Why do you think Congo spotted puffers do not eat cherry shrimps ?

[professorjimjam]

i don’t know if it is just my spotted Congo puffers or is it the same with others. They will not eat cherry shrimps not even their babies. Some of my large guppies will eat the cherry shrimps but not the puffers. They will
Kills earthworms and eat them, they also crush large size snails but won’t touch any fish or their fries or cherry shrimps. I starved them for 5 days thinking they may start eating the shrimps as they colonised my tank, but still as if they made some sort of peace agreement . The puffers won’t show any interest in cherry shrimps. The cherry shrimps never hide they roam around in the open area of the tank and mingle with puffers.

That is very weird to me. Any one having Congo spotted puffer seen this behaviour?

 

[Deadeye]

I haven’t had them, but my guess is that they are naturally just more of a snail eater than a crustacean eater. They are more than large enough to eat them if they wanted.
Or they’re just stupid lol

 

[Fallen_Leaves16]

Interesting. My LFS actually feeds ghost and cherry shrimp to their spotted puffers every now and then, and they seem to eat them with great vigor. Maybe your puffers just don't bother to hunt the shrimp?

 

[professorjimjam]

I haven’t had them, but my guess is that they are naturally just more of a snail eater than a crustacean eater. They are more than large enough to eat them if they wanted.
Or they’re just stupid lol

Perhaps they are either stupid or lazy

 

[professorjimjam]

Interesting. My LFS actually feeds ghost and cherry shrimp to their spotted puffers every now and then, and they seem to eat them with great vigor. Maybe your puffers just don't bother to hunt the shrimp?

maybe they think they are too small for them. I tried a lot to make them eat them but they do not eat them as long as they are alive. What king of puffer is LFS ?

 

[Fat Homer]

i would guess they just haven't worked out they are edible... i've had puffers like that in the past where they didn't realize something was edible till i basically fed it to them with tongs...

 

[professorjimjam]

Thank you Fat Homer

 

[Muserudita]

Since we are discussing puffer fish and their compatibility with red cherry shrimp- what would you think of a pea puffer in with shrimp?

 

[Deadeye]

Since we are discussing puffer fish and their compatibility with red cherry shrimp- what would you think of a pea puffer in with shrimp?

Seems to be hit or miss - a large shrimp may be fine but I personally wouldn’t risk it unless it’s a large tank with a lot of hiding spots.
I know I’ve seen it work out on here though, I want to say it was Bluesandtwo but I’m not sure.

 

[Bluesandtwo]

I thought it was working... but in reality my dwarf puffers were picking them off one by one slowly, the moment their fat bellies got hungry.

That being said I had so many cherry shrimp and so few puffers, it was mildly sustainable!