Newbie Puffer Question..

[Saterus]

I have recently been "put in charge" of the entire fish section of my LFS.. I know my freshwater and have been fixing that section up (was in DIRE conditions..) but I'm not experienced in saltwater. We have this marine puffer that I'm working with.. He was emaciated when I started working and had an overgrown beak. I fed him tiny snails about 5 times a day to wear the beak down for a week and now he can handle snails a little bigger than his eye which I feed 3 or 4 at a time 2 or 3 times a day plus he gets frozen bloodworms once a day (it's the only other thing he'll eat). He is still thin, you can see his stomach protruding after 2 snails or the bloodworms but he's doing much better and knows to come to the surface for feeding.
So, I apologize for the rambling but here's the real question; Should I be feeding him 2-4 times a day like I've been doing? He seems to need it.. I don't remember what species he is but I'll check next time I'm I'm in. He's only about 2inches long right now. I've tried feeding him marine cuisine, squid, mysis shrimp, and of course the bloodworms and snails (the only things he actually eats).
Any advice?
I'm reading books about keeping marine tanks in the meantime, this is the only guy I worry about.

 

[jus85411]

have you tried frozen mussell cubes? my green spotted puffers love that! of course they love their bloodworms as well, they also love the mysis cubes, squid cubes, maybe some market clams or mussells just crush the shells, freeze it and take chunks as you need them for food. i would stick with giving him 2 or 3 snails twice a day to help his beak get worn down more, then do 1 more feeding of bloodworms or whatever else he might take. puffers give off a high bioload but he doesnt seem healthy. i would also soak all of his food in fish liquid vitamins. have you seen him poop? is it normal or does it look not right(like stringy or clear)?

 

[mr.reef24]

try offering some more bigger morals of food like krill, silverslides, pieces of squid, mussels, clams etc..

mr.reef24

 

[Saterus]

We don't have clams, mussels or silversides. I'd try to get them ordered but the owner is a little jaded from the potheads that controlled the fish before me. Unless I have other fish/inverts that "need" those foods he won't buy them. :\
We do have krill but they are too big for him, he barely even glances at them. We have small squid, but again, he ignores it. Tried breaking squid and mussels up, still ignores. And being a store, his tank is part of a system. About a dozen tanks (20g size or so) per connected section, he's with the other predators (in his own little cube) so water parameters stay stable and he's alone with a liverock.
He responds instantly to snails and bloodworms and has put on weight on just those. His poop was stringy at first but now I don't notice it much (but it looks normal now), he poos it gets picked up by the powerhead flow and sent to the filter.

Sooo.. If the water and his excrement are fine and he won't eat anything else I have (I still offer); is he/can he be perfectly healthy on just bloodworms and snails? Yes to 3 or so feedings a day? Anything else I can do for him?

 

[jus85411]

i would say yes on the 3 feedings per day: 2 feedings of snails and 1 feeding of bloodworms. if you guys have any liquid fish vitamins i would soak the bloodworms in it while they defrost. maybe dont feed him for a day or two then drop in the squid or mussells. dont do krill too much i have read countless places that it can cause lockjaw if fed too often to puffers. so his poop isnt stringy anymore? its kind of like a mouse terd now? if it was clear and stringy he had an internal parasite, what did you treat it with?

 

[~ocean]

try some fresh quality shrimp, live brine shrimp is better, as well feed 3 times a day, every 3 days.