Green Spotted Puffer

[Andy1076]

Hi!

I'm brand new to the whole puffer keeping hobby, couldn't resist how adorable they look with the eyes and the cute tummy! so i picked one up and now i'm stuck with a dilemma, i thought it would go in moderation with the snails in the tank but now it ate them all up! so i went to the pet shop and sure enough repeat and again it ate them all up! so i can't really just feed it blood worms right? can't really keep buying ramshorns snails either so any ideas? i'd like to consider breeding the snails within the tank but i only got 20 gallons to work with and really don't want to put too much stuff in it, any help would be appreciated thanks

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

Originally Posted by Andy1076

Hi!

I'm brand new to the whole puffer keeping hobby, couldn't resist how adorable they look with the eyes and the cute tummy! so i picked one up and now i'm stuck with a dilemma, i thought it would go in moderation with the snails in the tank but now it ate them all up! so i went to the pet shop and sure enough repeat and again it ate them all up! so i can't really just feed it blood worms right? can't really keep buying ramshorns snails either so any ideas? i'd like to consider breeding the snails within the tank but i only got 20 gallons to work with and really don't want to put too much stuff in it, any help would be appreciated thanks

Hey Andy,

Well to tell you the truth, I know people getting puffers for that exact reason, to get rid of snails. They love them and will suck them right out of their shells, or just eat 'em whole.

If you want snails, I suggest just getting a small 5G or even a 2.5G and have it a strict snail (possiblely shrimp as well) tank. But snails and a puffer living together is just not an option, no matter how often you feed him blood worms ha ha.

Anything else just let me know,
Ben

[Terrance]

Use a salad bowl like me. They breed easily. If you ever want free snails, go to PetsMart. They gave me starting pond snail, and I can always go back for more.

Another option is buying raw shrimp or mussel. Its relatively cheap after freezing off all the parasites living on it for a few days. One piece of shrimp can feed my puffer for 4-5 days.

[G-Bob-North]

If they can eat frozen seafood they can eat frozen ramshorn snails, just feed him in moderation and keep the rest in the fridge (unless you wanna breed them to save money, that's my plan but I'm looking to partisan a corner of my existing 40 gallon for ghost shrimp).

[severum mama]

Originally Posted by FishCrazyBenBOMB

Hey Andy,

Well to tell you the truth, I know people getting puffers for that exact reason, to get rid of snails. They love them and will suck them right out of their shells, or just eat 'em whole.

If you want snails, I suggest just getting a small 5G or even a 2.5G and have it a strict snail (possiblely shrimp as well) tank. But snails and a puffer living together is just not an option, no matter how often you feed him blood worms ha ha.

Anything else just let me know,
Ben

That's most often a really bad idea, given that puffers almost never mix well with other fish, not to mention most puffers require brackish water for long term health.

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

Originally Posted by severum mama

That's most often a really bad idea, given that puffers almost never mix well with other fish, not to mention most puffers require brackish water for long term health.

Oh I know it's a bad idea, since I've been in the hobby I've heard people doing this. My main point was to show how much puffers love snails

[Andy1076]

Originally Posted by Terrance

Use a salad bowl like me. They breed easily. If you ever want free snails, go to PetsMart. They gave me starting pond snail, and I can always go back for more.

Another option is buying raw shrimp or mussel. Its relatively cheap after freezing off all the parasites living on it for a few days. One piece of shrimp can feed my puffer for 4-5 days.

Thank you everyone for the replies! I wonder if pet habitat will give me a few snails and maybe I can put them in a separate breeding cage within the tank, think that will work?

[Terrance]

I had the same idea about keeping a breeding cage for snails and another breeding cage for cherry shrimps, but I noticed the babies are able to crawl out into the main tank. It sounds like a space saver, but I think it would make me do more work, and my feeder supply would drop to zero at some point. The baby snails and shrimps are really tiny.

For any snail breeder tank, make sure there is no moisture above the water line because the snails can crawl everywhere that is wet. I saw my snail crawl in my hood system because there was moisture there.

[Andy1076]

Originally Posted by Terrance

I had the same idea about keeping a breeding cage for snails and another breeding cage for cherry shrimps, but I noticed the babies are able to crawl out into the main tank. It sounds like a space saver, but I think it would make me do more work, and my feeder supply would drop to zero at some point. The baby snails and shrimps are really tiny.

For any snail breeder tank, make sure there is no moisture above the water line because the snails can crawl everywhere that is wet. I saw my snail crawl in my hood system because there was moisture there.

Thank you for your reply! I got 5 ramshorns sitting in a floating breeder cage, water level is low enough so that there's nothing for the lil buggers to escape their doom. I just hope they reproduce fast!

[BfishLpond78]

I have a seperate 2.5 gallon tank for my GSP's snail food. The snails will reproduce quickly, it will just take a long time for them to reach a size that is effective for feeding your puffer. Here is what i've been doing. I have about 5 different types of food for my lil guy to eat, frozen blood worms and brine shrimp, trout worms, pest snails, live ghost shrimp and raw shrimp. Everytime i go to the pet store or drive by one, i always stop in and ask for any pest snails they want to get rid of. You will keep replenishing the "edible" sizes for your puffer while they continue to reproduce. It will probably take awhile but in a few months you'll have a tank filled with snails that just keep pumping out more babies and eventually will have enough of good size snails.

[Andy1076]

Originally Posted by BfishLpond78

I have a seperate 2.5 gallon tank for my GSP's snail food. The snails will reproduce quickly, it will just take a long time for them to reach a size that is effective for feeding your puffer. Here is what i've been doing. I have about 5 different types of food for my lil guy to eat, frozen blood worms and brine shrimp, trout worms, pest snails, live ghost shrimp and raw shrimp. Everytime i go to the pet store or drive by one, i always stop in and ask for any pest snails they want to get rid of. You will keep replenishing the "edible" sizes for your puffer while they continue to reproduce. It will probably take awhile but in a few months you'll have a tank filled with snails that just keep pumping out more babies and eventually will have enough of good size snails.

Great idea thx! I picked up 5 ramshorns and a pack of frozen bloodworms the other day, as well as a bag of frozen peas for my bottom feeders. Didn't want to get too many snails at once for fear off too many parasites so I'll just have to hope the rams grow fast!

[BfishLpond78]

I'm not good with snail names...are ramshorns the same thing as pest/pond snails? Also i would be careful with having tank mates in with the GSP, he or she may have one of them as a snack.

[Andy1076]

Ramshorns are actually bout the size of a thumb and cost bout $3 bucks at pet habitat cause of size and they say they multiply fast so, hope they are right! so far my puffer has played nice with my neon tetras but so much as one fin nip! it's gone lol

[Andy1076]

Originally Posted by BfishLpond78

I have a seperate 2.5 gallon tank for my GSP's snail food. The snails will reproduce quickly, it will just take a long time for them to reach a size that is effective for feeding your puffer. Here is what i've been doing. I have about 5 different types of food for my lil guy to eat, frozen blood worms and brine shrimp, trout worms, pest snails, live ghost shrimp and raw shrimp. Everytime i go to the pet store or drive by one, i always stop in and ask for any pest snails they want to get rid of. You will keep replenishing the "edible" sizes for your puffer while they continue to reproduce. It will probably take awhile but in a few months you'll have a tank filled with snails that just keep pumping out more babies and eventually will have enough of good size snails.

Thank you for the tip! it looks like i'll be quite the frequent customer for a long time, the next time i go by petsmart i think i'll pick up a few. Thing is I've been keeping the snail purchases to a minimum for fear of parasites, i usually feed my fish green peas when i had guppies etc so this is all new to me.

thanks