The Puffer Forum

I am currently having trouble with my pond snail colony, therefore I am looking for an alternative until I can get them going. What will a stubborn DP eat besides snails. I have tried krill and regular shrimp soaked in garlic extract but it doesn't appear that he eats. He might take a few bites when I'm not looking but it doesn't look like much. He does eat live brine shrimp but the tetras that I have him with seem to get all of them before he has a chance. I guess I could try to keep up with the live brine shrimp but they are kind of a pain.

If you have access to them, blackworms. My extremely stubborn DPs took only to blackworms and snails (one took to clam meat, only after I spent a very long time smashing snails, leaving the meat in certain places/stuffing empty snail shells with clam and slowly replacing the snail meat in the regular places with clam meat).

Try frozen or live bloodworms as well, most DPs will eat those with no fuss.

Brine shrimp, even live, aren't good as a long term diet for a DP. You might want to consider moving him to his own tank if the tetras are making it difficult for him to eat.

I have a few mystery snails in my DP tank. They just take little bites out of them between pond snail and blackworms and brine shrimp meals.

Try frozen bloodworms.If they don't eat that feed them the b/w when you feed them the live food.

Mine won't eat shrimp or anything else that's too big, it has to be chopped very small for him to eat it. He mostly eats blood worms and black worms now.

EDIT: I should correct that and say it won't eat food I offer that's bigger than he is. He'll eat other fish, snails, etc., that are huge. Just not what I want him to.

I would try live worms. My DP only eats snails and live worms.