). A F8's teeth don't grow as fast as an SAPs, so as long as they aren't noticably overgrown right now, no need to panic about the snails. Get some pond or ramshorn snails and start breeding them (there's a good article about that in our library as well). Just be careful about overfeeding, which is not good for them. Don't let him eat too much, just until his tummy is slightly rounded, not bulging.

[Fella]

No, MTS can break their teeth. There's a very good food article in our library. Few puffers eat pellets or dry foods.

I've had a different experience. My f8's would eat flake, pellet, wafer, anything. It wouldn't hurt to try. Of course, the best thing to do is to read the article on feeding in the library and go from there, but if you're stuck, you can always try dry food, making sure not to foul the tank.

[Boxermom]

I didn't say no puffers, I said few. :p

[X24]

Well, i'm getting on top of the snails, going to order a small colony this next week, and until then i can get some pond snails pretty easy, so i'll give him one or two this weekend.

I also picked up some salt mix and found a free hydrometer, so i think i'm going to start turning the water brackish with the w/c schedualed for friday. What specific gravity should i go for? 1.010?

[spoot]

Do no raise the salinity by more than 1.002 per week, otherwise you risk killing the beneficial bacteria. You got marine salt right? Because that's what you need.

[X24]

Will do! i do weekly w/c so it shouldn't be too hard. Probably keep him permanatly at 1.004 water, so i'll just do 50% w/c with 1.004 water every week and it should bring him to the correct gravity slow enough. And yes, i got Instant Ocean salt mix. I would have gone with the reef crystals since it is a better mix, but it was more expensive and i don't think it'll make a whole lot of difference as long as i'm not going full blown salt with a reef.

[Boxermom]

Not much difference at that point, but we do recommend 1.005-1.008 for F8s.