Keeping puffers in snail infested tank

[Thatdude]

I've been fascinated by puffers lately. Unfortunately, their diet requirements always gives me pause. Needing to feed snails or else trim their teeth is a pretty big requirement. I've though of someways to get around this, let me know if it would work.

I'm thinking of buying a 55 gallon for 2 or 3 green spotted puffers. Loading the tank with rocks to raise the PH and cycling with crayfish, ghost shrimp and plenty of snails. By the time the cycling is done I would expect to have a snail infestation and plenty of shrimp and crayfish. I would add the puffers with the hope that the abundance of snails will be enough to trim their teeth, with the shrimp serving as a treat.

Would keeping a seriously snail infested tank be a good idea or would the puffers over feed (or have some other unforeseen problem)?


P.S I would also feed the puffers some worms, pellets, etc.

 

[Fat Homer]

^ I think there is definitely a good chance of the puffers stuffing themselves to death, since some puffers just don't know when to stop... also another problem that might arise is the pollution that the snails will create in the tank, since puffers are waste producing factories as well...

As for the crays, i don't think they would last too long either due to the puffers love for hunting, so if possible, the best option would be to setup a breeder tank purely for crays and snails for feeding...

other wise, alternately you could buy frozen Mussels or clams with the shell still on and then cut off little pieces to feed them with. Then once you've cut most of the meat off, leave a bit of it still on the shell and chuck it in the tank for them so that they are in essence forced to scrape their beaks on the shell to get to the meat and help keep their beak worn down...

P.S. just make sure you thaw / defrost the meat either in tank water or water with fish vitamins added before you feed it to them...

 

[jus85411]

agreed, i think the puffers would just eat and eat and eat and eat until there is nothing left. just have a separate tank with most snails and crays in it and feed them every couple days to keep their beaks down nicely.

 

[JakeH]

This is a horrible idea. In addition to the above overfeeding issue, I'm wondering how exactly you propose to breed snails in a brackish tank... BTW, ghost shrimp are not really tough enough to cycle with. Read up on the GSP's before buying & plan for a seperate snail breeding tank or just buy frozen mussels/clams/shrimp, etc. as suggested before. The GSP's will not eat pellets or flakes unless starved almost to death. Once your main tank is cycled, add a dozen ghost shrimp per month for the GSP's to chase around (no nutritional value).

 

[Pufferpunk]

I think people really don't understand about cycling. If you pack your tank with crays & snails & let them breed, they will produce enough bioload to support them, yes. But when you add 2 puffers to the mix, the tank will have a cycle similar to as it you introduced the puffers to a totally uncycled tank, producing ammopnia/nitrite, until the bacteria catches up. If cycled in this manner (I suggest fishless cycling over any method of cycling with live animals), then you would need to remove the cycling animals, leaving behind enough biological bacteria to support the puffers. Understand? BTW, only 2 GSPs in a 55g, as 30g ea, is the minimum recommended for 2 adults.

http://www.**************.com/forum...cus/an-introduction-to-green-spotted-puffers/
http://www.**************.com/forum/library/category/feeding/
http://www.**************.com/forum/library/category/water-filtration/