Miurus Activity and Feeding

[lilacamy931]

Little Ushmew is an absolute cutie! He has really surprised me and my partner as he is out 90% of the time except when sleeping, favourite game is follow the finger! Cant get over the activeness and hope as he grows doesnt grow out of it. Just wanted to ask I keep putting shrimp in for him at the moment (gut loaded) until get relevant foods to try and train, if he is this active all the time, is it ok to feed say smaller amounts each day or every other day as he gets bigger as he just doesnt seem the typical lurker type at all. We were pretty much expecting a hidden eyeball protruding rock that ambushed his food! Instead he floats about inquisitively and hasnt got his hutning skills down to pact yet - this evening he was playing "follow the lead" with one of the shrimp, just following it around like a puppy after a ball

[pufferpuggirl]

One thing I've found with miurus puffers is that they can be unpredictable in their behaviour. My three are basically all different. Biscuit hides ALL the time, rarely coming out. Orangetta is fairly active, but will bury herself at times, and the newest one, Chili, well he is quite active and a VERY good hunter. Put a guppy in there and it will be gone quick!
I feed all my puffers daily, however, some days are what I call "light" days because I don't feed very much. Due to having many smaller puffers that need food on a daily basis, I figure it's just easier for me to feed everyone at the same time. So you could adopt that approach Amy if it's better for you. Up to you really.

I'm happy that you're enjoying your little miurus, they are interesting puffers.

[jus85411]

i want one so bad!!! what size tanks do you guys keep yours in? minimum is 30 correct? also do you both breed your own live food?

[lilacamy931]

Thanks guys, I think I will do lighter feedings each day due to his activity. I havent had much luck yet getting him to stick to dead foods but it is still early times.

[pufferpuggirl]

To answer your question, jus85411 -- I do breed guppies specifically for my piscivore puffers, mainly my miurus puffs.

[jus85411]

hmmm... i think i might start trying to get a colony of guppies going along with some marble crayfish(those are easy breeding from what i remember hearing) and try to make a trip up to that fish place in the next two months to see about a congo, they seem to get them frequently

[pufferpuggirl]

If you do get guppies with the intention of breeding and feeding to your puffer, I would highly suggest worming them before you feed even just one of them to your puffer (if and when you get a piscivore puffer). I cannot stress enough how quickly they can get parasites, which will jeopardise your puffer's health, from eating guppies that are directly from most LFS's. I made that mistake myself, with horrible consequences.

[jus85411]

yes definitely would do an IP med first. they would be quarantined and watched for weird poop etc. i have been reading and posting on here for too long not to take all precautions necessary before feeding live food. one of the first things you learn when you truely learn fishkeeping is about how dangerous live food can be. that is why i would want to wait a little bit to get a decent colony going so that i have time to watch them as well as time for them to breed

[~reefchik~]

Reading this thread, I'm thinking I may have done something risky but there wasn't much choice. I got 2 dozen feeder guppies yesterday and put them into her tank. She pigged out, seriously. I always thought that fish would eat to satiation and then leave the rest for another day. And it seems she has now had that opportunity I've never seen her so plump.

My Congo really will only eat live foods. I've tried everything else, and if she can't stalk it, and eat it at her own pace, forget it. I have seen her suck up a few bloodworms but that's it.

I see some breed and/or feed marbled crayfish to these guys. I wonder if that would be a good thing for me to attempt. But I have questions.

Our LFS have crays but I don't know if they are marbled. And they are pretty big, cocktail shrimp size, like 2-3 inches. That seems pretty big for my Congo who is about 4 inches long. What do you recommend? Just pick out the smallest one I can find and drop it in the tank?

[pufferpuggirl]

If I were you, reefchik, I would do a parasite treatment on your miurus just to be safe. So many guppies from LFS's have parasites and I lost a mating pair of miurus puffers by feeding them guppies directly from the LFS -- a mistake I will never make again. I do understand that your puffer won't eat anything but live food, I have two miurus' that are exactly the same, however, I have gotten them to eat earthworms when I don't feed them a live fish. You might try that. Personally, my miurus puffers never seemed interested in crabs, etc., and I wouldn't chance putting a largish cray in with any of mine.
I think if you're planning on keeping your miurus, then you should think about breeding guppies for your own usage, that way you will know they are parasite-free and okay for your puffer to eat. That's what I do and I think that's the better option, but that's just my opinion.

[lilacamy931]

I have to say I have struck lucky recently and mine now seems to be feeding on defrosted mussel. I would def go by what pufferpuggirl has said as you dont want to risk anything transferring from the other fish..

[Pufferpunk]

It takes a lot of patience but is well worth it when you can get them on dead foods.

[~reefchik~]

If I were you, reefchik, I would do a parasite treatment on your miurus just to be safe. So many guppies from LFS's have parasites and I lost a mating pair of miurus puffers by feeding them guppies directly from the LFS -- a mistake I will never make again. I do understand that your puffer won't eat anything but live food, I have two miurus' that are exactly the same, however, I have gotten them to eat earthworms when I don't feed them a live fish. You might try that. Personally, my miurus puffers never seemed interested in crabs, etc., and I wouldn't chance putting a largish cray in with any of mine.
I think if you're planning on keeping your miurus, then you should think about breeding guppies for your own usage, that way you will know they are parasite-free and okay for your puffer to eat. That's what I do and I think that's the better option, but that's just my opinion.

I do have platies, guppies and mollies all set up to breed! But it takes time and I can't let her wait til then. Had I known all this in advance I might have waited til I had a couple tanks-full of small feeder fish.

I'm not sure how I'd get anti-parasite meds into her. You think a water treatment will do it?

[~reefchik~]

It takes a lot of patience but is well worth it when you can get them on dead foods.

I'm interested. Is there another thread so we don't continue to hijack this one further?

[Pufferpunk]

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