Figure 8 puffer

Good day,

I bought my self a figure 8 puffer fish the other day,

It is a very cool fish. Looks great and ahsnt given my other fish any problems yet.

I would like to ask though about feeding him. IF any one has a snail problem this is the guy to buy, he literally found every snail in my tank the first day. Just crushes their shell and sucks them out. Now that im outta snails I needa start worrying what to feed the guy. I found this online:

earthworms, ghost shrimp, uncooked "people" shrimp, clams, mussels, oysters, silver sides, crab, squid, brine shrimp, and snails is a vital part


But now where can I get any of these?

 

Hi there

1) Earthworms - some digging around in your garden and/or compost heap should yield a couple of these. Most moderately to very moist soils should have some. Alternatively, there are garden stores sell earthworms - look around.

2) Ghost shrimp - as these are blacklisted, you likely won't find any in any large numbers. Shrimp occasionally pop up in stores - both intentionally or accidentally on plants. If they happened to pop up on the plants, the store probably won't charge you much for them. Some stores sell frozen shrimp, too.

3) "People shrimp" - also called cocktail shrimp or market prawns. Can be quite cheap. Some of them come shelled - consider buying these. Puffers need hard foods to keep their beaks worn down. Wash well and defrost properly.

4) Clams, mussels, oysters, crab - seafood stores should have these. Or even the seafood sections of supermarkets. A little pricier than other foods, though.

5) Silversides, squid - common bait foods, so you can get them in both specialised fishing stores as well as places like petrol station stores. Cut to appropriate sizes and defrost. These are a little messy so don't feed in massive quantities. Puffers are, per se, not piscivorous (fish-eating) animals, so take it easy on the silver sides or sardines.

6) Brine shrimp - you can buy eggs or adults at many pet stores. Hatching them yourself ensures a moderately reliable supply. Alternatively, packs of frozen brine shrimp are usually available at pet stores.

7) Snails - as yours was feeding on. You can probably go to your pet store and ask to take them off their hands, or ask members on this forum if they don't mind giving you some. It may be wiser to set up a breeding tank/container of snails as a supply for your puffer. Also good for wearing teeth.

Hope this helped.

Regards,

 

Puffers are little legends...

Try and feed the little guy something with a shell (snails, mussels, clams, shrimps, ect) atleast once a week to keep those teeth from over growing...

You can also make a mix of bloodworms and mysis (both available from Pet Stop) for the little guy they really love that...

As for the tank mates... keep a close eye on them... once they start going you need to save the rest...

Enjoy

 

See if you can find somebody close by with a pond. They are bound to have plenty pond snails.

And I've just seen you are planning to start a pond. You will soon have more than enough snails.

 

I have an F8 puffer living with 2 Mudskippers in a brackish set-up. Are you keeping your in brackish or freshwater? They can live in fresh but are much healthier and longer-lived in brackish water.

I feed my puffer the odd snail and he gets bloodworm at least twice a week. I bought a bag of seafood mix (deisgned for salads) from Spar. Was R15 and has crab-flavoured fish, actual fish, muscles and un-crumbed calamari in it. I defrost a different piece every few days, cut it up and put it in the water for him.So far, the fish, crab and calamari have been a hit, but he's not crazy about the muscles.
My skippers like anything meaty, so they chow the leftovers.

 

Could we see some pics of the little guy?(I would like to see the little monster that might eat my snails)
I love puffers I might get some dwarf puffies later on.
I almost bought a figure 8 the other day but it was so skinny and they did not want to come down with there price(think it was R50)

 

R50 is a good price for a puffer. I paid R80 for mine, which seems to be the standard price in CT.

If the puffer hasn't eaten recently, they can look quite thin. Puffers have no ribs, so they don't have a natural "fuller" look to them. This is how they manage to puff, having no bones in the way. Provided that the fish moves around alot, is aware and relaxed in its surroundings and doesn't have major injuries (nipped fins can be ok), you may be able to overlook the thinness. A good idea, if a puffer looks lean, is to ask to see it eat, just to make sure it will eat in captivity, since most are wild-caught.

 

This puffer was so thin,and its body shape like a banana. I'll wait till I can find a few nice ones, I just need to do a bit more research on there tank size and compatiblenis to other fish.

 

Thanks for all of your replies.

I paid R50.00 for mine and he looked in good condition, Cute and fat and very active. He never sits sill.

I am a little concerned about putting sea food in my fresh water tank? will it not pollute the water / effect the other fish.

I like the idea of a snail breeding tank. I only managed to save 5 snails from my main tank, so i currently have them in a glass bowl. but its gonna be a while till the reproduce any reasonable amount. This should give me a steady supply of snails to feed him.
I also like the idea of the seafood starter pack. i might go try that, I should probably just to the pet store and get some blood worms and brine etc.

I will try get some good photos of him. So far he seems camera shy, always swimming away just as i focus the camera.

 

I put tiny bits of seafood in my tank then scoop out anything not eaten within 2 hours.

 

can i borrow your puffer for my snails i swear i'll give him back

 

All my fish are camera shy except my angels there to exited when I come out the door they freak out and are to whiling to be photographed that is even harder to take pics of them.

 

Ha ha he really would sort them out.

 

So my little puffer is going great. im loving him. Defiantly allot of fun.

I was battling getting him fed after all my snails where gone the first day. Mostly because they so chilled, i threw a piece of sea food in there and all the other fish had already finished it before he even saw it. But i have eventually gotten him to eat muscles. I cut it into smaller pieces. But its so funny to see how full him tummy gets after he eats.

I even saw him vomit today. He really ate way to much, and then all of a sudden a whole lot just came flowing out his mouth. Was an interesting sight, the tetras had eaten it in seconds after. So at lest he shared in a way.

 

He just wanted to share his nice meal with his fishy compadre.lol
I have allot of snails but there still very small and I want to send you nice sized ones.

 

Hi! I would really suggest you buy marine salt, not aquarium salt, and make the salinity 1,005 to 1,008.
This will keep your puffer happy for longer and it won't get sick. Puffers are really hardy fish. Especially the F8. So you can keep it in most water conditions, but the fish will slowly get sick and start getting internal and external parasites because of stress.
I do water changes twice a week and if the salinity is a bit lower for a couple of days, the puffer won't mind, it simulates the brackish areas he lives and swims through.
Best thing to do for snails, go to your lfs and grab some ramshorn or pondsnails. They just give them away for free most of the times. They breed like crazy. Keep them in a small tank with a heater set to 26. Feed them your 'older' food. Do water changes every other day. 30%. You will have a constant supply of snails. Cool thing about this method, you control what the snails eat, so indirectly, you control what the puffer eats. Feed them lettuce of cucumber if you want him to get some greens in, or pellets high in protein to give him a nice diet. Also makes sure the snails don't have parasites in them if you know you bred them. I feed mine snails, bloodworms, mysis, daphnia.
hope this helps! That fish will entertain you for a long time and sometimes bite you fingers.

 

I'm sending zap ramshorns.