Valentini puffer feeding

[Nightsent]

Hello! I’m new, so please let me know if I make any mistakes...

I have a 75g aquarium currently stocked with 2 clownfish, 1 neon goby, 1 yellow watchman goby, 1 cleaner shrimp, 1 margarita snail, and around 15 hermit crabs.

I’ve been looking to add another fish, hopefully an algae eater, but i’m not overly picky. After some thorough research into tangs and blennies, I decided to look into Valentini Puffers. I LOVE THEM! I just have a few questions about feeding:

1. How often should they be fed soft foods and crunchy foods? I’ve read that puffers need crunchy foods, like clams on a half shell, to keep their teeth from fusing together, but I was wondering how often I should give them the clams compared to the krill/brine shrimp/etc?

2. Would it be okay if I fed my Valentini clams more frequently to try and deter it from eating my hermit crabs and shrimp? I don’t want to accidentally cause it to grind down it’s teeth too far and hurt itself.

3. I know Valentini puffers aren’t huge algae eaters, but i’ve heard they tend to pick at it... If this is true, would they really make much of a dent? It’s fine if not

I get that every puffer is different, and some are more aggressive towards inverts than others; There’s no magic number for feeding. But a starting point would be really helpful.

Thank you so much in advance!

 

[Mikeneedsahobby]

I am a rookie as well. I had a valentini for about 6 months (jumped out of tank) and now a blue spot toby for 3 months. The blue spot is full grown. So take what I say with that knowledge.

I feed something crunchy every other day. Clam, mussel, or shell on shrimp. he also will pick at live rock which is crunchy. I don’t think you can wear his teeth down too far.

I feed soft meaty foods daily for him and my other fish. I have an eel and feed the eel with tongs. The puffer loves to steal food from the tongs. I’ve thought of adding sand paper to the tongs for the puffer teeth if they start getting bad.

my puffer doesn’t make any difference on algae. He could care less. Also I haven’t see him take any interest in hermits or snails. I have some empty shells. It’s possible he is the cause but I’ve never seen him notice them. Shrimp I think would be gone quickly. The shell on shrimp I give are his favorite food.

 

[yourmom]

Okay- so I’m super new as well. Brought home a Valentini puffer on Friday! Still haven’t named the little guy (gal?). Anyway, I planned on feeding dry food in the AM and a frozen brine shrimp/algae combo in the PM per my local LFS. They haven’t mentioned anything about teeth, so now I’m going to have to pause my current reef tank rabbit holes to start a new one and find a dentist for my puffer!! My tank is only a week old, the rest of the inhabitants were brought over from my old 10 gallon and the clean up crew is still waiting to transition. I did move over my cleaner shrimp, and now I’m concerned that she might seem like a crunchy treat? Should I be concerned?

 

[Pistondog]

Blue spot here. Theyll pick at rocks as required to keep their beaks in check. No special feeding.
They are not reef safe. Snails, emerald crabs , lps, sps zoas all,fair game.
Softies ok.

 

[Nightsent]

Thank you all so much for the replies... After a bit more research, I’ve decided to get the puffer. I’ll just be sure too feed it plenty of clams to help its teeth and deter it from going after my inverts.