Live items: important to keep puffers active and interested in their surroundings. Provides opportunities for the puffer to maintain hunting abilities and to stimulate physical and mental activity.

• Ghost Shrimp: Clear shrimp sold in LFS, not the expensive ones sold for algae control. Several species are sold, shrimp are hard to classify! Other common names are: River shrimp, grass shrimp. Look for mostly clear bodies, and thin claw appendages. Make sure openings on tank are covered as these little guys can flip themselves right out of the tank.

• Brine Shrimp: Artemia, adult size. Some of the larger species will not eat these, they are too small for them to bother. But with smaller puffs, these can tempt a shy or frightened puffer into eating. Rinse using a net before putting into the tank. I have managed to keep them alive in a container in the fridge with an air hole for about 5 to 7 days. You can also gut load the brine with a product like Selcon or Kent Zoe, but only a couple drops will do it!

• Crayfish, Crabs: Many species are available in the LFS. I strongly recommend not capturing specimens from a local creek or pond as this can introduce deadly disease and parasites. Make sure the puffer is of a size to handle the item offered. If the puff cannot kill it, the crayfish & crabs have been known to attack puffers while asleep. Remove the creature and place in a holding tank if the puffer is not successful in eating it.

• Clams, Mollusks: Many species are available live. Grocery stores or fish markets will often have clams that seal themselves up, but are still alive. Make a container of full seawater salinity and place the clams inside. They will open and flush wastes. Then you can crack with a pair of pliers , but leave mostly intact so the puffer must bite the shell. This will help with grinding down those teeth.

• Snails: Many species are available. Your puffers do not want you to catch snails outside. Snails are a vector animal for many organisms that will severely damage or kill your puffer. Aquarium snails are best, choose from a LFS that keeps them separate from amphibians or turtles, as other opportunities for disease are presented by these animals. Breeding snails can be accomplished, see Ian West’s website for a detailed description of snail farming. WARNING: MTS (Malaysian Trumpet Snails) are very hard shelled and have been known to break puffer’s teeth. These snails are great for planted tanks and aerating the substrate, but can truly damage a puffer so it won’t eat. How to recognise: MTS have pointed conical shells, like an ice cream cone. They stay under the substrate mostly, some people never see them again. Leave a piece of lettuce on a clip at night, check on the tank after it has been dark awhile to examine what snails are on the lettuce. This is also a good way to collect snails for feeding. Back to Top

• Feeder Fish: Some puffers eat other fish. Though we often do not want to encourage this behaviour and have hopes for peace in a community tank, it often is the proper diet for several species. The T. mirius, T. dubuosi, and T. suvattii species are such. Careful selection of feeder fish will help prevent transmittable disease. Some folks breed mollies (Poecilia sphenops et al) or guppies (Poecilia reticulata) for feeding. I have seen T. suvattii specimens in a LFS snap in half a Pike or garfish type (like Hepsetus odoe or Xenentodon cancila) that was 9” long, and take rather large chunks out of a sizable Arowana (Osteoglossum bichirrhosum). Appetite is considerable.

• Worms: Live earthworms, Tubifex, bloodworms, mosquito larvae, etc. are sometimes available. Earthworms should be purchased or obtained from someone who is culturing them to prevent transmittable disease and parasites. Bait shops often have live earthworms, & are cheaper than gardening shops. Collecting larvae or Tubifex is strongly discouraged. Buy them from your LFS, purity of the food will be far less suspect. Garden land snails & slugs are not appropriate and can pack a toxin to boot, not to mention being steeped in all the pesticides used by your local land care and neighbors.

• Bugs: Crickets, mealworms, waxworms are sometimes taken by some species. Be sure to not rely on these items asthe main food source. It is a lot like french fries, a food accessory! There are probably amino acids and proteins only acquired from bugs that are good, but the puffs still need the meaty diet to thrive.

Frozen items, for variety and those days when the fish market and the LFS is out of everything.
THAW all frozen foods to prevent damage to the stomach.

• Bloodworms: From LFS in cubes, or flat packages. Juices can introduce phosphates.
• Krill: From LFS, Whole krill in packages. Mine won’t eat the shredded version in cubes.
• Mussel: From LFS in cubes, or whole.
• Cockle: From LFS in with and without the shell, these are small clams, and are often sold for human consumption in markets, see warning below. Unfortunately not readily available in some parts of the world.
• Blackworms: From LFS in cubes or flats
• Tubifex: From LFS in cubes or flats, not all puffs will eat the frozen variety.
• Brine Shrimp: From LFS in cubes and flats. There is some debate about freezing bursting these on a cellular level, and all nutrients being removed when rinsed or placed in water. The live ones are easy to get & can stay alive in a container in the fridge for several days.
• Silversides: From LFS in flats. These are small fish, but make sure the package you purchase has the appropriate size of fish to your puffer in there. I have seen everything from 1” & smaller, on up to 4 to 5” length.
• Squid: From LFS in cubes and flats, some eat this, some don’t.

• Shrimp, crab, crayfish, clams, scallops, other shellfish, squid, fish, etc.:
From the fish market or grocery, WARNING: be careful to buy uncooked. Do not feed to your puff anything that smells funny or you would not feed to a human, be it old or reeking of chlorine. It is a common trick to douse shrimp in chlorine to kill surface bacteria. This can can be fatal to your fish & aquarium. This goes for fresh, unfrozen items as well. Back to Top

Freeze dried or sun dried items, for some people these are an easy feeding method. I have a knee-jerk reaction to this type of food, it seems that some of the nutrients must be lost, and a high possibility for introduction of bacteria & airbourne parasites. RECONSTITUTE with tank water in a container before feeding all freeze dried or sun dried foods to prevent damage to the stomach due to swelling of food.
• Krill or shrimp
• Tubifex
• Plankton or Algae: Not to be used as a complete diet, should be supplemented with animal protein.
• Fish
There are probably many other types of food available freeze dried, I just have not pursued this to any lengths.

Mammal proteins such as beefheart have been in debate lately. There is some research pointing towards fish not being able to use this type of protein. As a result, the fish becomes weak due to malnutrition and may be prone to disease. Also, parasites and bacteria can easily use this type of protein and can propagate and infest quickly and in vast amounts. Research thoroughly if this is a method of food you are interested in using.

Flakes, crisps, disks, pellets.
Some puffers may accept these items. It is not a good idea to make these the sole source of nutrition as malnutrition will certainly occur. Diet should be supplemented with animal protein and hard shelled items to trim the teeth. Many puffers completely ignore these types of foods anyway, and will starve if no alternative is given. Back to Top

Feeding Tips:
Some people may experience that their puffers have a reluctance to eat. This especially seems to occur if the fish is a newly caught, wild fish. An adjustment period of time to the tank is expected, and may not occur in all puffers, resulting in loss. Some tips on how to encourage feeding are below:

• A new fish will not necessarily eat right away. Don’t try to feed for 24 hours after settling in a new fish.

• Choose an area of the tank to feed the puffer. Consistently offer food in that area only. They have a remarkable memory. When they are ready to eat, they will know the food will arrive in a particular spot.

• A feeding pick can be useful for puffers used to live & moving food. The picks are clear, and have a wedge shape at one end to impale krill, cockle etc. on the end. Moving the food gently and slowly may encourage a bite. When the puffer strikes, try to not jump or move the pick, as sudden movement may discourage the effort.

• Several ghost shrimp may be left in the tank as stimuli to eat. They will not hurt the puffer, and can be an efficient clean up crew. Some wild puffers will only respond to live food the first weeks to months. Eventually, they learn that the food is offered by you, the human, and will accept other foods just because you are putting it in the tank. Smaller puffers may be tempted with live adult brine shrimp, but be careful to only put a few in at one time in case he does not eat.

• Snails may be left in the tank, though a brackish tank must be monitored for dead snails so the water will not be contaminated by a decomposing snail.

• Offering a live crayfish or crab may be necessary, but do not leave them in the tank, they can & will attack a sleeping puffer. Choose a size relative to the puffer.

• A weak or sickly puffer may be fed food that has been soaked in vitamins. Reptosol or similar in a liquid form will soak into krill or earthworms, etc. Sometimes this will help improve the fish’s immune system. Back to Top

• If you have chosen to place a puffer in a community tank, other fish may impair his ability to hunt & feed. Many puffers are stalkers, and fast fish will destroy their concentration and nab the food before they strike. If a puffer is experiencing difficulty feeding due to other fish, separation is recommended. Most puffers will have to be separated anyway as they age, it is fairly inevitable with exception to individual fish that are mild tempered.

• Lighting and hiding places can help a puffer feel secure and able to stalk properly. Bright lighting can disturb some species, and either changing the intensity of the bulb or providing cover plants for the surface will help. Proper hiding places comfort the puffer and provide a place to burst out of to attack. Some species do not seem to care about either of these points.

Personal experience: My Figure 8’s have a bright fluorescent bulb, and are fast hunters, not stalkers. They do have caves to use, but seem to only sleep there at night. My Target sets up his attack carefully and takes his time. He prefers low lighting and uses his caves all the time. The set up involves a motionless hover, almost vertically head down, and pigment change. Slight forward & backward motion seems to imitate a floating leaf or branch. The attack is lightning quick and usually involves a mouthful of gravel.

• Slightly smash shells of snails or clams to help small puffers get purchase on it.

• Stun ghost shrimp if puffer is slow or not getting food due to a faster puffer in the tank. Drop stunned ghost shrimp near slow puffer.

Nifty things to use:
• For bloodworms, a plastic pipette is great for distributing the thawed worms. Some puffers will learn to grab onto the pipette almost like a straw!
• For slow eaters: a grid clip with a suction cup, trap the krill, shrimp, clam, etc. in the grid & position on glass inside tank. Check back to remove leftovers.
• Feeding pick: chase ghost shrimp towards a reluctant puffer. Back to Top

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