feeding puffers

[tenayaisapunkrocker]

what should i use to get more vitamins in their diet?

 

[7Enigma]

What kind of puffer(s) do you have?

As a general rule they are what they eat and what ate them. I feed a staple diet of pond snails that I breed myself. The health of the puffer depends on the health of the snails (good water quality, no disease), and the variety of food you feed to the snails. I feed a variety of flake food, vegetables, fish, etc. ensuring that my puffer is getting all of the nutrients she needs. Live foods really are the best for all fish. The complex molecules a living animal makes just can't be accurately replicated in a freeze-dried/flake/artificial product.

If you don't want to go that route, frozen/live bloodworms are readily available at most places and are a commonly fed food among the puffer trade.

 

[tenayaisapunkrocker]

there actually not eating at all now, green spotted puffers

 

[7Enigma]

Answer some questions for me please:

1. Do you have experience with keeping puffers?

2. How many puffers are in your tank?

3. How long has your tank been setup? What is the size of your tank?

4. Are the puffers the only thing in the tank?

I can't help much until you answer those questions. In the meantime puffers are quite territorial and need LOTS of plants/decorations in the tank. Without these they will become very aggressive towards each other can can maim/kill. If your tank is pretty bare adding a bunch of stuff to break up the line-of-sight will be a good ensurance policy against potential aggression.

 

[7Enigma]

Yikes, I just looked at your "my tanks" under your name. GSP's are brackish water fish. They can survive in freshwater, but will not be at their healthiest. Also what kind of crab is it? Most should never be kept with fish as they will wait until the fish are sleeping and grab them....then slowly eat them alive (truly one of the nastiest things in the fish hobby if you ever have to witness it). To top it all off they typically need 40-55 gallon tanks as they can reach 5 inches in length. These are also football-shaped fish and so the inch per gallon rule does not apply. They also are messy eaters (as all puffers are) and so need large frequent water changes. They also have beak issues. If you don't routinuely feed them hard foods such as snails they will eventually starve as their beaks grow.

Puffers are also prone to internal parasites and typically come from stores with them (mine had IP's). This will normally cause them to stop eating and until treated they will slowly waste away (sometimes it's too late as they are destroyed on the inside).

Please still answer my questions in the previous post, but note I do not feel you have the proper-sized tank to house these guys in the first place.

HTH

 

[tenayaisapunkrocker]

The crab kicked the bucket awhile ago but now i have a bottom feeder black fin shark just to clean up after them.They have 5-6 large plants(fake) a huge drift wood log, rocks, sand the works. I cycled my tank a week before i put them and did a lot of research before i bought them. Un fortunately not all the info was correct but whats new. I just found out about the possibility of them having parasites and treated them for it. Ive been feeding them krill, shrimp, lobster, i tried snails and sea weed but no go. They are currently in a 30 gal tank and i know how big they get and will get them a bigger tank(s) as needed. Ive only had them about two months and there only about an inch long.Yes i know there brackish and have never been in fresh water i dont care to fill out my tanks or what ever.I change their water every week 25% twice cause i am aware they are messy. You dont have to treat me like an idiot that went to wal mart and went oooo pretty fish i want and took it home im just asking for help. thats all i want thanx

 

[dkpate]

No need to take offense, he is just trying to help you.
How can you cycle your tank in a week? Unless you used some sort of bacteria starter that actually works, your tank would take 4+ weeks to cycle.

 

[tenayaisapunkrocker]

well everyone else that ive talked to tried to help it just didnt work im just really frustrated nothings working and i dont know what to do, either peoples info is completely useless or its not working, not their fault or anything. And hey i saw how pissed you got at the people on the topic of parasites(it was funny)

 

[7Enigma]

Sorry man I really wasn't talking down to you, I just wanted to get all of the information on the table before I started. I'm glad to see you have plans on a larger tank in the future, so that takes care of that one. And without the crab, that issue is moot.

Can I ask what you used to treat for parasites? IP's are nasty and very difficult to get rid of IMO unless the fish actually eats medicated food (which is normally difficult). Water-based meds don't work as flubenol is no longer allowed to be sold. I ended up using a dog dewormer from Petsmart that came as a powder that I mixed in with freeze-dried bloodworms. That seemed to work well and was the only thing they would eat with the medication (they can tell there's something in the food). Just keep an eye out as it can come back. Krill and shrimp are great foods. Try to keep the shells intact on them as it will help to wear down the beaks a bit but you may need some harder foods once they get larger.

My dwarf puffer didn't touch snails for almost 2 weeks! I was afraid she was going to starve to death, then suddenly, they were ALL gone. I swear she ate 20 in a day! If you keep a couple small ones roaming the tank they will eventually realize they are food and eat them.

Glad to see you're doing frequent water changes. Do you have a liquid test kit to measure ammonia/nitrIte/nitrAte? It's a good idea to have one to test every once in a while, such as now when they aren't eating.

You mentioned you knew they were brackish, does that mean they are in brackish conditions in the tank? Please again realize I never meant to do anything other than try to give some advice.

HTH

 

[tenayaisapunkrocker]

no im really sorry i didnt mean to flip out, i just thought i was doing everything right and now i really think there gonna die. and im really upset about it. I shouldnt have bought them at a chain store.I have the test kit for nitrates/nitrites/ammonia everythings fine but i think there wrong cause my fish were haveing trouble breathing so i evacuated them to another tank for the time being. I just used jungel brand fizzy tabs , i would try and give them it in their food but they wont eat. At first they would take a couple bites and then get board and then they would swim after the food and then swim away and now they could careless about food they completely ignore it and act like im a stranger.They werent in great brackish condition in the store but ive slowly brought them up to were they should be. The shark eats and is fine. I dont know i think there goners witch sucks cause i really like them. Again im sorry for being a ***** , i know you were just trying to help.im sorry

 

[7Enigma]

Don't worry, I didn't take offense.

Those Jungle tabs are nice for stuff that are external to the fish (ie on the outside), but they really don't do anything for internal parasites. I like and use the Jungle tabs when I get new fish as a QT precaution.

I've found that bloodworms are the most appealing food to almost all types of fish. There is something about them (smell I'm guessing) that gets fish that refuse everything to eat them. I'd seriously consider picking up a container of Hikari Freeze-dried bloodworms, or even better a cube of frozen bloodworms (they are available at most stores in a freezer next to the tanks). If you can get the puffers to eat the bloodworms you can then (after a couple days to get their strength up) go with a proper dewormer. I can find the exact product I bought and give you some tips if you'd like.

I'm a bit concerned about your test kit. I'm pretty sure the API Freshwater test kit works fine in brackish conditions so if you're interested in trying another kit you can pickup the Master kit for around $20.

 

[DragonFish71]

The API kits work fine for BW setups as well. I use mine for our BW tank and have also had the LFS check, the readings are spot on.

You can also try soaking the blood worms in a bit of garlic juice. I've heard that works great to get fish eating.

 

[tenayaisapunkrocker]

im sorry to say one of my puffers passed away rip little guy but the other one started eating but only blood worms , he picked at a snail but its a little big for him. I got him some medication im not home so i dont have the name. the guy at the fish store said its probably a bac infection.

 

[7Enigma]

What are the symptoms of the remaining puffer? Internal parasites are normally the issue, and antibiotics will not help in that case. The good news is the puff is eating. Please post up what you got at the fish store before you dose it. We might recommend against using it, or at least waiting a bit as antibiotics dosed into the water can kill off some of your bacterial filter, which can cause much worse problems as you now have an ammonia outbreak to deal with.

HTH

 

[tenayaisapunkrocker]

well hes still not eating the amount he should, and his belly is staring to turn grey. his bright color is back but sometimes looks a littel pale , the stuff is called gel teck or something im not going to use it cause the fish has to eat it like food, witch aint happening its suppose to stimuate appitite

 

[7Enigma]

well hes still not eating the amount he should, and his belly is staring to turn grey. his bright color is back but sometimes looks a littel pale , the stuff is called gel teck or something im not going to use it cause the fish has to eat it like food, witch aint happening its suppose to stimuate appitite

GelTek is a good product, and since it's in the food and not the water it would be safe to use. Most people have luck with fish eating their food but puffers can be very picky.

I would definitely consider a treatment for internal parasites in another week if he continues to eat (even if not to the normal amount). I looked up the product I used and it is SafeGuard Canine Dewormer (found in the dog section). The active ingredient is fenbendazole and it comes in little packets that you mix with food. I got the product at PetSmart and it was $10-15 if I remember correctly.

 

[tenayaisapunkrocker]

My puffer had perasites

i can see a worm coming out of his gill and his fins. Does this mean he is completely infected or will he be curable

 

[Innovator]

Puffers should always be de-wormed because they are quite opportunistic and will feed on dead carcasses. The Fenbendazole, also known as Panacur, is an oral treatment and Praziquantel as a bath (Search this site as I've given dosages before). Praziquantel for cestodes/monogeneans and Panacur (fenbendazole) for nematodes.

 

[7Enigma]

Hmmm, sounds like the puffer may have gill flukes. A comprehensive product I like to use when getting new fish is Jungle's Parasite Clear Fizz tabs. You mentioned you used a jungle product, was this the one? If so that should have taken care of it. I'm pretty sure Parasite Clear has Praziquantel as one of the major ingredients.

Pimafix/Melafix are nice "natural" antifungal/antibiotic remedies that I also like to use but you may want to bring out the big guns if you can actually see the parasites.

You're fighting (possibly) 2 separate issues. Since the Parasite Clear is typically a 2-3 day treatment I'd probably do that first and then go the dewormer route. Again this is only if you haven't already used the Jungle product I mentioned.