# Choosing the right shrimp for my puffer



## Dr. Greenthumb (May 16, 2010)

I got a puffer a couple weeks ago. So far so good...he's been getting along well with all the fish in my tank and he's been eating everything I put in the tank. Flake food, dried blood worms, even the sinking wafers for my bottom feeders.

So I want to get some shrimp for him to munch on and I have a couple questions I thought maybe you guys could help me with:

1.What are pros & cons of brine shrimp vs. regular shrimp? These are the options I have as far as freeze dried shrimp go. 

2.My puffer is pretty small, maybe like 2 inches. The guy at the pet store recommended I feed him with live shrimp every few weeks or so. What do you guys think about this? I'm kind of hesitant turning my fish into killers. I'm afraid it might make them more aggressive towards each other.

3. What are the pros & cons of freeze dried vs frozen vs live shrimp?

:fish-in-bowl:


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## squirrelcrusher (Sep 23, 2009)

my puffer loves the "gumdrops" of frozen brine shrimp and bloodworms. Never feed him live shrimp though. What type of live shrimp are you thinking of feeding? Ghost shrimp or live brine?


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## Dr. Greenthumb (May 16, 2010)

Thanks for the reply.

Not exactly sure what kind of shrimp they had there. They were a clearish pale color and about a quarter inch in length.

I thought I'd get more feedback from people by now. I've used frozen brine shrimp before so I guess I'll just give that another go. I was just really curious as to what the differences are...


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## James0816 (Jun 19, 2009)

The ones you are describing are ghost shrimp. They are commonly used as feeders.

If you wanted to, you could feed brine shrimp and even have your own hatchery to do so.


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## ladyonyx (Apr 20, 2009)

My recommendation with GPSs is variety! Blood worms, brine shrimp, mysis, live snails (good for keeping their teeth worn down), and the occasional small ghost shrimp if you want to see him hunt. Strangely enough, feeding live food allows puffers to express their natural feeding behaviors, which actually decreases aggression, especially in a community tank. Have fun with the little guy! And let us know what he likes to eat. 

I've never been a fan of freeze-dried anything. I feel like it loses the natural aspect of food that fish have evolved eating. The frozen stuff is much better IMO


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## Dr. Greenthumb (May 16, 2010)

^Thanks. I'm really curious to see what the puffer looks like when hunting. I guess I'll go check out the live ones and stock up on some frozen brine to.

I'm surprised he's been a lot less picky than I expected. He goes after the flake food, the dried blood worms, and even the sinking wafers for my bottom fish. He isn't afraid to get in front of the bigger fish just to get some bites out of it. So far I consider it a great choice for the tank, it couldn't be going any better. I really need to get a bigger selection of food for him, I want him to maintain that bright green color he has on his back.


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## jeffro0050 (Apr 4, 2010)

Ghost shrimp seems like a very expensive staple unless you hatched it yourself :/


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## James0816 (Jun 19, 2009)

Just be carefull if you have him with other fishies. Even though they are cute as can be..they are actually pretty vicious.


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## Dr. Greenthumb (May 16, 2010)

James0816 said:


> Just be carefull if you have him with other fishies. Even though they are cute as can be..they are actually pretty vicious.


I've gotten that alot of from people. I must have gotten lucky because he's not interested at all in the other fish. He only cares about bubbles and food. I purposely got him smaller than the rest of the fish in hopes that it would curb any aggressive behaviors from him.


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## squirrelcrusher (Sep 23, 2009)

My puffer seems to be like your Dr. Greenthumb. He gets along great with the other fish. When I put in the frozen food, he will actually pull it away from the big fish. I have had him in several different tanks with different tank mates (doing snail control) and he doesn't bother the other fish and they don't bother him. I had a 55gallon overrun with pond snails, and its been about a month since I put him in. Snails are almost non-existant! 

I tried putting some RCS, MTS, and Ramshorn snails in my main tank hoping that they would explode in population size so that he would always have shrimp and snail to hunt, but so far I haven't been able to find any shirmp. Lots of snails for him when he is finished with the other tank.


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