Feeding F8's....

[divegirl]

I seem to be having a nightmare weekend with my Puffers!!!!!!!!!!!

I keep Dp's and F8's and seem to find that when keeping three of each, one always seems to be bullied! [Maybe that's the point of keeping odd numbers?]
Well, after the disaster in my DP tank [one gone missing], I thought I'd pose a question about my F8's.

I have one that will eat and eat and eat and eat........and eat!!!!! So....is it true that Puffers will eat untill they literally explode? And what can I do to help the other two out? [I know that this is a reverse situation to my DP's!!!]. I've tried netting the greedy one [he may be fat, but he's bluddy fast!], as you can literally watch him swell up with food, whilst the other two have to fight him for it!
I just want to get this right

Lisa x

 

[jennybugs]

Have you thought of dividing the tank at feeding time?

I have my two F8s and one is round and the other leaner. I divide my tank off when feeding so I know the second one is getting the right amount of food now.

The puffers will eat and eat until they are sick if you're not careful, so it's best to feed smaller amounts and I also have a day of fasting for them once a week too.

 

[iliveinazoo]

break the food up and scatter it all around the tank.

 

[divegirl]

Cheers guys!

I have tried feeding from both ends of the tank at the same time, but like I say, he may be fat but he's fast.....and a bully!!! I think dividing the tank may be the answer....now need to find a piece of perspex that fits....oh the joys of keeping fish......I LOVE IT

Lisa x

 

[myenigmaself]

I was having the same problem with my figure 8's when I was feeding them large foods (krill, white fish, etc), and my solution was more of a shotgun approach. I now feed my 4 puffers and 14 gobies 1 cube of frozen food each day (either bloodworms, mysis shrimp, or a fortified blend with banana and squid) with snails as a treat. After the cube is thawed I make sure it's completely broken apart. Then I dump it right in front of my powerhead. It immediately gets scattered throughout the tank, so everybody gets a fair share at it. I still feed them frozen krill every once in a while, but they still fight over it. If you can pull it off dividing the tank is a great solution, but given my aquascaping that wouldn't have worked for me. Best of luck to you.

 

[divegirl]

To be honest I had too many plants to add a divider [even though they are silk ones, it's still a hassle to move them!].

I've now got the feeding of the gang of three down to a fine art I use a syringe to target feed the shy one....then add a big blast of food into the filter flow for them all to eat.....as above!

Result....three very happy, nicely rounded Puffers

Lisa x

 

[myenigmaself]

Glad you found something that works!