overfeeding puffers

[patola_l]

i have 2 juvinile figure 8 puffers and i feed them about 3/4 of a cube of frozen blood worms each day, and then at night they get a snail. I noticed they look quite plump after each feeding so i wanted to make sure it wasnt me feeding them too much...pictures are attached, they are speedy, so the photos are bad, but good enough to give you an idea of their shape. Thanks!

[Homer8]

i hope to be getting a pair of these little fellas withing the next month so i want to know everything i can and how much to feed is really the only thing i have left to learn about them.

what do you keep your SG and what kind of plants do you have in the tank?

[patola_l]

well, my LFS sells them as freshwater....which is incorrect...so right now the salinity is about 1.002....i am slowly raising it to about 1.003-1.004...ad far as plants, i have some cypts, micro sword...which can do well in low brackish conditions such as mine...i do have some radican sword as well...however, they do not do will in brackish usually, so far, mine look fine, but as soon as they start to die, im taking them out...i heard keeping plants in brackish overall can be hit and miss, so for now im giving it a shot.

I did some research on how much to feed them, and nobody does give a good amount to follow, but rather till their bellys are rounded..id say im bordering on too much, so im going to cut back a little on how much i feed them. Let me know if you have any other questions!

[patola_l]

here are some more pics, its tough to get good shots of these speedy guys:

[patola_l]

i feel bad for the ones at the fish store, even when i got them...yeah they would swim around..but its clear they are more active and energetic as the tank makes it way to low-end brackish

[Mr. Limpet]

My GSP's look like that after a good feeding. They cleared out all my snails in no time so frozen mixed cubes/brine shrimp/bloodworms are their normal diet for now. I got some uncooked shrimp from the store which they went nuts over and now it seems they don't want bloodworms :P. Someone else here got some small crayfish (?) that he's gonna breed. I was gonna do feeders, but decided I did want them to mistake them for my BBG's.

[Sssea]

Oh man, their plump little bellies are super cute.

[patola_l]

Im breeding snails in a 15gallon that is right beside theirs...im also thinking about breeding them some ghost shrimp too.. if i breed them myself i can be sure they are healthy and can feed them veggies, and other highly nutritious foods, that my puffers wouldn't normally eat, so then the puffers get that nutrition when they eat the shrimps!

[Mr. Limpet]

Originally Posted by patola_l

Im breeding snails in a 15gallon that is right beside theirs...im also thinking about breeding them some ghost shrimp too.. if i breed them myself i can be sure they are healthy and can feed them veggies, and other highly nutritious foods, that my puffers wouldn't normally eat, so then the puffers get that nutrition when they eat the shrimps!

Yep, I gotta figure out something for snails. I put gut loaded ghost shrimp in and my GSP's give them a look anf move on as far as I can tell. Maybe they're eating them at night? IDK.

[patola_l]

must be at night, they will always figure it out, sooner or later and devour them. I tried breeding snails in a bucket a while back, but its a lot easier in a tank. i just have them in my 15 gal, along with a dwarf gourami and some tetras.

[Innovator]

Their bellies should have a slight bulge after feeding and not look like they swallowed a small marble. The first 2 pics are slightly overfed, which ultimately could lead to systemic failure (impaction, long-term organ failure, etc.) or if grossly overfed...death.

[patola_l]

okay thanks! ill def keep their feeding amount down now

[Mr. Limpet]

Originally Posted by Innovator

Their bellies should have a slight bulge after feeding and not look like they swallowed a small marble. The first 2 pics are slightly overfed, which ultimately could lead to systemic failure (impaction, long-term organ failure, etc.) or if grossly overfed...death.

Really? My GSP's have a slight bulg all the time. After they eat it looks kinda like a Santa belly. They're pretty young, so does that make a difference?

[Innovator]

A slight bulge is typically not a problem depending on the food and most likely due to the strong acids that break down food. The main issue is with feeding until their stomach is overly distended (swallowed marble appearance). Age doesn't make a difference imo because the stomach muscles, acids, etc. work according to their rate of growth, metabolism, environment, etc. etc.

[BfishLpond78]

Interesting, i am glad i ran across this thread...i'm gonna have to reduce his feeding a little bit. Right now I have a 10 gal for snails, RCS and Malawa shrimp, i think that's what they are called. Will be getting ghosties soon as feeders. I also have a 5 gallon for now will upgrade when i move that has 2 self cloning marbled cray's in them, that will serve as another food source, also have frozen raw shrimp, frozen bloodworms and frozen brine shrimp. I find it funny Limpet how your GSP's dont like the shrimp you have in there. Mine goes nuts over any food i drop in there. He hunts shrimp down like crazy.

Maybe you should sprinkle a little seasoning on them before putting them in, make em more appealing

[Mr. Limpet]

Originally Posted by BfishLpond78

Interesting, i am glad i ran across this thread... I find it funny Limpet how your GSP's dont like the shrimp you have in there. Mine goes nuts over any food i drop in there. He hunts shrimp down like crazy.

Maybe you should sprinkle a little seasoning on them before putting them in, make em more appealing

They love the raw shrimp, they're picking around the bloodworms now even within the mixed cubes :\.

[BfishLpond78]

Well i'm glad they like the raw shrimp...maybe you just gotta mix it up on them. Just be happy they are eating though!!! And you now know what they like! Any picture updates?

[Mr. Limpet]

Originally Posted by BfishLpond78

Well i'm glad they like the raw shrimp...maybe you just gotta mix it up on them. Just be happy they are eating though!!! And you now know what they like! Any picture updates?

They're young so that could be an issue, but round white bellies prevail . I'll try pics later and post on my thread.