The Puffer Forum

Well, I realize that you kill all the germs once frozen...

but do you guys feed your puffers raw or cooked?

right now, i lightly microwave my shrimp... but feed muscles raw..

is there a difference? better worst?

well I'm not 100% certain ..but I think you are to feed them NOT cooked

Yup not cooked. I believe cooking them takes away some of the goodness that is in the raw meat.

Absolutely, raw--frozen & defrosted in room-temp vitamin water.

Raw. If you can get frozen mussels or cockles which have been gamma treated then you'll be guaranteed clean and toxin-free food. If you purchase market shellfish, there's no guarantee it would be completely risk-free.

js97 wrote:Well, I realize that you kill all the germs once frozen...

Actually a lot of germs can survive through a freezing cycle, especially in the right condition. In labs, it's common practice for people to freeze bacterial stocks at -80 deg C in a broth with glycerol, and they can be stored for years and years and remain viable when thawed. The reason it's not a good idea to eat ice cream that has once been thawed out (for example, during a power outage) is that the bacteria in the ice cream flourish at higher temperature, and even if it gets frozen again, the bacterial count may reach an unsafe level to consume.

However, freezing for at least 24-48 hours does kill most parasites which is what the biggest concern is as far as food for fish goes.

It's parasites we're looking to kill. I figure if it's ok for human consumption, it's good enough for my fish. I mean, I feed them earthworms & I wouldn't eat them!

I mainly feed my fish raw cooked due to convience and cost ( because i have a lot of fish) if its good enough for me in sure my mbus guts will scope with no problems. but i do treat them with raw occasionally, I think fresh raw can make the water cloudy you can get that meat cloud as soon as for example a crayfish is killed

It couldn't matter less difference whether it's cooked or raw. As Jeni says, it its safe for human consumption, it'll be fine for your fish.

Remember, the vitamin issue only holds if the food item used is the ONLY thing the fish receive. Since crustaceans contain thiaminase (a substance that breaks down Vitamin B1 anyway) it's academic to say "raw prawns are better" because any type of prawn is going to be Vitamin B1 deficient, and fed to excess, lead to a deficiency in this vitamin.

So whatever food you use, you need to use in conjunction with multiple other foods. Mussels are the ideal staple because the gut contents contain a lot of algae, and algae are extremely rich in vitamins and minerals. Whole freshwater algae-eating snails would be equally good. Earthworms are good because they contain lots of decaying plant matter and soil in their guts, and that's going to be very rich in essential minerals.

By contrast, the things that pufferfish often like best -- bloodworms, clean white fish, shelled prawns for example -- are relatively poor in terms of vitamins and minerals. Just like humans, animals can easily become greedy and hooked on the "wrong" foods.

Cheers, Neale