The Puffer Forum

Hi all.

I have a Arothron reticularis puffer. I have had him since May 2, he came to me in a tank that was already established. I'm not sure how old he is, but he's about the size of a tennis ball. Yes, I know he will get to be the size of a football. Or at least he will if he starts eating again! I think I need to separate him from my other fish at feeding time, but I was also wondering what would be this fish's favorite food. Could I try live clams, or would that only increase the risk of introducing a disease? I have been feeding a seafood medly (shrimp, octopus, mussles), shrimp, silversides (he's never fast enough to get those), blue crab legs and smelts. I've never seen him eat anything but shrimp and octopus. When he was first moved, he was eating some, but now doesn't seem to. The prev. owner told me not to worry, he's probably eating the hermit crabs in the tank, but I'm not too sure.

So what would be this fish's Laura Secord item?

I wouldnt recommend feeding live clams to your fish considering that there is no sure way to know that they're disease/parasite free. You could freeze them for a week and then feed them to your puffer if you'd like though. How much does he normally eat? If he's getting skinny though, I'd seperate him from the others and make sure he's getting some food! Also, if you go ahead and look up your puffer in the pufferpedia, it'll give you a good list of food varieties. It might be a good idea to include some crunchy foods just to help prevent his teeth from becoming overgrown. Good luck!

His diet is fine, I think. Try soaking his food in fresh crushed garlic, or a product like Garlic Xtreme.

I believe they unfortunately lost the puffer in question.