The Puffer Forum

I know fish can get ich and other stuff from their tankmates but what about from feeder shrimp? I am thinking of regularly feeding my gsp ghost shrimp and was wondering if i should quarantine them before i do or if it's safe to dump them in the tank with my fish?

A lot of folks do QT & gutload their shrimp before feeding to their puffers.

The safest way is to quarentine any live foods for at least 2 weeks, more if you see anything to indicate they aren't healthy.

plus the gut loading is good, since they have close to zipo nutrition (mostly water)

This maybe a really silly question but how do you gut load a shrimp???
Cheers
Lisa

Feed it food (preferablly vitamin enriched food) prior to feeding to your puffer.

Yes, usually you feed snails, crickets or shrimp a good quality fish food or veggies such as zuchanni, algae sheets, etc. It gets the good stuff into the puffer via the shrimp or snail. The key is to feed the gut loaded food before they begin to digest the goodies.

Also with ghost shrimp you can see the food in them right after they eat. This is how I got my porc to eat. I would qt the shrimp for about 2 weeks in a 2.5 gallon & sponge filter. Then I would feed them, wait a few minutes, catch them & soaked them in garlic for about 30 minutes then relase in the sw tank.

edmlfc1 wrote:Also with ghost shrimp you can see the food in them right after they eat. This is how I got my porc to eat. I would qt the shrimp for about 2 weeks in a 2.5 gallon & sponge filter. Then I would feed them, wait a few minutes, catch them & soaked them in garlic for about 30 minutes then relase in the sw tank.

Soak them in garlic???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

it's an appetite stimulant.

Nas wrote:

edmlfc1 wrote:Also with ghost shrimp you can see the food in them right after they eat. This is how I got my porc to eat. I would qt the shrimp for about 2 weeks in a 2.5 gallon & sponge filter. Then I would feed them, wait a few minutes, catch them & soaked them in garlic for about 30 minutes then relase in the sw tank.

Soak them in garlic???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

That's what I said when I first heard it. But yes soaking in garlic is good for your puffer.
Cheaper but does not last as long....(I use a cap full to soak)

A little more expensive but last a long time....(I use about 3-4 drops to soak)

You should be able to find one or the other at your lfs.

I just have lots of real garlic around the house all the time, so if I need it for fish, they get the real deal.

We use organic garlic sold for cooking in a jar. The organic garlic is preserved with citric acid, which isn't a health concern on its own.

I believe citric acid is vitamin C, which is actually good for the coloration and immune system, it's one of the few vitamins I have confidence in.

What about shrimp from the supermarket? They sell live fresh ones near where i live and i was considering putting one in my tank to see what would happen..