Feed me! Feed me! Feed me!

[RockRash]

And I only ever feed raw wild caught seafood or frozen fish food specifically made for fish. Farmed and wild shrimp are two completely different things and farmed isn’t the best for our fish either.

I have always been allergic to penicillin, amoxicillin ect. A few years ago whe had a shrimp cocktail for a appetizer before our dinners arrived my eyes were almost swollen shut. I talked to my doctor about it and he mentioned that I might be having a reaction to the antibiotics in farm raised seafood. After a couple months I tried wild caught and no problem at all. I had the same reaction with farm raised salmon. We have been a strictly wild caught family ever since and no problems at all. It's hard to come by in our local grocery stores but when its available we stock up and vacuum seal them in 1lb portions.

 

[AydenLincoln]

Oh no stop! That’s so sad! Poor thing. Although I will say the puffer novelty ones are kind of cute/cool. But I try not to think about how they came to be.

 

[LiquidSpace]

Oh no stop! That’s so sad! Poor thing. Although I will say the puffer novelty ones are kind of cute/cool. But I try not to think about how they came to be.

It’s okay long as it has googley eyes.

 

[AydenLincoln]

I have always been allergic to penicillin, amoxicillin ect. A few years ago whe had a shrimp cocktail for an appetizer before our dinners arrived my eyes were almost swollen shut. I talked to my doctor about it and he mentioned that I might be having a reaction to the antibiotics in farm raised seafood. After a couple months I tried wild caught and no problem at all. I had the same reaction with farm raised salmon. We have been a strictly wild caught family ever since and no problems at all. It's hard to come by in our local grocery stores but when its available we stock up and vacuum seal them in 1lb portions.

Yeah people have their own reasons for choosing wild or farmed. And honestly there’s pros and cons to both. For instance a pro to eating farmed fish is you aren’t ingesting microplastics and it’s sustainable. But a con is they feed them poorly and the way they breed them is bad. Versus wild fish isn’t sustainable but it’s natural yet there’s microplastics in them and some wild caught fish are really high in mercury. Honestly big fan of frozen fish too as I don’t live near the ocean and depending on the kind it can be considered more fresh plus most fish you buy at a grocery store is flash frozen or frozen at some point anyway despite being sold as fresh fish.

 

[RockRash]

I haven't seen one of those in years. My grandparents had one in a cabinet along with a dried starfish, sand dollars and a bunch of shells. This would have been late 80s early 90s before they moved to Florida. Never saw them after the move I guess they didn't need the dead stuff living so close to the coast.

 

[AydenLincoln]

It’s okay long as it has googley eyes.

Or he lights up! Two for one lol!

 

[RockRash]

Or he lights up! Two for one lol!

That gives me a idea for next year's pumpkin carving contest. I need to stock up on toothpicks haha.

 

[AydenLincoln]

That gives me an idea for next year's pumpkin carving contest. I need to stock up on toothpicks haha.

Speaking of that! I saw this on Instagram and I want one now!

 

[AydenLincoln]

I thought this was cute too! And yes I am constantly on the hunt for porcupine pufferfish themed items when I’m out and about. They are rare to come by. There’s a ton of fish themed items everywhere just not so much cute pufferfish things.

 

[RockRash]

Out of everyone here you have the best reason to justify purchasing those items haha.

 

[Paul B]

One of the best foods for that fish, if you can't get their natural diet of live crabs is earthworms. I feed them to all my fish occasionally. If I don't collect them myself I buy them in Walmart for a couple of bucks.

I feed them for their gut bacteria which I feel is the secret to being successful in this hobby.

Porcupine puffers need something with a shell like snails or in time, you will have to trim their teeth.

A big problem with them is that they get as large as a basketball so won't live long in a normal home tank.
I have seen some very large ones in the sea.

I collected this guy in the Atlantic and kept him for a year before giving him to the Coney Island Aquarium as he grew huge.

 

[AydenLincoln]

One of the best foods for that fish, if you can't get their natural diet of live crabs is earthworms. I feed them to all my fish occasionally. If I don't collect them myself I buy them in Walmart for a couple of bucks.

I feed them for their gut bacteria which I feel is the secret to being successful in this hobby.

Porcupine puffers need something with a shell like snails or in time, you will have to trim their teeth.

A big problem with them is that they get as large as a basketball so won't live long in a normal home tank.
I have seen some very large ones in the sea.

I collected this guy in the Atlantic and kept him for a year before giving him to the Coney Island Aquarium as he grew huge.

That’s a no for me! I hate worms lol! Live crabs it is all the way when he is spoiled. And I’d respectfully disagree with that being applied to saltwater puffers. Freshwater puffers absolutely. But saltwater I would say there are better options for worms lol as they aren’t eating earthworms in the wild. And I just genuinely hate worms lol.

 

[Paul B]

You are certainly correct in that they don't eat earthworms in the sea. They eat saltwater worms. I only feed them to my fish for the bacteria but when I kept those types of fish I would collect or buy salt water fiddler crabs for them.

 

[Jimbo327]

This cute **** is eating better than me!

 

[rhitee93]

...and live crawfish when he is really spoiled.

I'm curious about this. I have a snowflake eel and a green spotted puffer. They both tend to eat stuff from the seafood counter which concerns me because of the lack of gut/organ material. I can't get whole shrimp very often in the cornfields of western Indiana, but I can get whole crayfish from time to time. I've been wondering if they are nutritionally OK but haven't seen them mentioned in predator food threads.

Earthworms are another thought, and they don't bother me

 

[BubblesandSqueak]

I'm curious about this. I have a snowflake eel and a green spotted puffer. They both tend to eat stuff from the seafood counter which concerns me because of the lack of gut/organ material. I can't get whole shrimp very often in the cornfields of western Indiana, but I can get whole crayfish from time to time. I've been wondering if they are nutritionally OK but haven't seen them mentioned in predator food threads.

Earthworms are another thought, and they don't bother me

isn't a clam basically an organ/gut?

 

[Fish Fan]

I'm curious about this. I have a snowflake eel and a green spotted puffer. They both tend to eat stuff from the seafood counter which concerns me because of the lack of gut/organ material. I can't get whole shrimp very often in the cornfields of western Indiana, but I can get whole crayfish from time to time. I've been wondering if they are nutritionally OK but haven't seen them mentioned in predator food threads.

Earthworms are another thought, and they don't bother me

I don't know about the middle of the cornfields of Indiana, but if you have an Asian market if your area, they often have whole, head-on shrimp.

And I'm not an expert here, but I thought it was really important to freeze any seafood you get from a market because fresh seafood could bring parasites?

 

[AydenLincoln]

I'm curious about this. I have a snowflake eel and a green spotted puffer. They both tend to eat stuff from the seafood counter which concerns me because of the lack of gut/organ material. I can't get whole shrimp very often in the cornfields of western Indiana, but I can get whole crayfish from time to time. I've been wondering if they are nutritionally OK but haven't seen them mentioned in predator food threads.

Earthworms are another thought, and they don't bother me

I mean I only do it on occasion. I would say it’s like a treat obviously they shouldn’t be eating them all the time because like earthworms they aren’t eating them in the wild. I completely understand that. The other option is to buy frozen food strictly from the fish store. Pro Salt IQF has some fantastic foods for predatory fish so does Tropical Marine Centre if you can get it at your LFS through Quality Marine. You could also ask your local seafood counter if they can get in whole shrimp head on or things like raw cockles. Oh and smelts are silversides just the name used when you see it packaged for food consumption. I hope that helps. I’d also say with the puffer since they are usually considered brackish and can live in freshwater although tend to do best in sw that Iive or frozen bloodworms would be great.

 

[AetherealKnight]

Do all puffers exhibit this begging behavior?

 

[AydenLincoln]

Ghost shrimp although expensive longterm are great for them too! There are different species though in freshwater and saltwater so if I can get them saltwater I do. But like the other live foods I feed him…it’s a treat!