Feeding Dps

[codell]

Morning all, i purchased some dwarf puffers last weekend (amazingly fun to watch btw) and ive been feeding them frozen bloodworm, no problems there but what i want to know is what sort of food prep i need to do to feed them prawns what prawns do i buy? do they need to be fresh or frozen from iceland or the likes? do i naturally defrost them the same as the blood worm? do i need to part cook them???

Someone help please as im new to feeding live/frozen foods.

 

[nmonks]

Feeding Carinotetraodon species is generally very easy. Wild fish feed on snails of course, but mostly insect larvae and small crustaceans. Frozen bloodworms and mosquito larvae will work fine.

When it comes to frozen seafood, most anything will do. I recommend those mixed bags of mussels, prawns and squid. Waitrose sell them for under £3 for 500 g, and that'll keep your puffer going all year! But be careful: prawns contain a lot of thiaminase, and that destroys vitamin B1 over the long term, so should only be a portion (say, 20%) of the diet. Mussels also contain some thiaminase. Squid is completely safe, as are cockles, so both of those make excellent staples. Cut the squid into small strips, and you'll find most pufferfish will accept this cheap and safe food without problems.

Cheers, Neale

 

[codell]

Thats very handy to know, what sort of prep goes into the food though, do i just defrost and throw in??? lol again im new to feeding frozen

 

[codell]

bump anyone

 

[jennybugs]

I can't get mine to eat prawns. They just look at me as if I am mad. I stick the small prawns shell on in a veggie clip and stick that to the side of the tank. I tried small live glass shrimp once but they ignored them too.

 

[nmonks]

Defrost in a plastic or glass container (I use old Nutella jars) and then decant as much of the "dirty" water as you can. Then feed as you prefer. (The idea of decanting the dirty water is that the tiny particles of food don't get eaten by the fish, and just add to the nitrate in your aquarium; not a big deal if you skip this step, at least in the freshwater side of the hobby.)

I like to hand feed my fish using forceps. Not only is it fun, but it also allows me to check on who's eating what and how much. Doing a bit of "teasing" with the food is good too, giving the fish some stimulation, as if they're hunting.

Cheers, Neale

do i just defrost and throw in??? lol again im new to feeding frozen

 

[iSnail]

From my own experience, DPs are very fussy eaters. They love most live food but very choosy about frozen food. Sometimes I even have problem getting them to eat bloodworms from a different pack of the same brand

I agree with Neale on the feeding method. It's a lot of fun to hand feed them.

When it comes to frozen seafood, most anything will do. I recommend those mixed bags of mussels, prawns and squid. Waitrose sell them for under £3 for 500 g, and that'll keep your puffer going all year! But be careful: prawns contain a lot of thiaminase, and that destroys vitamin B1 over the long term, so should only be a portion (say, 20%) of the diet. Mussels also contain some thiaminase. Squid is completely safe, as are cockles, so both of those make excellent staples. Cut the squid into small strips, and you'll find most pufferfish will accept this cheap and safe food without problems.

Neale, you've gotten me worried now since I have breeding colonies of cherry shrimps living with all my DPs and they love eating the shrimp babies. Are the cherries going to cause long term health problems for my DPs?
(Sorry to hijack your thread codell )

 

[nmonks]

A few cherry shrimps a week will surely do no harm. So far as I can tell, by gobies seem to eat little else! But do balance out this diet with other foods as well: squid, cockles, etc. Live earthworms are cheap and extremely nutritious, and one of the best foods for any freshwater fish. Most fish go wild for them!

Cheers, Neale

 

[iSnail]

A few cherry shrimps a week will surely do no harm. So far as I can tell, by gobies seem to eat little else! But do balance out this diet with other foods as well: squid, cockles, etc. Live earthworms are cheap and extremely nutritious, and one of the best foods for any freshwater fish. Most fish go wild for them!

Cheers, Neale

On top of what they hunt in the tank, I still feed them the normal frozen and live bloodworms, glassworms, brine shrimps and a few snails/daphnia when I can harvest any from my hatcheries. Hope that's not too bad a diet. Never managed to get them to eat frozen mysis or krill. I might try some supermarket squid or cockles/mussels. At least if they don't eat them, I can have them instead