The Puffer Forum

For those of you that own SAP's, I'd like to know how often you have to trim their beaks? Have you found it's possible to entirely avoid this?

The only way to avoid this is by keeping their diet to 90% snails. Otherwise, plan on trimming teeth every 3-4 months.
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So 90% snails will mean I would never have to trim them or it would just prolong it? Would other shelled foods work or does it have to be snails?

Everything I have read is that snails are the food they need to keep their teeth trimmed. If their teeth are already overgrown though, nothing will get them short enough--they'd have to be hand-trimmed.

Hmm ok, I'm sort of stuck between getting F8's and SAP's. Little bit off topic but do shelled foods other than snails (shrimp, mussel, etc) grind down the F8's teeth as well as the snails. What I'm asking is would I be ok with the F8's beaks if I didn't make a snail breeder tank?

Yes, I rarely fed them snails--just other hard-shelled foods & their teeth were always good.

Awesome, looks like it'll be the F8's. One last thing, I read an RTR article where he said he dissolved his marine salt for 48hrs in a heated bucket prior to water changes because it takes 24-48hrs to dissolve. Do you do this and is it necessary or can you just put it in the tank when you add new water? I know F8's are accustomed to changes in salinity.

Until you have figured how much salt you need to add to keep the SG at 1.003-5, I suggest premixing & testing. Personally, once I had that figured out, I dissolved in a bucket of warm water & poured into the impeller side of the filter.

What's the difference between premixing & testing and dissolving it in a warm bucket of water?

By the time you're doing the quick-dissolve/dump method, you have figured how much salt you need to keep parameters consistent. It's not the fish you need to worry about with fluctuations, it's your bacteria.

But with the quick dissolve method are you still letting it sit for 48hrs?

No, once I know exactly how much salt I need to replace the salt I remove with a WC, I can add it to the filter as I'm refilling the tank. I'm not so sure others will agree with my method though.