The Puffer Forum

So I'm new to the GSP world and I have been dedicating every waking hour to figuring out how to make these guys happy. I have tried several foods with little to no luck! I've read that GSB's aren't all that picky as long as you're feeding them what they like. Well, I've checked the list and have offered many foods but haven't found a happy puffer after dinner time. Here are the foods I've tried, maybe someone can offer some advice!

-snails (once I crush them they seem to get it and then eat but they wont devour them or anything. They're bellies don't seem to round to me.)
-shrimp (fresh, from the grocery and uncooked. I've even tried a little garlic oil on it. They gulped this down the first time but barely touch it anymore.)
-Frozen brine shrimp (a no-go for either puffer)
-earth worm (loves, loves, loves this option but I've read that they aren't a good staple food and should only be fed sparingly.)
-crickets (only tried one of these one time but they fought over it!)
-ghost shrimp (they seem to like these when they can catch them. I put 10 in the tank last week and one remains)
-lettuce (no way)
-algae tabs (no way)
-peas (no way)
-any type of flake food (no way!)

I have yet to try other crustaceans at this point but will be on the hunt for more options on Friday. It seems if I dangle the food or make it wiggle a bit on a feeding stick they have more interest in it. I have to really get the bigger guys attention or he just has no interest. I got the bigger puffer last Friday he was shipped straight from the dealer to the store and then came straight home with me. He's a bigger puff, about 3-4 inches right now. He tends to hide out a lot and twice now has run into the glass when I walked by the tank and startled him. Is he just traumatized from the shipping still? The baby in the tank is about 1.5 inches and is super happy and very observant to incoming food, as long as he likes, it he'll eat it.

They're in a 55 gallon, water parameters are good (I'm slowly going brackish) and they seem happy other then the food issue.

earth worms should be pretty nutritious

Forget flake food, they won't eat that..occasionally a puff might nibble at it...but that is probably as far as it goes.

Ghost shrimp are not very nutritious unless they are gutloaded

Have you tried..shell on scallops (3.50 a bag in the walmart frozen seafood section)
Scallops
Crushed crab legs

How often do you feed them?

I'll try that!

I'm just feeding once a day 6 days a week. I've been offering a couple different things at the feedings if their not interested in what I've given them first. I just give them enough until their bellies are rounded.

Its so funny because the little guy was bought from a pet shop and the lady there said he's on flake and he's to small to eat anything else. I knew for sure she didn't know what she was talking about but once "pickles" was at home in our tank he won't even go near flake! Wonder how hungry he was! Or maybe he was eating the other little fish they had him in the tank with

Since their little you could also try blood worms...but once they get bigger it is not economical LOL

Don't keep trying stuff at one sitting..

For example, you know they like shrimp..they ate it..so you know they like it..but the next time you tried to feed it..they seemed uninterested..

What you can do to get them onto new foods is to skip a day..or wait until you know they are hungry..

Don't skip too many days, you have babies...

Try mussels. My GSP's and my Ceylons (along with some of my other puffers) absolutely love mussels. The downside to mussels is that it can be a very messy food for your puffer to eat. I vacuum all my tanks daily, which helps.

what are your parameter readings? we need a little more information on your water specs to help decide maybe if something is stressing them out and making them not eat. it could just be stress from the move or an addition of another puff. a 55 gallon aquarium is just under the recommended size for 2 of the GSP's so unless your willing to upgrade to around a 90 in the near future i would look into rehoming one of them. even 55 is pushing it for two of them.

any pictures of these little guys? have their bellies gotten any type of "plumpness" to them after eating? if so how long til it went back down? puffers are known for internal parasites that will give them that skinny look even after like 2 hours after a meal. a puff without IPs should have a round belly for a couple days after eating. i only feed my GSP 4 times a week at 5 inches and he never loses his belly. it only gets bigger once he eats and goes back to the normal size 24-48 hours later. he never looks skinny.

as for food, there were already some good suggestions with mussells(mine never liked the shelled ones but loved frozen cubes of mussell) and even those are pretty messy, bloodworms my GSP loved as a juvenile and would probably love to have them now, but too bad its the equivalent to him eating a little tiny piece of shrimp and does nothing because of the size of him, shell on scallops i have never tried but i tried the ones not on shell and he didnt really like them, clam on the shell is a different story though! he will pass up the shrimp because he knows theres clam coming. and then go eat the shrimp after the clam. sometimes i also go get some saltwater ghost(grass) shrimp for cleaners in the tank and so he can let instincts kick in and hunt. which i caught an awesome video of the other day. he was in hunt mode and his belly was like completely dark as he was trying to hunt down these shrimp

Ok, so the first two pics are of Kimchi. He's the guy not to interested in food. His belly looks kinda flat to me. Then in the last pic is Pickles and underneath him is the figure 8, Fugu. They are in a 55 gallon right now, yes but I'm planning on moving the figure 8 soon. They all came into the tank within 2 days of each other. My levels are all where they should be ammonia 0, etc., etc. Take a look at Kimchi and see if you think his belly looks to flat. When they eat they get nice and round and stay that way for a while....

As I was snapping shots I saw the guy I'm worried about eating some snails so maybe he's getting there. I plan on buying some different food Friday to try out.

Personally, I don't think any of your puffers look too thin. I think Kimchi looks fine. Some puffers are more plump, but I think yours look healthy enough to me.