Feeding shellfish to aquarium fish

[jason77777]

I have a porcupine puffer, harlequin tusk, Antennata lion fish, and dwarf golden eel. I've been told before that mussels, oysters, and clams are good for them.



How do I go about feeding these to the fish? Do I just go to the grocery store or fish store and buy them? Do I just plunk them into the tank? Do I pry them open?

[rogersb]

Are they all feeding on frozen or pellet food? If so, I wouldn't worry about trying to do extra work trying to get them to eat shellfish. The only time I hear people consistently feeding shellfish is if their fifsh won't eat frozen/prepared foods.

[jason77777]

The puffer and tusk eat frozen mysis, krill, squid and shrimp. The lion eats live ghost shrimp which I am trying to wean. The eel only eats frozen silverslides. He is the one I am trying to get to eat though. He hasn't eaten for a week which is rare. I also don't think it will hurt adding another food to the mix.

[Nina51]

i just buy the frozen UNcooked shrimp and scallops at the grocery store. i feed small pieces to my brittle stars but my fish do enjoy getting some once in a while.

[billdogg]

The puffer (and probably the tusk) will appreciate foods with the shells still on. Without something to keep it's teeth ground down, it will end up with dental issues.

[jamesbaur13]

My GDM will eat Krill, Squid and Octopus.

I just went to the grocery store (it took me a couple try's to find the right one) and purchased the squid and octopus fresh. I rinsed it off in ro/di and cut it up into chunks that he could swallow whole. I then used a zip-lock bag and laid the bag out flat while I froze it.

If he's fussy about eating the new stuff you might be able to entice him by thawing out his food with the silversides. That way the new food will smell a bit like the silversides.

Eels sometimes do go on hunger strikes for no reason, but other times they'll do this if water quality is poor... so definitely check that to be sure.