The Puffer Forum

Done--good luck figuring out what that is.

k now i know what surlaW is... what is giblet??

testing walrus surlaW giblet testing

It's surlaW now.

aww i liked giblet... its funnier XD

Oh, no way! surlaW is hilarious!

I vote surlaW. If there's a censor, I'd rather surlaW than giblet.

+1 lol

sevenyearnight wrote:Also, this has already been addressed many times, do not feed puffers MTS, malaysian trumpet snails, their shells are too hard and it can break the puffer's teeth. Please stop suggesting this.

I don't understand your position on MTS. I maintain a 5 G aquarium in which I raise MTS by the hundreds. I have had my GSP for 3 years now. I keep it in full marine saline conditions, do proper water exchanges, manage phosphates to keep algal growth at a minimum and feed the GSP a regular diet of freez dried shrimp, crab meat and MTS. It gets 2-3 MTS daily, each about 1 cm long and 2-3 mm wide at the opening of the shell. He absolutely craves them and rips them off the long tweezers on which they are offered. I have worked with aquarists both at the Shark Reef at Mandalab Bay and at the Mirage (both in Las Vegas) where large puffers are kept. I have witnessed them having to use electric grinders to attempt to reduce the teeth on these large puffers. I have also myself anestitized GSP to reduce their teeth size. My GSP is extremely healthy and has exhibited no problem in quickly eating these MTS. It is obvious to me that MTS of this size (my GSP is about 4" in length) are not too hard so as to jeopardize my fish.

Smaller MTS have thinner shells.

Pufferpunk wrote:Smaller MTS have thinner shells.

PP, is it OK then to feed small MTS to our puffs? Because I think I can get those for free at the LFS.

Only if they're tiny, 1/4" or smaller.

I would personally avoid them. They soon grow. Also how big is tooth breaking? This varies between snails and indeed puffers. So i would get other less deadly feeder snails

I am an old man. I have learned that I don't have all the answers. But, what I have learned is that there is nothing like experience to tell you what works and what doesn't. So, for those of you who say such things as, "avoid MTS" and "keep your GSP at brackish conditions, at most", then avoid MTS and never bring your GSP up to full marine salinity. All I can tell you is that for the last 2 years my GSP is absolutely thriving on multiple, small MTS daily, loves the full salinity and even loves the company of a clownfish and a yellow tailed blue damsel (both of which are not supposed to be placed together nor are they supposed to be with a GSP). Before I added the clownfish and damsel I consulted with a young aquarist I worked with in Las Vegas. He asked about the "personality" of the GSP. My GSP had been with other fish when I first purchased it in fresh water conditions and appeared afraid of his own shadow. Given that "personality", when it was put into a tank by itself and slowely (over months) brought up to full salinity I added a very small clown and an equally small damsel. These three live in a 30 gallon. I have no plans on adding anything else. They all get along very well. They even compete for the same food (crab and shrimp), often tearing at the same food pieces. So, the moral of my story is "Consult with someone your respect. Use common sense. Experiment slowly and cautiously. And watch your animals carefully to observe their reactions to what you are doing." That's the best advice I can give.

Usually people say to bring GSPs to full marine conditions.... just sayin

Salmon wrote:Usually people say to bring GSPs to full marine conditions.... just sayin

I do have mine at full marine salinity and have had it so for over a year. (Almost) everything I have read recommends that. It must be done slowly over a period of many weeks. Because they are scale-less fish, full salinity is the best environment for them.