The Puffer Forum

I was trying to feed my juvenile GSP some live krill. So far he only managed to catch one. The krills seem to be simply too fast at evading the attacks. And when cornered, they will jump out of the water, and stick to the side of the glass(tank wall) above water level. I have seen on few occasions the puffer jumping out of the water to try to catch it! But to no avail. Any similar encounters?

My GSPs took several weeks to ambush and eat all 6 ghost shrimp I dumped in once. He will have to learn to be sneaky.

Nick,

Weeks after I put in ten ghost shrimp in the GSP tank, I found one still alive while rearranging fake plants. I couldn't believe it survived that long! Guess Stanley (my GSP) hasn't developed the killer instinct yet

Mary Anne

I think in the wild they very very seldom actually get anything but mollusks, except on the lucky occasion, which is why diets over heavy in shrimp or krill lead to malnutrition. They make great live snacks and variety food, but aren't an everyday for a reason.

my fig 8 took 3 weeks to take down 6 ghost shrimp -- it was pretty funny that they lasted that long -- now i miss them, they became a part of the tank

my GSP takes about 2 weeks to get one ghost shrimp, Usually gets him when the shrimp corners himself in the cave.

LOL, thanks for all the nice replies. It appears to me that the puffer is so much more interesting now. In fact 2 of the shrimps are still alive in my tank. I am too very surprised, I thought the puffer will hunt them down at an instant after watching those youtube puffer videos

I also agree mike that the shrimp, after being in the tank for awhile seem to be part of the family. It is nice to observe them eat and move around. It my first time having shrimps in my tank!

Jeeze I put a ghost shrimp in with mine today and it took him less than 5 minutes to get a bead on it.

I found a baby guppy in my community tank this morning (when I say baby, it was probably 1/4" long) and took it to work. Took That little bugger less than a minute for him to suck it down like a spaghetti noodle lol.

His belly looked like he's swallowed a marble after that meal lol. Which hopefully will tide him over until Monday when I return to work.

I'd have to say I'm not a fan of the idea of feeding feeder fish, or babies, to puffers. It's just not part of their natural diet AFAIK. They're molluscivores as Nick says, not piscivores.

we had a few ghost shrimp live so long they actually reproduced in the tank 'Tag' (GSP) was in. he ate all of eventually, but one. that ghost shrimp lived with him for a good 9 months. until Tag's roommate fish passed away, then he ate him. we think it was in relatiation for "taking his buddy"

BigB wrote:my GSP takes about 2 weeks to get one ghost shrimp, Usually gets him when the shrimp corners himself in the cave.

My Mbu takes 0.6 seconds to eat one shrimp and 3 minutes to eat about 20 Maybe Clooney should do an instructional video

I am wondering those of you whose puffer ate the shrimps in moments, are they adults?

coldmachineUK wrote:I'd have to say I'm not a fan of the idea of feeding feeder fish, or babies, to puffers. It's just not part of their natural diet AFAIK. They're molluscivores as Nick says, not piscivores.

You think that if a baby fish swims by in the wild that they aren't gonna chase it down and eat it? Aren't most pet store puffers actually wild caught? If they only ate mollusks in the wild .. they wouldn't know to, or how to, chase down a baby fish and eat it, would they?

I think they need the snails to trim their teeth .. but I think I would find it very hard to believe that that's all they choose to eat in the wild. It gave mine quite a thrill to chase that little fish around. I think he enjoyed it. And I also think it's good for their minds, keeps them stimulated.

Mine is quite small, probably not over 2" long head to tail fin.

The diet of the pufferfish includes mostly invertebrates and algae. Large specimens will even crack open and eat clams, mussels, and shellfish with their hard beaks.
- http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/a ... rfish.html

http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/lib ... gproblems/

Too tired to answer properly, but these two resources (one local) make no mention of piscivore behaviour. Puffers are known molluscivocores: i.e. clams, cockles, mussels, shrimp and other inverts (krill et al.).

Feed your puffer what you like, I'm just saying I personally wouldn't feed mine live fish since it's not part of their natural diet and I'd be concerned about nutritional value and the long term impact on health.

I does depend some on the type of puffer. Lurker species can and do eat fish in the wild. Other, more common species generally do not. My turgidus, a semi-lurker species, ignores endlers that swim right past his nose, even when he's obviously hungry and begging for food.

But even with the lurker species, its more of a health reason... feeder fish are fatty, can carry diseases, there's a host of other reasons in the article mentioned above. If you have healthy feeders you raise yourself, and they are only fed as an occassional snack, that is the best way to do it IF you are going to feed live fish. Its a moral decision for some people, not so much for others. My boyfriend doesn't feel comfortable watching me feed Bubba live snails or earthworms, and he was horrified at the idea when I mentioned I might throw an endler or two in there to see if he went after it. Personal feelings will be different for everyone.