The Puffer Forum

I was talking to someone recently who might think my puffer fish has internal parasites when i told them that my puffer has bright red feces. anyone have any suggestions on that...or what kinds of medicine i should use?

Do you feed a lot of bloodworms? Red feces isn't indicative of IPs.

It can be. Some worms are red.

I fed my DPs an all-bloodworm diet for several months, and their feces remained dark brown.

I feed mainly frozen brine shrimp, this new brine shrimp i bought is a lot more reder than the other frozen brine shrimp, and it smells better too! I do feed some freeze dried blood worms but i havnt fed it to them recently. Ive been feeding sun dried baby shrimp and soon i will be feeding some live brine shrimp...they are in the hatching process as we speak. I feed them snails too. And they each had 2 fresh water cherry shrimp. 1 each yesterday and 1 each the day before that.

Switch to non-red foods for a while and see if that changes the color of their poo - it should be brown, like little logs. In other words, no brine shrimp, no dried baby shrimp, no bloodworms, no cherry shrimp, etc.

ok can i still give them some frozen mysis shrimp? thats about my only option because all i have is frozen brine, dried shrimp and blood worms. what else can i get?

Cut up some raw people people shrimp and feed that, shell and all. One big shrimp can last me a week for my GSP.

wow thats a good idea i never thought of that. and its good because i think i have some and i dont even like shrimp so why not give it to my GSPs lol

Frozen mysis shrimp are great, as are black mussels, oysters (my puffers' favorite), clams, scallops, crab, snails, crayfish...almost any shellfish or mollusk will please them. Just make sure that they're raw. If you buy them fresh (and that's the only way you should buy oysters, mussels, or clams), freeze them for a week before you give them to your fish. It's easiest to just bash open the shell when you get home, scoop most of the meat out, and then put it in a small container and pop it in the freezer. Then later, when it's time to serve dinner, you take the frozen blob of oyster out, slice off an appropriately sized piece, thaw it either between your fingers or submerged in tank water, and then give it to your puff.

If you continue with brine shrimp, make sure that they're the fortified kind, not the kind that comes in the flat - otherwise, they're pretty much just junk food. Put a special emphasis on snails if you can; many puffer owners breed them so they can give them to their puffers often, since they're so important for keeping your puffer's teeth worn down. And don't forget vegetable matter! I give mine seaweed once a week and they love it.

marksrush wrote:Frozen mysis shrimp are great...If you continue with brine shrimp, make sure that they're the fortified kind, not the kind that comes in the flat - otherwise, they're pretty much just junk food

+1! I agree with this entirely.

I give them snails too i dont want and beaver teeth showing lol. I actually am trying to breed snails now. I have a lot in a little 1 gallon...the pet store gave me sooo many for free so thats always a plus! I didnt know, however, that they needed vegies so its a good thing you told me. Thanx! where do i get seaweed anyway?

Mrs.Puff wrote:wow thats a good idea i never thought of that. and its good because i think i have some and i dont even like shrimp so why not give it to my GSPs lol

Have you seen all the feeding articles in our Library?

no im just getting used to where everything is but i will look at it... thankyou!!

coldmachineUK wrote:

marksrush wrote:Frozen mysis shrimp are great...If you continue with brine shrimp, make sure that they're the fortified kind, not the kind that comes in the flat - otherwise, they're pretty much just junk food

+1! I agree with this entirely.

The LFS forgot to order my live blackworms. Two weeks of brine shrimp, and my fish have lost weight. Next time, I'm calling to make sure the order goes through.

Yea i dont ever see any blackworms for sale and any petshop. I might order some too