The Puffer Forum

So I've read that it's ok to feed puffers some fruits and vegetables. Not quite sure which ones exactly. But Juke LOVES watermelon! Is that ok to give him occasionally?

Absolutely, great as a treat but best kept as a treat.

Awesome, he'll be a happy guy.

My GSP's totally tore apart some watermelon a while back. Glad others have had positive results with their puffers.

All my plecos get watermelon regularly. The rest of the fish get pureed green beans/broccoli/carrots every morning.

All my plecos get watermelon regularly. The rest of the fish get pureed green beans/broccoli/carrots every morning.

Never tried it, my f8 loves peas though!

I don't think there is a fish on this planet that would reject peas, it's a good part of the diet of every fish I have ever owned.

Are fruits n veggies ok for marine puffers or are you strictly speaking for freshwater/brackish puffers?

All puffers enjoy veggies, it also helps keep them regular.

Marine (reef) puffer tend to have more veggies in their wild diets than do FW puffers.

Pop the skin off the peas before feeding - they gunk up filters, especially screened intakes.

Has anyone tried their fish on nuts? Or something in a nut shell? Might be a daft question but I'm looking for alternatives to snails and other shelled foods.

(Naively, I believed the LFS when told that I could raise my puffer fish (gsp + F8s) on a vegetarian diet. I've already accepted that that's not gonna happen and started feeding them frozen brine shrimp, blood worm, etc. but I want to avoid meat where possible and definitely don't want to feed them live food)

Never knew this! Feather will be getting some peas tonight!

BedScien, puffers are meat-eaters I'm sure the others will chime in, but they'll be happiest and healthiest on a diet of meaty foods. I realize YOU'VE realized this in your new research about them, but really "avoiding meat where possible" isn't much of an option.

Meaty foods are absolutely a large part of a healthy puffers diet, veggies are taken from the gut of their prey. Some puffers will allow you to supplement their diet with fruit and veg, but it should be kept at that.

+1 to bertie's comments. Carnivorous fish cannot and will not survive on vegetarian diets. If you are unwilling to give them meat regularly and routinely, you are condemning them to death. Trade them in or give them to someone who can and will care for them properly.

Thawed frozen brine shrimp are a great appetite stimulant but nutritionally a poor food choice.

Don't believe what fish stores tell you.