Spotted green puffer diet.?

Question

I have a spotted green puffer that's about 3 inches long. I was wondering how often should I get shrimp and snails for him to eat? Should there always be some in his tank? Or would that cause him to overeat?

Answer 1

If you can keep snails and shrimp in his tank, that is MUCH better, because he can simply hunt them out for himself if he gets hungry. If you can't keep them alive in the tank, try to give him snails at least twice a week, and shrimp once a week. Snails are VERY important because they allow the Puffer to grind down their beaks. If their beaks grow too large, they will not be able to open their mouths.

Soop Nazi

Answer 2

I feed my spotted green puffer freeze dried krill.. Feed it once a day and make sure that you only feed it one or two krills. You shouldnt leave food just floating in the tank because that will rott if he doesnt eat it and will make your water bad, which will make you haveto change your water more frequently. My fish is always swimming by the front of my tank when i walk by it begging for food but i ignore him because if he over eats he might die. oh yea, the krill in the can i got last time are way to big for him to eat compared to the first can i had so i haveto break them in half, you might haveto do the same depending on the size of your fish and the krill.... watch out though, never put your fingers near the water, my fish has bit me before.... ouch

Answer 3

One of the most difficult aspects of keeping these special fish is their diet. All puffers are predatory fish and need hard-shelled, meaty foods to keep their teeth trimmed. Like rabbits, their teeth grow constantly and can overgrow enough to cause starvation in the fish. Puffers eat crustaceans in the wild. Foods for smaller puffers are frozen/freeze-dried krill/plankton, gut-loaded ghost shrimp, glass worms, crickets, worms and small snails (the size of their eye). Snails are an essential food to a Puffer’s diet, especially when small. Many serious puffer keepers breed their own snails. As your puffer gets larger, there are many more crunchy foods for them to eat. Larger Green Spotted Puffers will eat cut-up pieces of scallops, shrimp, crab legs, whole mussels, clams, oysters, squid, lobster and crayfish. Mine love to chase live crayfish, fiddler crabs and gut-loaded ghost shrimp. I gut-load (pre-feed) my live food with algae wafers, so my puffers get their veggies. I buy most of these foods at the fish department of my grocery store, freeze and later thaw in warm vitamin water as needed. Smaller Puffers (under 2”) need to eat every day, skipping one feeding/week. Feed them until their bellies are slightly rounded. Medium sized Puffers (2-4”) should be fed every other day. Larger puffers (4-6) should be fed every 3-4 days. You may find this schedule difficult, as Puffers are very adept at begging for food! Feeding puffers every time they beg will cause fat, lazy fish and eventually you will be killing them with kindness

hope this helps

tom