The Puffer Forum

As many of you know I have some beautiful and healthy GSP's in full marine conditions.



I feed them chopped uncooked shrimp, mussels, or crab from the grocery store. They also get a supplement of earthworms and beef heart cubes. Regarding the use of beef heart being used as food for them, is it okay to feed them other non aquatic meats like strips of ground beef or bits of chicken liver as long as it has been washed and is free of additives or seasonings?

Please don't take this wrongly as I don't mean this in a rude way, but...

Why would you even want to feed your fish something not found in their natural habitat?

I do agree with the above.... But.... If it is deemed nutritious and uncooked and in processed and your fish will take it then its up to your own choice. However I would rarely now feed a puffer with non crunch foods.

From what I have read, beef heart is not a good food for any fish. Certainly not other mammal meats, either.

I think beef heart is accepted because it isn't fatty - the problem arises when complex amino acid chains are introduced

There was a study on feeding fish terrestrial mammal protein which pointed out the protein structure was too complex, leading to damaged organs, constipation and other things I can't remember. I'll have a search tomorrow and see if I can find it.

France have just banned trout farms from feeding terrestrial mammal protein, again I can't remember why, I'll have a look for that article also - something to do with the trout having kidney damage

I have been using this exact product so if that's the case I may have to discontinue that or cut it down to a once a week "treat". It can be found in every LFS that I know of including the chain stores like Petco and Petsmart. This does not mean that I feed them this every single day but it is rotated in their feeding schedule simply for added variety.

I think you're fairly safe with that, as I mentioned above, heart muscle contains no fat, just mega high protein amounts - it's the fatty acids, lipids, complex amino acids that are found in all other bits that are potentially harmful

You've got me intrigued now, so I'll have a good trawl through some journals and try to find some specific answers

Keep in mind that just because the fish industry offers a product, it may not be a good product. Frozen brine shrimp isn't good at all.

Other examples:



And AQ salt, nitrate removers, monthly filter media replacement...


Not sure about the beefhart but I am skeptical. We'll see what the experts think.

I admit I used the cubed brine shrimp when I first got my GSP's and DP's but that was a one and done deal.

with my puffer i feed him other fish meat, mainly tuna, samon and crab meat not alot but its one of them once a week have been for 3 years since i ve had my f8
hope that helps

+1 to JRC3's comments on fish store products. Local shop sales and recommendations tell you absolutely nothing about the value of the products involved.

You are better off offering no land animal meats. They are not natural or standard diets for fish.

Earthworms may be an exception - but they are very fattening and offer no 'crunch" at all. They should be reserved for treats only, not a significant part of any puffer's diet.

My Congo will eat nothing but earthworms or live fish. I tend to stick with the worms, since I have no room for breeding food.

Without turning this into a science fest, here's a brief overview from searching a few online database archives (they would be ones you have to pay to view, but my job comes with access passwords to keep on top of research papers)


You might ask...

What proteins, specifically in beefheart, are beneficial to fish, and what enzymes do fish have that allow them to utilise said proteins?

If the argument is simply that beefheart is high in protein, and therefore must be good for all animals that need protein, including fish, regardless of the type of protein that's either in beefheart, or the type that various animals use/need - that's not an argument. That's anecdotal assumptive reasoning with absolutely no logical or scientific base in fact. By that reasoning, I should be able to feed fish lionfish toxin as well.


Tropical fish nutrition was barely even a science back in 'the golden age of beefheart' and has advanced in huge strides since then.

When beefheart was first used/recommended, it was solely because of palatability, price, availability and resulting rapid growth - none of which reflect whether or not it's truly healthy for fish.

Understanding of proteins, fats/lipids in fish, and fish nutrition/metabolism was in its infancy (if even existent) when beefheart 'exploded' onto the Discus scene (as well as some of the fundamental differences between mammalian and fish protein structure/metabolism pathways)

Animal fats and oils are simply designed to be of the relative fluidity/solidity they are for a particular range of temperature, that of the mammals themselves. The oils in beefheart are liquid at the internal temperature of a cow, and will congeal to a semi solid in a fish, where internal temperature is lower.

(sourced from various Discus publications - Wattley, Axelrod et al)


As I mention above, without turning this into a science fest, best I leave it there - if you'd like a list of further references to delve deeper, just PM me and I'll happily pass them on

TLDR: chuck the beefheart in the bin

Edited: spelling

RTR wrote:+1 to JRC3's comments on fish store products. Local shop sales and recommendations tell you absolutely nothing about the value of the products involved.

You are better off offering no land animal meats. They are not natural or standard diets for fish.

Earthworms may be an exception - but they are very fattening and offer no 'crunch" at all. They should be reserved for treats only, not a significant part of any puffer's diet.

"their is nothing natural about our hobby" - rtr some time ago

So dont dismiss products or food based soley off of natures intentions.

If you're going to quote someone, try to do it in context. All that post shows is you taking an old quote from RTR out of context trying to make him look contrary, then applying it to this whole topic as if it's some kind of proof to dismiss what others have taken the time to look into.