Filing down GSP teeth

[ddoan]

Is there anything else that can filing down the teeth? I've been using snails, but I'm looking for a less maintence way of doing this i.e. put a rock in and the fish willl do it himself.

I feed my some dried krill and I can hear him munching away, so I assume it's wearing down the teeth?

Any advice?

 

[RTR]

Puffers are designed to eat mollusks and crustaceans. If you want to keep one, that is what you feed them.

 

[Pufferpunk]

Are your puffer's teeth already overgrown?

 

[1tankneverenuff]

How can one tell a puffer's teeth are overgrown?

 

[Pufferpunk]

Here's a good thread with photos: http://puffer.proboards2.com/index.cgi?board=hospital&action=display&num=1057161492

 

[ddoan]

I feed my puffer snails 4 times a week. I was just wondering if there was a simpler method i.e. less effort on my behalf like a rock or something that can be purchased.

 

[Pufferpunk]

Theres lots of info on feeding & care of your GSP here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/BrackishSubWebIndex/gspsart.htm

 

[Ozark Joe]

You can tell his teeth are overgrown when he looks buck-toothed and can't close his mouth.

(Sorry...)

Less an answer than a question about puffers, that is I've seen freshwater clams for sale at the LFS. Would they be OK in brackish water, and/or, would a puffer fish try to eat them? If they had a clam to work on, wouldn't that file their teeth down?

 

[OrionGirl]

Freshwater mussels (same thing as clams, just depends on what the LFS calls them) will not survive in mid-high brackish water. They aren't really suitable for most aquariums--they require really clean water, with lots of particulate matter since they are filter feeders. This is tough to provide in closed systems.

For feeding though, mussels are good. Sometimes the shells are too thick for the puffers to break, and can actually result in broken teeth--not fatal, but not a good thing. I use both the freshwater and saltwater mussels as occassional treats, with snails being the staple food source for my larger FW puffers. Breaking them open works well--allows access to the meat, with shell around for chewing. For dwarfs, they are useless--too big for the poor kids to chew on.

 

[cdawson]

Yes, they'll eat them alright. In fact you have to feed a GSP food like that on a regular basis. Some of us here feed cockles (small clams, about the size of a FW clam) to our GSPs to keep their beaks ground down. FW clams would not be ok in brackish water, they're strictly FW I believe.

http://www.thekrib.com/Fish/clams.html