The Puffer Forum

TOPuffers wrote:Thank you for the info on Malaysian trumpet snails, pollypuff! We are going to try those, as our LFS is willing to give us some this weekend.

I really want to get a nice snail population going, as our DPs do not seem to like their freeze dried munchies

I would try frozen, not freeze dried. Puffers can be a bit picky. You should be able to get frozen bloodworms just about anywhere and they last a long time.

moh wrote:Hadla, so are you suggesting I get a 4th puffer for my tank? I am certainly having pecking order problems. With 4, that allows 5 gallons per puffer

If it was me, I would... And if it didn't fix anything, I'd get rid of the most aggressive one.

Mine were so spoiled, they'd only eat live blackworms.

Thank you for that tip pollypuff - alright then - tomorrow we get the little dudes frozen bloodworms and some MTS.

They do eat their freeze dried stuff, but they like to watch it zoom around in the current for a little while before snacking. Guess I am used to our other freshwater fish with attack all food offered instantly

hadla wrote:If it was me, I would... And if it didn't fix anything, I'd get rid of the most aggressive one.

Ive already gotten rid of 1 dwarf puffer who was too aggressive. Less than a day later these 2 started picking on the 3rd.

If you haven't fed frozen before, here's what I do. I'm sure there are lots of ways to feed frozen, this is just what works best for me. I take one cube and put it in a small tupperware container with a lid and add a small amount of water from the tank and leave it for a few minutes until it thaws. Then I take a q-tip, scoop some up on the end and swish them off in the tank. You can also use tweezers, q-tips just work well for me. If you have shrimp in the tank they will also go nuts for bloodworms. You'll have leftovers, so just put the lid on the container and pop it into the fridge for the next day. 1 cube lasts me 2 days with feeding my dp's twice a day and my red-eye twice a day. I feed them like this for 2 days, skip a day, and then feed again.

moh wrote:

hadla wrote:If it was me, I would... And if it didn't fix anything, I'd get rid of the most aggressive one.

Ive already gotten rid of 1 dwarf puffer who was too aggressive. Less than a day later these 2 started picking on the 3rd.

:/ bigger tank time!! =D

OK so I will try the DPs on frozen bloodworms.

Now I have a new question - I have read that puffers will eat raw seafood. If we are having scallops for dinner, can I put a sliver of raw scallop in the tank for my puffers?

Absolutely!

Welcome! Love your husband's nickname for them. I lived in Buffalo for several years, loved visiting TO!

Also, can't wait to feed a little piece of scallop to my DP in the future! So shrimp will be OK too, PufferPunk?

Alll 3 of my dwarf puffers are getting along much better!! Only aggression I see if during or right after feeding them.
Mine eat frozen bloodworms, crushed snail or garlic soaked frozen brine. I have a little syringe thing I get the bloodworms in and then squeeze 1 worm out at a time for each puff to get. They all 3 dart to the top of the tank when they see the syringe appear in the water!

Puffer update - our 3 dwarf puffers (still nameless, we just can't come up with something fitting, and we may be rehoming 2 little guys) love their frozen bloodworms!

They zip to the top of the tank as soon as they see my husband with the eyedropper and their worm-tupperware and they line up, so well behaved when food is on its way lol

We now have a new issue at feeding time - the 3 Amano shrimp that live in the tank have ALSO decided that bloodworms are delicious, and they will now climb to the top of the driftwood and snatch worms AWAY from the puffers. The puffers have also started looking for the shrimp and trying to pull worms away from them. The shrimp are larger than the puffers, and hold their own, so I suppose the tug of war is harmless.

That's pretty normal. Shrimp will always compete for food. When the shrimp snatch a worm, they will typically dart away to eat it. Use that time to feed the DP's. Mine did that too. then one day a DP took a bite of shrimp and realized that they, too, tasted good. After that 1 bite, I was unable to keep any shrimp in that tank.

Meanwhile my GSP is terrified of my peppermint shrimp.

Hillehaus wrote:
Meanwhile my GSP is terrified of my peppermint shrimp.

That is too funny!

Amano shrimp can be like piranhas with food lol they grab as many as they can hold and run