Puffer diet

[burrows14]

hey folks!
just bought myself a small 3" porc puffer this weekend and HES SOOOO COOL!!!

I did some research on them before i got him and have been searching CR for more info on a ideal diet for him. ive noticed that lots of people claim to have the best diet for their puffers and im hoping that thet would be willing to share. Right now he is getting frozen krill soaked in selcon+garlicX. I wanna feed him some shellfish but when i go to the store i see frozen stuff with a bunch of other junk added to it. if anyone could help me it would be much appreciated!

cheers
Ray

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Ours is big enough to eat crabs so we occasionally go to the beach to collect small shore crabs. I keep the crabs in some clean sw & feed them to the puffer as a treat.

T&T Supermarket in Burnaby also sells frozen small crabs. I go to the Korean supermarkets to buy dried pink shrimp and use that as a daily food. The puffer also eats shrimp, prawns, scallops, etc. Poofie eats better than I do:biggrin::redface:

[burrows14]

haha i was gonna say! should i soak the scallops in a nice merlot for him:lol: there are 2 T&T markets out here in surrey ill have to go there and grab some of those crabs. i think ill have to wait a while before i give them to him because he is still very small. hes a very tame personable lil guy, he always likes to be as close to us as he can no matter where we are in the living room haha its also great that he gets along great with all of his other tankmates:biggrin: im very happy with my lil guy!

[edikpok]

Ray - Mine used to LOVE silversides. It was like dessert for him. Until one day I bought a few live clams from T&T and he died a few days later! Big F****ing mistake on my part- I had him for about 6 months and he was my favourite guy.

Later on, I've read that many clams have bacteria in them that kill the fish so you must freeze it to kill the bacteria and bluh bluh bluh....

I will stick to silversides....

Anthony - you cracked me up! "poofie eats better than I do" :) hehehhehe

[burrows14]

I gave him a cut up silverside for breakfast today at first he didn't know what to do with it and the my clarki stole the other peice and fed my nem. Tonight I'm gonna hand feed him like I do with the krill to make sure he get all of it. It's pretty funny that last night he let me scratch his head and looked upset that I stopped. Everytime I'm near the tank he goes up to the water line expecting me to pet him lol how funny is that!

[banditpowdercoat]

My Puffer just past a coupe weeks ago. We were only feeding him Dried krill. Could that have been the cause?? I tried some cooked shrimp, had it here, he ate it, but not as well as the Krill. I dont know if I can get silversides here in my town?? are they common at the grocery store? Wife wants another puffer, so do I acctually. But want to make sure it wasnt my feedin that killed him???

Another thing, My puffer never came out unless I held food near him to coax him out. Then when feeding over, back behind the rocks he went. ANd how many times should they be fed??? Mostly, my fish only get fed in the evening. The Tangs munch algae but pellets in evening.

[edikpok]

if you feed them shrimps, do not use the cooked ones - they have lost most of their nutrients/vitamins. Use the raw or uncooked ones - easy to tell - they are not red :) you can also use uncooked prawns. I usually chop mine into pieces before eeding it to my fish....

[burrows14]

+1 on the uncooked shrimp. i bought flats of frozen krill and silversides from J&L and i add a drop of garlic and selcon. I have no idea where in your area to find them. I have freeze fried krill but have yet to use them

[burrows14]

P.S sorry about the loss of your puffer:cry: how old was he?

[Leah]

Where can I get freeze fried krill he he, your puffer is adorable

[burrows14]

I KNOW!!!! isnt he awesome!!! i just bought mine at my lfs . its a brand called fishalicious. the bottle says it has a website www.fishalicious.ca maybe they ship???:biggrin: just did a test and my fish went nuts for it!!

[banditpowdercoat]

P.S sorry about the loss of your puffer:cry: how old was he?
I only had him for a couple months, He was pretty small, size of a tennis ball maybe??

but the last 3 fish I have goten from JL have not lived long. Just not having luck

[spoot]

Some people report that too much krill can lead to an impacted digestive tract, however I'm not sure if it is more than anecdotal.

I like to feed my puffers a varied diet consisting of:
Shrimp, Lobster, cuttlefish, octopus, mussels, oysters, crayfish, snails, geoduck.

Remember the frozen section in asian supermarkets is your friend.

[nanmer]

I had been thinking about a porc. puffer for a while Hubby REALLY liked one in the LFS. I read this thread and they sound like fun so I did more research. After checking out kijiji, one day, I found one! Tonka (because he is the size of my son's old tonka trucks LOL) is soooooo awesome. This thread is correct about the personality of the puff! Mine does not like to be touched ... yet LOL. I am off to the asian market!

[bulletsworld]

Until one day I bought a few live clams from T&T and he died a few days later! Later on, I've read that many clams have bacteria in them that kill the fish so you must freeze it to kill the bacteria and bluh bluh bluh....


:shocked: I've always fed my porcupine puffers in the past live clams from T&T Asian Market. Actually just yesterday I picked up from the T&T Asian market in Calgary & fed my Stewie (a.k.a Griffie) the porcupine puffer a live clam, a live mussel and a live oyster, just yesterday! :shocked: That can totally be possible about live bacteria on them though. :shocked: I never thought of that. Good call! Thanks for posting about that. I will freeze the future ones. :mrgreen:



Otherwise, over the years I've had & nursed a few porkie puffers back to life, as they are one of my fav fish. Now I have a large porcupine puffer named Stewie and I have fun feeding him stuff. When I first got him, he barely ate and if he did it was only every few days. Now Stewie has got quite the appetite and feeds several times a day. I feed him once in the morning and once at night.

I feed the following:
Chucks of Pristine Mysis (good protein)
Frozen Krill
Raw (just unthawed) Tiger Shrimps (not cooked, green)
Squid, Octopus, Cuttlefish, Mussels, white clams, baby clams (Frozen Seafood Medley, sold at T&T Market for $4.98 a bag) :mrgreen:

FOR A TREAT- every now & then
Oyster (cracked) $0.59 cents at T&T
Mussel (cracked) $0.30 cents at T&T
Clam (cracked) $0.25 cents at T&T
Stometella snails (from your sump!)
Hitcher crabs (FREE)


Hope that helps. :mrgreen:

[burrows14]

thats really funny! my porcis named stewie too lol im guessing your a family guy fan too hahah. im pretty much feeding my puffer the exact same diet you posted. he is a really happy fish and is not shy at all! he lets me scratch his head! of coarse i have to give him a peice of krill after lol he is also by far my favorite fish now!

Ray

[bulletsworld]

thats really funny! my porcis named stewie too lol im guessing your a family guy fan too hahah. im pretty much feeding my puffer the exact same diet you posted. he is a really happy fish and is not shy at all! he lets me scratch his head! of coarse i have to give him a peice of krill after lol he is also by far my favorite fish now!
Ray

:lol: :lol: :lol: Yup, I'm a family guy fan too. :lol: :lol: That's too funny! Two Porkie Stewies, what are the odds. But dont they kinda look like Stewie though?? I think the name is fitting. :lol:

Let me see if I can find a picture to post. :mrgreen:

[bulletsworld]

I thought I would post the other Stewie. :lol:

Stewie (a.k.a Griffie) I got a month back from another reefer on the board here. He is 8+ inches long. A big boy! Although I have a feeling she is a girl after all. :mrgreen: She is great! The first ever puffer that doesn't eat your shrimps, crabs, lobster or corals. Very Very RARE, especially for her size!!


Meet my Stewie!

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/picture.php?albumid=211&pictureid=2033
Stewie loves to pose infront of the camera

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/picture.php?albumid=211&pictureid=2034
This is Stewie's buddy, Luigi (longhorn cowfish)! They swim around together!

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/picture.php?albumid=211&pictureid=2035

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/picture.php?albumid=211&pictureid=2036
I so proud to show her first tooth, that I'm trying to help grow.

[burrows14]

ha ha awesome! i cant wait til mine gets that big! my stewie is only about 3 inches right now. i like that you name your cowfish luigi! thats my middle name lol my puffer is great too i have not had a single problem with him going after my shrimp or crabs and snails. they are great fish!

Ray

[nanmer]

I would love to see Stewie, I can't seem to see the pics!

[Leah]

I would like to meet him as well but can't seem to open them either :cry:

[bulletsworld]

I would love to see Stewie, I can't seem to see the pics!


I would like to meet him as well but can't seem to open them either :cry:




Can you guys see the pictures now? I adjusted the HTML. :mrgreen:

[burrows14]

still cant see them

Ray

[bulletsworld]

still cant see them

Ray


weird... cuz I can see them! Hmm... I did upload to canreef though. Not sure why you can't see them.