valentine puffer aint eatin

[Matt_g]

hey,

i recently brought a valentine puffer and the guy said i could just feed it frozen food but the puffer isnt eating and i was wondering if there is a special diet for it. (nothin is wrong with my water condition)

thanks

 

[C J Rodders]

Did you watch it feed at the LFS?
If not, then you should consider returning it there and asking them to keep it and get it feeding before you take it home again. I had a similar problem with a powder blue tang. The LFS took the fish back and decided to credit me with 50% of the purchase price of the fish. As it had been in my tank for over 2 weeks, I felt this was a reasonable deal. I really could not face watching the fish starve. I also now know that a P B Tang is very difficult to keep in a tank. Are you aware of the potential complications with this particular fish. I hope that is of some help.
C J

 

[Anemone]

Many newly caught fish are a little slow to make the transition to prepared food. Have you tried live brine shrimp? BS often get finicky eaters started eating, and then they can be trained onto frozen foods.

Kevin

 

[LeoR]

Natural food for puffers is:
seashells (clams, mussels, oysters), shrimp, squid and crab.

You can find all these in most grocery stores.
This food is more nutritious and costs much less than the frozen junk food at the LFS.
Your puffer will be more happy and less prone to disease if s/he gets the real food.

Make sure the food is fresh -- live (seashells) or raw (precooked crabs are OK). You can freeze shrimp, squid and crab and defrost it overnight in the refrigerator.

LeoR

 

[EmilyB]

They eat a fair amount of algae as well. Mine loves his spirulina flake and homemade frozen food with nori in it, and really pretty much anything you feed him now. He is very small, and was also quite reluctant at the beginning.

Hopefully some live brine as mentioned, will get your guy going.

 

[danmhippo]

I often entice their apetite with string up shrimps, mussle meats, or other seafoods, and hang the string with seafood on it on the surface. The stringed seafood will suspend in the mid water column and is available for the puffers/boxfish to graze on all day long.

Remove the string and the uneaten seafood by the end of the day. With this, you can also soak the target seafood 24 hours ahead in Selcon or phytoplankton solution to increase its nutritional value.

 

[LeoR]

Puffers will eat anything, just like you would if you were imprisoned and starving.
However, the sooner you get him to eat natural food the better.

Providing plenty of natural food is the single most important thing which determines how your aquatic friends will fare.
No amount of filtration or medication can prevent detrimental effects of insufficient or inappropriate nutrition.

There is no need to waste money on Selco.
Most fish can neither use nor acquire water dissolved human vitamins.
Obviously, fish get all they need from their natural food.

LeoR

 

[danmhippo]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by LeoR:
<strong>There is no need to waste money on Selco.
Most fish can neither use nor acquire water dissolved human vitamins.
Obviously, fish get all they need from their natural food.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Which human vitamins have we mentioned above and recommended using? Have you ever seen or used selco/selcon? Do you have firsthand experiences with using or not using selcon?

The problem is we cannot mimic all their natural food. Please re-read the fishbase.org database.

Like EmilyB said, not all puffers are the same. I have kept many species of puffers and boxfish and I can tell you different species require different food. I always do my homeworks.

 

[Kim D]

Try frozen mysis...my valentini loves it and has no problems eating it.

 

[LeoR]

Red herrings, damhippo.

If you have done your research then supply references for benefits of vitamin/HUFA additives for reef fishes. Yes, I have references to the contrary, but the burden of proof is on whoever makes the claim, which means you.

It is NOT a problem at all to mimic the natural food for puffers. A variety of natural food for most puffers can be found in any grocery store.

True, not all puffers are the same but the common physiology of their digestive system suggests common dietary habits.

Again, the mere fact that your puffers eat something does not mean that it's good for them.

LeoR

[ April 03, 2002: Message edited by: LeoR ]</p>

 

[LeoR]

EmilyB

I could not check your fishbase ref (it seems to be down), but in general:

-- Most puffers are NOT vegetarians.

-- Puffers will sometimes ingest veggies, but more often than not I have seen them expel it unprocessed.

-- Their teeth/beaks suggest that veggies are not their predominant food.

-- Puffers do sometimes pick at rocks, but from my observations they are looking for crustaceans, not algae there.

I am not saying they should not be fed veggies at all but would strongly recommend meaty foods for the bulk of their diet.

LeoR

 

[EmilyB]

There are usually a few back doors when fishbase is busy, here is a LINK

From which a quote:

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr> Class:Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes)
Order:Tetraodontiformes (puffers and filefishes)
Family:Tetraodontidae

Synonyms:
Canthigaster valentini ((Bleeker 1853)):new combination

Common Name:
Valentinni's sharpnose puffer (English)
Botete (Tagalog)
Valentinni's sharpnose puffer (English)
Saddleback pufferfish (English)
Phowot (Nenema)
Sharpnose puffer fish (English)
Thaakihaa koli (Dhiveli)
Bourse à selles (French)

Comments: Found among coral heads and rocks of subtidal lagoon and seaward reefs to a depth of 55 m or more. Feeds mainly
on filamentous green and red algae, tunicates, and on smaller amounts of corals, bryozoans, polychaetes, echinoderms,
mollusks, and brown and coralline red algae. Forms shoals (10-100 or more) which often contains the filefish, @Paraluteres
prionurus@ (about 5% of shoal) mimicking @C. valentini@ to protect it from predators (Refs. 4919 and 5503). <hr></blockquote>

 

[LeoR]

EmilyB

Thanks for the alternate link to fishbase.

Canthigasters seem to feed on many different foods:
gastropods, sponges, algae, bivalves, polychaetes, tunicates, crabs, sea urchins, heart urchins, brittle stars, bryozoans, peanut worms, various small crustaceans and foraminiferans.

There is no reference for "mostly algae" for C. valentini but I will take it at face value until there is a more detailed breakdown of food groups.

Thanks again,

LeoR

 

[EmilyB]

I am wondering if you read the fishbase link or what this is saying ? Not all puffers are the same, the saddled puffer has a very small beak, I have kept others like the Stars and Stripes, guess I am confused.

[ April 03, 2002: Message edited by: EmilyB ]</p>