The Puffer Forum

Nope, frozen. All the local stores around here have them. I didn't have any luck with freeze dried food really, it didn't interest them much.

dang... then can't get it here

Blackworms or small earthworms are good for putting weight onto them.

My fish love FD krill/plankton. I also crush it to feed to the blackworms & earthworms.

PP ohhh that is a cool idea. I wonder if I could do a DIY earth worm set up outside.

I still got to find those reamshorns though

J-P wrote:

bazil323 wrote:They will overindulge. Some may even do so to the point of illness or even death. I believe there were some pics floating around of a puffer that actually ate so much it literally burst apart.

Really? I thought it puffed up and did that...

Haven't been on for a bit, so this reply is a bit late. You may be right. I just heard about it, and the reports were that it was due to eating too much. It, perhaps, was a combination? I don't know why a puffer would be able to puff itself so much that it burst. I was too grossed out by the thought to go looking for it.

I have heard of puffers puffing and bursting because they were aged and had weak muscles that tore. I have never heard of one eating itself to death (other than constipation)

Isnt that what they do when they puff is swallow water into there stomach and it fills up to puff up there whole body? So although i agree that feeding to much is a real health concerne i just cant comprehend how they would burst from it.

Puffers have no off switch. They literally have no idea they have eaten to much. Think of how much mass some puffers put on during feeding( especially lurkers). Over feeding just from a physical aspect is bad news. let alone the impact on water quality. My modestus love mussels,krill,shrimp, algae wafers,(just about anything)but not squid.

My SAP knows when to stop. He will eat about 8 blackworms, then just quit. even if he sees more of them. I know he sees them.

yea i have this problem as well one of my gsp's ike will eat all day while my other one will eat until i guess he is full and swim off as the mollies and ike eat all the rest of the food.

My SAPs also don't eat all their food if they don't want to. And having 300+ Snails and 200+ shrimp in the tank with them that lasted for about a week, they pigged out, but didn't kill themselves doing it.

I images I saw were of a Fahaka (I believe) that has split a seam from puffing (I think). One image with the injury near the spine and the other was on the side (2 different fish)

for some reason 2 of my 3 SAPs LOVE the algae chips I toss in for my plecos & shrimp ....

so much so that one is HUGE!!

EDIT:

The nutters won't eat the June bugs I toss in there