Puffer Teeth/Beak Questions

[rhitee93]

I have a green spotted puffer that I got from my LFS several months ago. It was tiny when purchased, less than in inch long overall. I've seen tadpoles that were larger.

I understand that puffers need to be fed hard foods that will help wear down their "Teeth" or they will get overgrown. However, because this little rascal was so small, I didn't really see it successfully breaking into a mussel or a clam. I did present it with some shell-on shrimp on a skewer. It could eat the exposed flesh, but would just bounce off when it tried to break the shell. For the last several months it has just eaten the frozen foods I feed the rest of the tank. It will also eat from a skewer when I feed my snowflake eel, but these are still soft foods.

Mr. Puffnstuff is still tiny, but has more than doubled in size. I'm starting to worry that I'm waiting too long to provide something to wear down the teeth, but there is still no way this fish is big enough to break open a mussel.

What does everybody do in this situation?

The only thing I see commonly mentioned is to provide something on a half-shell, but I don't understand how that will help. It is simply going to pick at the flesh, and not bother with the shell.

Here is puffy Today:

and here is the dopey little face that hooked me at the fish store

ore:

 

[exnisstech]

I think on half shell they may scrape the shell to get meat so it might help.
I just looked these guys up and everything I find says they are brackish fish yet you have it with an eel so I assume reef tank salinity levels yet it's doing fine?

 

[Sharkbait19]

I haven’t had a green spot, but my experience with amazons showed that they weren’t so interested in hard shelled foods when small.
Do you have a good amphipod population? By hunting the pods, the puffer will scrape its beak against rocks in the process and help to wear it down. Clams on the half shell will achieve a similar effect.

Gsp beaks don’t grow nearly as fast as amazons, so you will have some time before it gets critical. If it does get too long, trimming teeth isn’t too difficult.

 

[Sharkbait19]

I think on half shell they may scrape the shell to get meat so it might help.
I just looked these guys up and everything I find says they are brackish fish yet you have it with an eel so I assume reef tank salinity levels yet it's doing fine?

These guys are born in fw and migrate to full salinity as they age. Typically a high brackish fish, but it will do fine in a fowlr. I wouldn’t risk it in a reef though (too aggressive and likely a coral/invert eater).

 

[rhitee93]

Yeah, this was a bit of a goof when I was in the LFS. I had been passingly interested in puffers and knew a bit about them, but wasn't really looking for one. This little guy was so interactive with me at the store that I brought it home thinking I knew what it was. (They had it in full reef salinity) Once I got it home I realized I had confused it with another type of puffer

It's in my reef tank now and hasn't bothered anything, but I know that may change as it grows. I maintain a FOWLR for my mother that I can move it too if it starts chewing on my corals. The eel keeps me from having any crabs or shrimp sp that isn't an issue.

I add pods from Algae barn every other month, and I do see it peck at the rock occasionally. Maybe that's what it is after. I would assume larger pods would be better for this sort of thing?

 

[Sharkbait19]

I add pods from Algae barn every other month, and I do see it peck at the rock occasionally. Maybe that's what it is after. I would assume larger pods would be better for this sort of thing?

Yeah, bigger amphipods would definitely grab its attention (especially as it grows).