The Puffer Forum

Good Morning,

I've been reading this forum for a weeks or so in an attempt to learn as much as possible about my first puffer, a juvenile F8 purchased a few days ago. I've learned a great deal thanks to the efforts of the forum experts.

One question that I have not found an answer to regards feeding. My F8 readily eats thawed but previously frozen blood worms without issue so he is eating. Last night I added some ghost shrimp to the tank and he took an immediate interest in them but they seem to be too quick to be caught. Is this normal? I'm not overly concerned because he is eating but I recognize the need for "crunchy" food. It is possible that he caught some over the night however when I am watching, he is only able to nip a shrimp before it darts away. It should be noted that there is ample decoration in the tank, caves, driftwood, plants, etc. so the shrimp do have places to hide. That seems to be unavoidable when providing the puffer with enough obstacles to keep the tank interesting.

On the plus side, I am glad that he is getting the exercise and mental stimulation of the chase as well as having the limited benefits of the shrimp cleaning the tank while bottom feeding. I will be providing a couple of snails to him this weekend but should I wait until he eats the shrimp or until I can't see anymore shrimp and assume that he ate them or is it ok to provide the snails and let the shrimp run their course?

Thought?

Thanks,

RS

Welcome to the forum. He will eventually catch them. For crunch try feeding him pond or ramshorns snails ( you might need to crush the first one so he knows its food). Shrimp provide little crunch.

Mine showed little interest in shrimp for the first year or so. The shrimp would disappear though so I think he would get them when it was convenient.

Pic from the first year.
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk16 ... 1288721417

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Thanks for the responses. I'll just let the shrimp do their own thing until my little F8 figures out how to catch them. Those shrimp are unbelievably fast. It's as if they teleport out of the path of the puffer. One second it looks as though they are about to be dinner and then, bam, they are 6-8 inches away. It's actually pretty entertaining.

I will be providing some snails this weekend and thawed blood worms until then so he won't be starved if he can't snare a shrimp.

@ JRC3, great pic, that is just about the ratio of shrimp to puffer size that I have going on right now.

RS

One more related question....

Should I be putting something in there for ghost shrimp to eat? I would like to have the shrimp as full and healthy as possible right up to the moment that my F8 catches them. I have some relatively fresh pellets that I used to feed to dwarf goramis. Would that work for the shrimp or would it be better for them to just clean up any blood worms that make it to the bottom?

Thanks again,

RS

Bloodworm are already being eaten by your puffer. Feed the shrimp the pellets so your puffer gets the goodness. My puffer blows water at shrimp and they jump right into his mouth, they soon suss out a good way to catch them

bertie 83 wrote:...they soon suss out a good way to catch them

That's what drew me to puffers. They just seem to have more personality and intelligence than other fish.

This tank was a birthday present for my 9yo daughter and we are really enjoying watching this guy figure things out.

RS

It's amazing, my fahaka is older now so has learnt most his quirks lol. My recent SAP addition keeps me laughing, so personable. I put my hand in to sort stuff out and he won't leave me alone, no nips as such just hovering looking at me. They are so much fun and so rewarding

I have 2 ghost shrimp that now clean my tank because my F8 gave up on trying to catch them. Now he gets out of there way when they glass surf lol. I dont think they will ever become food again since he doesnt even try and accepts them as a tankmate but who knows.

Gut-load the shrimp with algae wafers, so your puffers will get their veggies!