Malabar Puffer doesn't eat frozen Blood worm

[alex76]

hihi,

I just setup a new 1ft tank and bought 5 Malabar puffer.... at first the LFS owner told me they eat dried blood worm, I've tried, but they didn't eat, one starve to death... then I go buy frozen blood worm, too big for them to eat, only one of them choose those fine blood worm to eat, the other 3 still searching ard for food..... what other thing can I feed them before they died of starvation? I try not to get any live worms cos they r smelly and need more care than my fishes...
I heard ppl used chopped normal prawns from market... is that ok?

[Quixotic]

They will hardly, if ever, take dried food.

You can try to cut those frozen bloodworm into smaller pieces with a pair of scissors, or pick out those bloodworm that is thinner/smaller. Normally, they should be able to take them.

If this fails, you can try with frozen brine shrimp. However, they may not take to them on initial tries, so avoid feeding too much in order not to foul the water. They will should take them eventually, after 2 to 3 days.

If again this fails, you will have to resort to live food. They will definitely take live tubifex, baby brine shrimp, daphnia, feeder shrimps (this will be messy and may be ignored after sometime) or snails.

[jljx]

Hey Alex,
Glad you chose puffers to be kept as pet fish. They are one of a kind.

These other forums should give you a better understanding about the Malabar (Dwarf) Puffers (Carinotetraodon Travancoricus). Basically it really depends on how big yours are already when you bought them.

Mine are all more than 2 cm already and love their blood worms. I realised too that certain brands of Frozen Blood worms tend to use worms that are rather big. I try to stick to Hikari Brand. Cutting the worms up before feeding works too...

http://dwarfpuffers.com/forum/index.php

http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/

Cheers,
Jason

[benchan21]

I had problems feeding my dwarf puffer too when I first got them. They wouldn't eat anything I tried flakes (one lfs owner told me they ate that), then dried blood worms (another lfs owner ensured me that they ate that), frozen blood worms, and even snails.

In the end, I had to entice the little guy by shaking a defrosted blood worm around for a while. After eating one or two, they will realise that they like it.

Now my puffer is so greedy, eating lots of blood worms and snails.

I tried the chopped prawn too, but it wasn't that interested.

Just persevere with the frozen blood worms. They'll come around.

[alex76]

I had problems feeding my dwarf puffer too when I first got them. They wouldn't eat anything I tried flakes (one lfs owner told me they ate that), then dried blood worms (another lfs owner ensured me that they ate that), frozen blood worms, and even snails.

In the end, I had to entice the little guy by shaking a defrosted blood worm around for a while. After eating one or two, they will realise that they like it.

Now my puffer is so greedy, eating lots of blood worms and snails.

I tried the chopped prawn too, but it wasn't that interested.

Just persevere with the frozen blood worms. They'll come around.

Thanks all for feedback...
I went to bought some tubi worm and they feast on it till fat tummy
But I dun think I wanna continue to feed them with the, sis already complain the worms makes the whole house stinks
must look for alternatives.... went to NA again, to get another 10, so now total 15 puffy in the tank... auntie gave me some snail to culture.

Here is my tank.

[alex76]

How does Hikari brand blood worm packing looks like? I got the blood worm from rainbow and the packing is pink in color with lots of Japs wording.
Does all LFS sells Hikari?

[Quixotic]

Most popular LFS that sell frozen food probably should have Hikari.

http://www.hikariusa.com
http://www.hikariusa.com/blood.htm

[bryan]

That shrimp is living its nightmare!

Puffers are carnivores, so pellets are out of question. Frozen bloodworms should be fine when they get really hungry, becareful not to overfeed as they eat non stop and its not healthy. Do you live near a canal somewhere with guppys, etc.? Probably can find snails there, just remember to qurantine first. Trumpet snails are too hard.

[jljx]

Hi Alex,

Anyways, with that many DPs in the 1ft tank it would be best to ensure you have OVER-FILTRATION or a very regular water changing routine cos these jokers are high waste producers and messy eaters.

Just a heads up...

I will not be as extreme as what the forumers advice for stocking DPs, ie. 5 Gallons/Fish. This number is more for health and well-being related issues as puffers tend to be rather teritorial too. But I think that if you maintain low or even nil Nitrate levels it would bode well with your lovely DPs...

Keep up with the frozen blood worms... and the occasional snail. All the best!!

Cheers,
Jason