The Puffer Forum

How much should i feed my porcupine puffer fish i know recommend is everyday of the week missing a day out. however im feeding him the frozen brine shrimp etc cubes atm as his still very small (under 2 inch) and wondering how much of this should i be feeding him daily, i cut the cubes into quarter's and am giving him a quarter a day however he always seems hungry and doesnt seem to bloat. Also how frequently do you feed in a day, 1 feeding a day or more feedings throughout the day?

if you feed him and he doesnt seem to be getting any belly he might have IP's. I feed my puff until he gets a nice round belly. I feed pretty much everyday, but he is still a baby Ill cut back when he gets bigger

eeek how do I check for internal parasites? hopefully it isn't anything like that I'll feed him a little more.
Are you doing just one feeding per day?

Getting one meal a day is probably more like what they get in the wild..

But you could do small feeding twice a day..

Either way you go, I think you are currently under feeding and you are not providing enough variety.

For my 2 inch Green spotted puffers they could take out at least a half of a cube!

Brine shrimp may be ok for some fish, but not nearly good enough for a puffer..

You can try numerous things like shrimp and mussels from the sea food market (make sure to freeze before feeding) Also, added bonus these foods are cheaper than the ones you find at the pet store ..You will also need to feed crunchy stuff like snails for their teeth....When your puff gets big you will have more crunchy options like crabs..

Look at this article for some food ideas..
library/feeding/feeding-your-puffers/

There are so many different things you can feed that right now nearly half of my freezer has puffer food in it LOL

You cannot really check for parasites...some clues are pinched in sides, white poop, irregular behavior, irregular swimming. To me it just sounds like you are under feeding, but you can give food treated with jungle fiz tabs as a precaution..

purplecandle wrote:You will also need to feed crunchy stuff like snails for their teeth....

porkies don't have teeth, they have crushing plates. That is why they have that adorable smile! But well said none the less.

thanks so much for your help I had already read through that feeding guide However it's more just quantity of food at feeding times I was worried about, is that half a cube for each puffer or between them? and I kind of just assumed that as it's only about an inch and half not to feed it the shell foods just yet, but I'll look for more of a variety thanks alot again !

you can feed till they start to show a nice size belly, then take out any food left.

My puffer(a fahaka) will eat till he has a big belly and then leave the rest for later, at which time I pull out the extra

J-P wrote:

purplecandle wrote:You will also need to feed crunchy stuff like snails for their teeth....

porkies don't have teeth, they have crushing plates. That is why they have that adorable smile! But well said none the less.

Thanks for the correction, I often forget!

The six day a week schedule is what i use for immature fish. Adult fish in my tanks are never fed more often than every other day, some every third or fourth day. That depends on the activity level of the fish. Prcs can be pretty active fish, so every other day is likely for them. the lightly rounded belly is the standard sign of adequate feeding of this family of fish.

But you do need to get the fish habituated to a variety of different foods - a constant diet of the same food is not good. Get them trained right while they are small and you will never have problems feeding them.

I hope you're defrosting those cubes & drain through a brine shrimp net before feeding them out to the fish. You don't want the "juice" they're packed in added to the tank. Also, be sure you're feeding a varied diet to your puffer. Best to soak his food in SW vitamins & Selcon for good health.