Sap's

[Fella]

In the near future I'm planning on an a South American Puffer tank.

I've done plenty of research but was wondering if anyne could offer their experiences or knowledge also.

I'm planning to have a 70 litre (18 us gallon) tank with sandy substrate and thick planting. I'm guessing this is appropriate?

I'm planning on having just one. I've read they're the most docile of all the puffers, so for a cleanup crew will I get away with some ottos? I know shrimps are a no no.

PH here is 7.8 Is that a problem?

I'll primarily be feeding him on snails which I plan to breed myself. Does anyone else do this with great results?

In a case of holidays etc, how long will he be ok without food? I may be gone up to 2 weeks, will he be ok, or will I need to get someone to come in and feed him?

As an alternative to getting someone to come in and feed him regularly, I was considering taking a breeding trap usually for live bearers and cutting a small hole in it. Then within the trap I would put snails too large to fit through the hole. The plan is, that they would breed, and the smaller snails would escape, making food for the puffer. Anyone see any problems with this? It's guesswork mind!

I'd be very grateful for any advice or directions to sites I should visit (although, I have been to many already!)

 

[SirMinion]

By all means breed snails for your puffer, and the breeding trap idea is great, but there's no way that you'll be able to keep up with demand for even one puffer.

You're going to need to feed it other shelled foods as well such as cracked clams, mussels, cockles and shrimp (all fresh or frozen from a fishmonger)

As for the ottos, well it's the luck of the draw I'm afraid and totaly down to the puffer's individual personality.
You'd almost certainly get away with a bristlenose plec though instead of ottos.

 

[Fella]

By all means breed snails for your puffer, and the breeding trap idea is great, but there's no way that you'll be able to keep up with demand for even one puffer.

You're going to need to feed it other shelled foods as well such as cracked clams, mussels, cockles and shrimp (all fresh or frozen from a fishmonger)

Oh yeah, I was expecting that. I look forward to giving him a varied diet. In your experience sir minion, which are the best snails to breed for puffer food?

 

[SirMinion]

In your experience sir minion, which are the best snails to breed for puffer food?

Any parthenogenic or hermaphroditic species so that you don't have to worry about getting males and females. Ramshorns seem to breed easily as do common pond snails as long as the water isn't too warm.

Unfortunately, Malaysian Trumpte Snails, the easiest snail to propigate as it's both parthenogenic and a livebearer is not suitable for small puffers as it's shell is so hard that it can damage the fish's teeth.

 

[Fella]

In your experience sir minion, which are the best snails to breed for puffer food?

Any parthenogenic or hermaphroditic species so that you don't have to worry about getting males and females. Ramshorns seem to breed easily as do common pond snails as long as the water isn't too warm.

Unfortunately, Malaysian Trumpte Snails, the easiest snail to propigate as it's both parthenogenic and a livebearer is not suitable for small puffers as it's shell is so hard that it can damage the fish's teeth.

Yeah, I have some of these in my Cichlid tank so don't consider them an option.

Cheers for the help though. I've just emailed my LFS and there is a good chance I'll be reserving one today!

 

[Pufferpunk]

2 weeks is a little long for this smallish puffer to go w/o food. When I go on vacation, I leave premeasured freeze dried plankton/krill in dixie cups, for my lil ole lady next door neighbor to dump in every 3 days. Now that I've started a reef tank, things will get a little more difficult in the fish sitting dept...

 

[pica_nuttalli]

if you actually do have a heavily planted tank, adding about 2 dozen livebearer fry should at least give your SAP something to munch on while you're gone. but they won't last 20 minutes unless there are plenty of dense plantings for them to escape into.

 

[Pufferpunk]

I do not recommend feeding fish to your puffer. They are a fatty food & cause liver disease.

 

[SirMinion]

I do not recommend feeding fish to your puffer. They are a fatty food & cause liver disease.

I concur. Most puffers (and certainly not SAPs) are not natural fish eaters, it's not part of their natural diet (apart from the fins).

 

[OohFeeshy]

You could put shrimp in when you go on holiday (live shrimp).

 

[pica_nuttalli]

really? not even livebearer fry? i knew that adult fish and goldies had too high of a fat content, but i thought that fry would be ok as vacation food.

--EDIT--
i've yet to have any luck with ghost shrimp. my SAP will kill them just for fun if he can catch them (which is pretty easy in anything but the most planted of aquariums.)

 

[Fella]

Either way, I wont be feeding live fish to something that will get by on dead food.

I think what I'll do is speak to a local fishmonger and ask him to keep over scraps (with shells) which are unfit for human consumption and I'll give him to my SAP.


I reserved him today. I can't explain how excited I am.

 

[nmonks]

Hello,

My South American puffer adores live/frozen bloodworms, live daphnia, and frozen lobster eggs.

I have seen my puffer go for Malayan livebearing snails once in a while, but not with much enthusiasm. He definitely prefers ordinary pond snails, but even these he only eats when really hungry. Bloodworms seem to be the thing with SAPs.

Like Pufferpunk, when I'm away I leave a few dosage cups in the freezer for my neighbour to feed the aquarium every 3 or 4 days.

As far as sociability goes, there seems to be a lot of variation with this species. Some people report them as being completely peaceful even towards their own kind, while others have found them to be only somewhat less aggressive / fin-nippy than the Asian puffers. My own specimen seems completely docile, to the point where even the black mollies push him about. Whether or not this will remain the case as he matures, who knows?

Cheers,

Neale

 

[Pufferpunk]

Even with attmpting to feed them snails as often as possible, be prepared for some dentistry in the future.

 

[hellohefalump]

I get a large handful of asorted snails from the lfs and when they're looking scarce (because Philips eaten them) I get some more. They last quite a long time though. I would quite confidently leave Philip over a month and not expect him to be short of food.