# What to feed Dwarf Puffer fish?



## awohld (Dec 11, 2005)

So I gutted my tank and saved only 10 pond snails for 2 puffer fish. Now I'm out of snails. I thought 10 would multiply fast enough!

Short of getting more pond snails, is there something else I could feed them?


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## IndianaSam (Mar 25, 2005)

Bloodworms, blackworms, baby brine shrimp, grindal worms.

All of those would work.

Sam


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Most Dp's prefer frozen bloodworms as a main staple, then live blackworms and snails as treats. Some will eat other types of frozen food, but I've never had any luck with mine doing so. Live brine can be feed on occasions, but it does not have much nutirtional value for them.

If you want to keep snails for them, then you will have to setup a breeding cotainer for the snails. As you found out, the Dp's eat the snails faster than they can breed.

Here is a site that might be of interest to you... Dwarf Puffers :: Index


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## eklikewhoa (Jul 24, 2006)

Mine would hunt frozen bloodworms


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## John P. (Nov 24, 2004)

Daphnia magna?


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## splatt3 (Jan 9, 2007)

i had a dp once before i gave him away to make room for my planted tank. i fed ber snails on treats, i had a separate little tank for snail breeding. i mostly fed her frozen bloodworms. i only cut a little piece of the frozen block and feed it to her after i scoop out some water on a lil cup and let the lil piece of frozen bw melt then fed it to her. she was a spoiled, fat lil runt. had a lot of character. oh btw, it took her about 3-4 days before she started eating for the first time when i got her. as far as i know that's normal for dps cuz they need to get use to the environment they're in. some even last about 2 weeks w/out eating. good luck on your dp. i'm pretty sure you'll love her/him. just don't put any other fish with her or else you'll have a tank full butchered sorry looking fishes. those lil guys are cute and innocent looking but they are evil when they nip on the fins. NEVER PUT CHERRIES OR CRS WITH THEM!!! haha.


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## Muirner (Jan 9, 2007)

I have my DP in a tank with guppies (just feeder guppies) but she's good as long as she's fed well. It hasnt been a problem for me so far. The only thing i notice is, She's picky about her bloodworms. I have the little cube packs and I try to cut them in half but it dosent work out all the time. But if i go to feed her bloodworms that sat over night in my fridge covered she's pretty reluctant.

I think in my 55 gal when it's planted she'll be able to hang out and do her thing with out bothering the fish. I'm looking for a _boyfriend_ for her right now haha.


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## toddnbecka (Sep 20, 2006)

If you get her a boyfriend, get another female at the same time so she won't be hassled too much by the male.


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## Muirner (Jan 9, 2007)

Yikes that will be 3 DP's in one 55gal tank... I think she will be the only DP that i get. She's great and wicked fun, i just dont want an agressive tank where everyone is always running "scared" right now she's calm and aite now.


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## furballi (Feb 2, 2007)

Try chopped earthworm or lightly-boiled shrimp. Be sure to clean the earthworm before use.

It may take several days for the fish to develop a taste for the new food.


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## Felf808 (Mar 21, 2006)

my DPs ate almost everything listed above except i could never get them to eat frozen bloodworms because all the lfs around here exclusively feed them live brine. amazingly, before i got rid of all but one of my puffers, i experimented with feeding them boiled shelled peas which i feed to my other fish and they actually enjoyed the peas almost as much as snails!


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## Muirner (Jan 9, 2007)

boiled shelled peas.. Please do share. How do you go about feeding them, and what other fish ate them? I'd be willing to give it a shot, why not.


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## toddnbecka (Sep 20, 2006)

I feed peas to all my shrimp, dwarf crayfish, and snails. Any fish that eats vegetable matter will also eat them. My praecox rainbows, yellow lab's, and BN pleco's gobble them up. I don't boil them though, I just drop a handful of frozen peas into a bowl with a little water and nuke 'em for about 2 minutes. When I drop them into the tanks I squeeze them out of the shells, but the shells get eaten as well. My DP doesn't seem interested in them, probably too many snails around...


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## Felf808 (Mar 21, 2006)

Muirner said:


> boiled shelled peas.. Please do share. How do you go about feeding them, and what other fish ate them?


every fish I've owned liked the peas: tetras, loaches, otos, etc. i even had south american puffers that loved the peas even more than my dwarf puffers did. shelling the boiled fresh peas takes forever but i've read that the shells (even after being cooked) can block the intestinal tract of most small fish plus IME if they're not swallowed they're spit out and left on the gravel just to spite you. the good thing about taking the time to shell the peas is that they'll last in the freezer for quite some time.

it's definitely not a good choice for the sqeemish but one thing i forgot to mention is that my puffers actually liked eating live cut nightcrawlers more than snails because the individual bite-sized segments would move even after being severed and dropped in the tank. the worms multiply very quickly under the right conditions and can be kept in a small cool container filled with moist dirt/peat moss (not mud) near the aquarium.


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## apistaeasy (Jul 16, 2004)

They might eat mini-misis shrimp too.


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