Blue spot puffer feeding habits

[KeystoneAq]

I have recently added a blue spot puffer to my 135 gallon reef tank. Yes, I know, risky. So far so good(I think). Hes so peaceful and and amusing to watch.

It is a mixed reef tank, SPS, LPS, etc and I have a pair of dragonetts, pair of OC clowns, an unknown purple fish with yellow fins and four cardinals. There is also a cleaner and a blood shrimp, massive emerald crab and loads of snails and hermits. There is roughly 190lbs of liverock and a 4" sand bed.

I have had the puffer for around three weeks now. He seems to be in great health and very happy. He is constantly picking at the live rock in the same fashion as a mandarin would. I assume he is eating pods? I have not found any articles or posts that suggest this is normal feeding behavior.

So far I dont believe he has touched any of my corals. He gets very excited at feeding time, comes out and swims around through all of the food but I havent seen him actually ingest any food. I have seen him a few times peck at the food my acans are holding onto, but usually one peck and he moves on without any food visible in his mouth. I had moved a bubble tip anemone into the tank after it had been beaten up pretty badly by a pair of clowns, after a day it seemed to have some torn up tentacles but I am not convinced it was from my puffer as I have never seen him near it. It has since disappeared, Im not sure if it has just hidden itself into the liverock, if its been eaten or if its died and fallen down into the rockwork.

I have tried squid, clam, silversides, mysis, pellets, flakes, cyclo, clam eggs and have even tried putting fishing line through a piece of clam and letting it blow in the current. Still no real interest.

Anyone have any suggestions? Should I try some seaweed? I have had a super hard time finding any posts about feeding them, usually just " Do you think this fish will have a very expensive buffet when he decides he really likes to eat coral"

thanks guys

[NTP66]

He is constantly picking at the live rock in the same fashion as a mandarin would. I assume he is eating pods? I have not found any articles or posts that suggest this is normal feeding behavior.

It's more likely that he's actually picking at the rock itself. Mine does it on a fairly regular basis, and it helps keep his beak shaved.

Mine won't eat live clam, which I found a little odd, but goes nuts for LRS foods (all blends), as well as NLS pellets. The pellets are cheaper if you want to try it out, but you'll know when he eats because he'll chew it up, spit it out, and then chew it up again. Messy, but fun to watch.

[KeystoneAq]

It's more likely that he's actually picking at the rock itself. Mine does it on a fairly regular basis, and it helps keep his beak shaved.

Mine won't eat live clam, which I found a little odd, but goes nuts for LRS foods (all blends), as well as NLS pellets. The pellets are cheaper if you want to try it out, but you'll know when he eats because he'll chew it up, spit it out, and then chew it up again. Messy, but fun to watch.

I just googled LRS foods and surprise surprise no one around me sells it. Im in Ontario, Canada and we have a terrible selection. Maybe I will order some in. I have tried new life spectrum pellets and he has shown zero interest. Could he still be settling in?

[NTP66]

He could be, but I can only go on what I've seen mine do. Mine was shy at first when I added him to the DT, and did take a week or two to actually go after food (competing with a Foxface that would eat his weight in food if I let him). Does his belly ever look bloated? When they eat, you can really see the bulge on their underside.

[KeystoneAq]

He could be, but I can only go on what I've seen mine do. Mine was shy at first when I added him to the DT, and did take a week or two to actually go after food (competing with a Foxface that would eat his weight in food if I let him). Does his belly ever look bloated? When they eat, you can really see the bulge on their underside.

Maybe a slight bulge? Do they usually eat very small pieces of food? All of my fish will eat anything I put in, even if its a struggle. Do you feed yours any seaweed?

[NTP66]

Yeah, mine eats small pieces of food, and will break apart large chunks to make it easier for him to eat. I do put nori on a clip every once in a while, but mine does little more than occasionally pick at it. Meaty foods are likely going to be your best bet in the long run. Mine never liked clam, but did eat scallops (frozen for 24 hours after buying them from the grocery store).

[KeystoneAq]

Yeah, mine eats small pieces of food, and will break apart large chunks to make it easier for him to eat. I do put nori on a clip every once in a while, but mine does little more than occasionally pick at it. Meaty foods are likely going to be your best bet in the long run. Mine never liked clam, but did eat scallops (frozen for 24 hours after buying them from the grocery store).

I never thought of trying scallops. They are safe to buy from the grocery store? Do you chop them up into tiny pieces? Am I best to just set the stuff on the liverock with current off? He will go after food floating around but it usually escapes him (falls down into the rock or under the frag rack) and he couldnt be bothered to pursue it.

[NTP66]

I buy them fresh at the grocery store, but freeze for 24 hours just in case (read that on here somewhere). I do cut them up into 1/4" squares, and I've fed them both frozen and thawed with success.

Do you normally feed with your powerheads on? Depending on how high they're ramped up, it might be an issue. Mine will chase food in current, but only for so far before he returns to where the other food was. My MP40s go into feed mode when I feed, and he has no issues chasing down food at that current.

Haven't said it yet, but that is a beautiful puffer you have. Gotta love the blue and orange coloration.

[desertrat505]

Try blood worms, the Valentini puffer I had loved them.

[KeystoneAq]

I buy them fresh at the grocery store, but freeze for 24 hours just in case (read that on here somewhere). I do cut them up into 1/4" squares, and I've fed them both frozen and thawed with success.

Do you normally feed with your powerheads on? Depending on how high they're ramped up, it might be an issue. Mine will chase food in current, but only for so far before he returns to where the other food was. My MP40s go into feed mode when I feed, and he has no issues chasing down food at that current.

Haven't said it yet, but that is a beautiful puffer you have. Gotta love the blue and orange coloration.

I usually turn 99% of current off to feed, only one tiny power head behind some LR is left on. The food starts to float downwards and that is clearly too much work for him to go after it. He will turn his head sideways and watch the food fall and then move on to another area.

I feed with a turkey baster for the most part and all other fish eat right from it which allows me to put food in one corner for him and keep all the other fish with me. But he would rather swim around the corals turning his head and staring at things and swimming away. I am baffled. I was told by another puffer owner that there puffer would dig through the sand bed but I have never even seen him go more than half way down the tank. He sleep with his belly stuck to the underside of my overflows.

I even tried taking a tiny snail and throwing it in the tank to him, he took off to the other side of the tank. I really love this fish, the colors are remarkable. Do you have any photos of yours?

[KeystoneAq]

Try blood worms, the Valentini puffer I had loved them.

Never thought of bloodworms. I stopped feeding them because it seemed nothing wanted to eat them. Do you feed frozen or freeze dried?

[NTP66]

Here are two shots of mine (c. papua). The second shot is a perfect example of how they eat, as it was taken right as he decided to spit out the pellet he was munching on.

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5563/14458973087_a339a09b57_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/o2G1Xr)

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2922/14465183859_f55a1bc20d_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/o3eRcH)

[KeystoneAq]

Those are awesome shots! Yours looks much larger than mine, but still has the tiny tiny mouth. Mine has certainly never been spotted spitting food out like that.

[NTP66]

Yeah, I think it's hilarious how small their mouths are compared to their bodies. I overfeed my tank since it's an aggressive FOWLR, and he certainly eats his share. He started out smaller than yours, though:

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3914/14895802516_f273ddcc81_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/oGhT8j)

Hopefully, yours has been eating and you just haven't seen it.

[desertrat505]

Never thought of bloodworms. I stopped feeding them because it seemed nothing wanted to eat them. Do you feed frozen or freeze dried?

I feed frozen, a lot of my fish eat them. I have had mandarins/dragonettes chow down on them too.

When I feed, I feed the tank. I make a concoction of mysis, brine, blood worms, ROE, Roti feast, and other planktonic foods.

[desertrat505]

Those are awesome shots! Yours looks much larger than mine, but still has the tiny tiny mouth. Mine has certainly never been spotted spitting food out like that.

They are messy eaters. I have had faster fish eat the food they spit out.

[KeystoneAq]

That sounds like how I feed mine as well. Some of everything and I certainly over feed my tank. I have tried both frozen and freeze dried, mainly because I had been told from a few people that mandarins were likely to accept them. Even my Clown fish were not overly interested. I should still have some left so I will try that with him tonight.

[KeystoneAq]

Yeah, I think it's hilarious how small their mouths are compared to their bodies. I overfeed my tank since it's an aggressive FOWLR, and he certainly eats his share. He started out smaller than yours, though:


Hopefully, yours has been eating and you just haven't seen it.

Oh he was so tiny! I havent noticed him dropping weight at all, and the importer I purchased him from said that he was eating frozen food.

So no one has seen theirs eating pods?

[NTP66]

I haven't seen mine eating pods, no. Have you tried shrimp (with or without the shell), by any chance? Mine didn't seem too interested in it, but I know others have had success with it.

[KeystoneAq]

I haven't seen mine eating pods, no. Have you tried shrimp (with or without the shell), by any chance? Mine didn't seem too interested in it, but I know others have had success with it.

No I havent, should I just give it uncooked shrimp from the grocery store?

[NTP66]

No I havent, should I just give it uncooked shrimp from the grocery store?

You could try. I used the same method that I did with scallops.

Honestly, though, if there's a way to get your hands on some LRS food, that may be worth it. You could try e-mailing Larry to see if he's able to ship to Canada.

[KeystoneAq]

Bloodworms were a no. He wasn't interested. He did however eat a bunch of a mixed frozen cube I put it. After thawing it stays in one piece and he picked away at it. Until he unknown bully purple fish came along and pushed him. Next task is catching this unknown bully.

[KeystoneAq]

Update on my blue spot puffer.

I went downstairs one night when the lights were off and looked in the usual sleeping spot of my puffer and couldn't find him. He jumped out and was on the cement floor all puffed up. He was pretty dry and I assumed dead but noticed a tiny bit of movement. He was a bit stuck to the floor and I assumed there was no way he would survive this. That was probably three weeks ago and he is better than ever.

I decided after this event he was being bothered by the damsel (surprise surprise) so I trapped it and moved it to the sump where it continued to harass my pair of ice clowns so he is now living in a section with a bunch of condi anemones.

Since this eviction the puffer eats EVERYTHING. Blood worms are his favourite by far. He is even picking them out of the water column.

I have also seen him munch down on bubble algae and a few small bristle worms(I hope this won't hurt him). He's even come up to the turkey baster to take food.

I am so relieved! And since removing the damsel my clowns AND mandarins have started to spawn.

[NTP66]

That's great to hear. I wouldn't worry about the bristle worms, either. I've actually seen my puffer and trigger relive the Lady and the Tramp spaghetti scene with one (wish I had my phone on me at the time) - they were totally fine.

[small alien]

Don't overdo the bloodworms.