Puffer owners, did you know about krill issues?

So I have been frequenting The Puffer Forum since I got my new hairy puffer. This has not been proven scientifically yet but it is believed that too much krill in a puffers diet can cause a condition of lockjaw.

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Quite a few posts on this subject if you Google it. I was planning on using frozen krill as a primary part of my puffers diet but after reading this I think I will only use it as an occasional treat.

Has anyone else heard of this?

Weird I had not heard of it. I use freeze dried krill for my puffer. I wonder if that changes anything? I wonder why it would cause lock jaw?

Just read through all of that. Apparently it's the freeze dried that causes it more than the frozen. Mine also eats snails. Probably a few a week. I wonder if that would help as well he refuses blood worms now. I wonder what else I could feed? I have some frozen large brine shrimp I guess if I crushed the cubes down to give him small amounts he may eat that. Now I don't know what to do. I panicked when his teeth got too long the krill and finally getting him to eat snails fixed that issue. I would hate for him to get lock jaw. He is so tiny I don't know if I would be able to force feed him like they did.

I use the frozen krill just because I had some on hand. I will continue to use it but very sparingly. My puffer does not need constant hard foods so he gets earthworms, Tilapia filets cut to a size he can eat, Mussel, frozen krill, and I plan on raising some platy fry up as an occasional treat. I plan on getting some clams and maybe silversides to keep on hand for him also. I just ordered some feeding tongs in case I have to wiggle any new foods for him to eat.

Hmm i'll have to look into some different avenues

They say a variety of foods is the best thing for a puffer. I am trying to make sure I can do that without it always having to be something alive. So I am looking at a lot of different frozen seafoods and realizing that I dont need to buy very much since my little guy is only supposed to eat every two to three days. Since mine is a lurker and not very active they can become obese quite quickly.

Mine is active so I feed daily. About once a week I skip a day I do this for all of my tanks. Luckily mine doesn't need live foods.

The live foods are probably not necessary with mine but I have read that it can help the mental health of predatory types of fish to have that chance to hone those skills. Not sure how true that is. I do plan on an occasional meal that will need to be caught.

DMD you are definitely I tell more of a thoughtful fish owner than most people. And that last comment proves that

ShortyKiloGyrl wrote:DMD you are definitely I tell more of a thoughtful fish owner than most people. And that last comment proves that

Thank you, I really do want the best for my little friends. I think my puffer is pretty easy to figure out since he is the only one in there.

Now if I could just figure out my cichlids and their weird little pecking order and dominance issues... Still cant figure out how my little Red Isletas can bully the Regani who has much more size on him.    I guess its all about attitude. Thats why I still post a ton of 'dumb' cichlid behavior questions, because its my real first time around as a 'cichlid' community tank.

Cichlids are unpredictable. I have noticed that through others cichlid tanks that have been in the same house as me. I ended up with one peacock cichlid due to his aggressive behavior. He had half of a 75 gallon tank to himself. He was so mean no one wanted to venture to his half.

Damn...I just bought a bunch of Krill for my new Fahaka like two hours ago...guess I'll keep mixing in blood worms and snails then.

Im still feeding it, but more as a treat. From what Ive been reading its a pretty heavy diet of it that can cause issues. The occasional krill here and there should be fine.

As long as we're on the puffer food topic. Anyone have any suggestions as to where I can buy mine a variety of foods? I'm having trouble finding snails and things around Seattle.

I have a different type of puffer (hairy) that does not really have the same teeth issues, so I dont really feed any snails. I have been using earthworms/nightcrawlers from the 'live bait' section of Fred Meyer and Walmart. I have also used frozen krill, Frozen tilapa filet, live clams. I have been imbedding a Hikari Sinking Carnivore pellet into the clam or small piece of tilapia to make sure my puffer is getting proper nutrition. With a Fahaka I would do clams in the shell and pieces of crab that it has to crush. That way it will help keep the teeth in check.

Can I feed him any type of seafood, or are there certain things I should try to avoid? I'm not sure if there are certain things he can't eat, like things that may be poisonous to puffers and things like that. Right now I have blood worms, frozen krill and sea snails I got from an Asian market.

The only real things to avoid are cooked seafood and feeder goldfish. I guess the cooked seafood is harder for them to digest and of course feeder goldfish are not healthy. I am trying to raise livebearers to start a feeder colony but so far no success. They are in with some grow out cichlids and I think it is stressing them out. You could try your hand at breeding some fish of your own. Maybe convicts?

I would also recommend checking out [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Good information and lots of puffer knowledge there.

lymitliss wrote:As long as we're on the puffer food topic.  Anyone have any suggestions as to where I can buy mine a variety of foods?  I'm having trouble finding snails and things around Seattle.

Any petstore should have a frozen food section. I feed my puffs a rotating mix of frozen blood worms, mysis shrimp, and pond snails. I thaw out the frozen foods, and put them in a syringe, and feed em a few pieces. Any leftovers gets divvied up between the the other tanks.

I have a little outdoor tank that I overfeed on purpose and every few days I pick a handful of pond snails out and place them in the tank when the puffs are asleep. I find it much more enjoyable to watch them hunt the snails down, and the puffs seem more active and overall happier when they have a steady supply of live food.

I as well give mine pond snails, blood worms and the freeze dried krill last night I go some brine shrimp (big) frozen and plan on giving that to mine as well. He wasn't as aggressive with the bloodworms as he is with the krill. But he did scour every inch of the substrate to make sure he hadn't missed any. He was pretty active after eating the bloodworms as well.

Mine attacks anything that is falling in the tank. But I did invest in a set of feeding tongs in case I have to try something new that he might not go at. So far he has ate anything Ive thrown in there.

That's awesome. I'm glad mine finally started eating snails his teeth were almost to sedation point. I wonder if my boyfriend will let me set up a 5 gallon outside to breed pond snails in? Lol I gets old paying for them at the store.

I like to feed an occasional cricket to my other fishes so I might get a few to feed to my puffer also. I have also considered using pillbugs (Rolly Pollies) form the yard. These are actually not an insect but a type of crustaceans related to crayfish. Another puffer owner on the puffer forum uses them and her fish loves them.

Interesting idea with the pill bugs, rollie pollie, saw bugs lol so many names for it. I was getting the heebies thinking about feeding earth worms then I reminded myself I use to thread them on to a hook for fishing when I was little and this is just dropping a whole one in lol

ShortyKiloGyrl wrote:That's awesome. I'm glad mine finally started eating snails his teeth were almost to sedation point. I wonder if my boyfriend will let me set up a 5 gallon outside to breed pond snails in? Lol I gets old paying for them at the store.

I've even seen things like a large glass jar, or a bucket... throw some easy, prolific plants in there, set it outside, maybe an airstone? I don't even do water changes on mine, just top off's from evaporation.

bronzefighter wrote:

ShortyKiloGyrl wrote:That's awesome. I'm glad mine finally started eating snails his teeth were almost to sedation point. I wonder if my boyfriend will let me set up a 5 gallon outside to breed pond snails in? Lol I gets old paying for them at the store.

I've even seen things like a large glass jar, or a bucket... throw some easy, prolific plants in there, set it outside, maybe an airstone? I don't even do water changes on mine, just top off's from evaporation.

I have 2 empty 5 gallons and if he gets the pond out front set up i'll just throw some in there. But in the mean time.. lol