The Puffer Forum

Got my 2 gsp in the 45g tank now. They r liking it alot. They swim all over and just love exporing all the space. I will post a pic soon. Question can they eat fresh clams from the fish market?? If they can eat them, do I just have to quarentine them b4 I feed them to my puffers? Jus curious if I could. I live in a small town.

Yes they can eat them, and they'll love them. Just make sure that the store only gives you clams that are tightly closed.

Not sure how you'd quarantine them, even though quarantining almost everything is a good idea, unless you have a saltwater quarantine tank and are prepared to feed them (they're filter feeders). Plus I'm not sure how long they'd stay alive in warmer water, as they're probably temperate water clams - any time I've tried it, they die in about a week or a week and a half. What most of us usually do is get them home, them bash them open with a hammer, scoop out the meat, lay it flat in a dish, and then freeze it. Leaving it in the freezer for a week or two is supposed to kill off any parasites present in the clam. After that, slice off a bit, let it thaw, and voila - it's supper time!

marksrush wrote:What most of us usually do is get them home, them bash them open with a hammer, scoop out the meat, lay it flat in a dish, and then freeze it. Leaving it in the freezer for a week or two is supposed to kill off any parasites present in the clam. After that, slice off a bit, let it thaw, and voila - it's supper time!

We aren't all that barbaric.

Heh, I'm all hammer-time about my shellfish. Though I freeze them first to kill them, then it's hammer time after they thaw.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-ubWMuSBrs

Bah, I was disappointed by the vid Nick
I was hoping to see MC, then WAM, a hammer into a clam... lol

Me too. I'm so disappointed.

From what I've read here, you give your puffer the meat only? What about the shell so he can wear down his teeth? Looking at my guy's tiny mouth, I can't see him opening any form of shellfish. I'm going to assume that those that do this have much larger puffers than gsps.

If you crack the shell open, the meat will be exposed & the puffer will grind his teeth against the shell to get at it, wearing down his teeth.

Why buy live clams. Just buy already frozen little neck clams. In frozen seafood section. Then buy a Shuck/Shucker ( a seafood tool used to open shellfish). I pull them out one at a time (defrost)and use the shuck to open them a lil bit. Make sure when holding the clam in you hand have a towel wrapped around it bc a shuck can be sharp and can cut u. Thats how the restaurants do it for oysters n stuff. Take a lil practice but is easy after a few tries. I never crack them Bc pieces left behind in the tank can cause algae and I like to get the whole thing out after. Plus pre cracking them causes Freezer burn, destroying some nutritional values.

Thanks Pufferpunk. I'm going to see if I can find some tiny ones today. I'm worried about too much food in one sitting.

does this include SAPs? or just GSPs?

Pufferpunk wrote:If you crack the shell open, the meat will be exposed & the puffer will grind his teeth against the shell to get at it, wearing down his teeth.

+1

JoseDepacos wrote:

Pufferpunk wrote:If you crack the shell open, the meat will be exposed & the puffer will grind his teeth against the shell to get at it, wearing down his teeth.

+1

STOP
Hammertime!