The Puffer Forum

I finally got my Figure Eight Puffer, Themistocles! I acclimated him slowly into the cycled 20 gallon long yesterday. It immediately began exploring it's environment and has yet to show any serious signs of stress. Thanks for all the help from people on this forum in getting started correctly! I already fed it two very small snails yesterday and one today, but it does not seem to stay full looking for very long so I will probably treat for IPs. It looks slightly lumpy after eating. Other than that, it seems to be enjoying it's new home.

I was also wondering if anyone would be willing to send some pond or ramshorn snails to put in my breeder tank for the cost of shipping?

How do you pronounce his name?
He's super cute!
Tummy is lumpy after feeding because they have no ribs.
Definitely treat for IP's though.

Named for one of the ablest Athenean leaders/politicos of antiquity?

cute fella . I only have Malaysian Trumpet Snails sadly enough. Though I am considering changing to ramhorn/pond snails. Cracking open snails every time is becoming messy for my poor tools.

Haha correct RTR.

Themistocles looks great -- very happy and vibrant! Congratulations on getting your F8!

thanks! I will start transitioning to brackish tomorrow.

thuh-mis-tuh-kleez

Tim wrote:cute fella . I only have Malaysian Trumpet Snails sadly enough. Though I am considering changing to ramhorn/pond snails. Cracking open snails every time is becoming messy for my poor tools.

I usually just crush between two spoons, then toss them in the dish washer.

It is not suggested to feed puffers malaysian trumpet snails, even crushed. The shards are still hard if munched on, and could still do damage to the teeth. Probably not the best thing accidentally swallow either.

sevenyearnight wrote:It is not suggested to feed puffers malaysian trumpet snails, even crushed. The shards are still hard if munched on, and could still do damage to the teeth. Probably not the best thing accidentally swallow either.

It's not appropriate to feed a surlaW bacon either but that doesn't seem to stop you either

*Rolls eyes*
I know I sound like a broken record, but do a search MTS and chipped/broken teeth, I'm no2 just making it up. It's your choice, but I like to warn people of risks and dangers, so they can make a choice to avoid them.

This is from "Breeding Snails for Food" by RTR

"Puffer keepers quite commonly need to have large number of live snails to feed their wet pets. As many folk with a bit of a tendency to somewhat overstock or overfeed their mixed tank of fish have learned the hard way, so-called "pest" snails tend to multiply rapidly in such situations. The commonest "pest" snails are MTS (Melanoides tuberculata), common pond snails (Physa species), and common ramshorn snails (Planorbis species). The first listed snail, the MTS, are not suitable for puffer feeding as their coiled cone-shaped spiral shells are very hard, too hard for many puffers' dental plates to crush readily, sometimes resulting in a chipped or broken "tooth "/dental plate. That can pose a risk to the fish."

Here's the link to the whole article http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article82.html

A lot of people do say that its bad and mention the chance at broken teeth yet I can't find a single person actually mentioning it has happened to their own puffer. I am in the process of changing over to a different snail but that is more for convenience on my part.

It does not mean I don't see a valid point on the whole MTS thing though.

I also have not read of someone *seeing* the tooth chip while eating MTS, but there are several accounts of people who have fed their puffers MTS, and then at some point, noticed their puffer with chipped teeth. So, yes, technically it could be a coincidence, but it's likely not.
I feel it is important to mention.

Hawkeye, I can snail mail you. I'll PM you.

sevenyearnight wrote:I also have not read of someone *seeing* the tooth chip while eating MTS, but there are several accounts of people who have fed their puffers MTS, and then at some point, noticed their puffer with chipped teeth. So, yes, technically it could be a coincidence, but it's likely not.
I feel it is important to mention.

It is. Going out today to look for a new tank for breeding snails and shrimp. Only have a 2-3ish gallon tank for it but it doesnt seem big enough to sustain enough snails once the puffer gets bigger(It was free though so I couldn't complain). Perhaps 40-60 liters this time. Should be big enough for snails and shrimps together.