Figure 8 Feeding

[myenigmaself]

I've got 5 Figure 8's that I'm having a hard time finding foods for them that will wear down their "teeth." I give them snails and shrimp as often as is possible, but that's only a few times a month. Are there any suggestions for food I can give them that will wear down the teeth and prevent overbite?

Thanks!

 

[nmonks]

No, there's really no 100% reliable approach. I've found keeping Malayan livebearing snails in a tank with a sandy substrate helps dramatically. But even then, I do need to trim the teeth of my SAPs once or twice a year.

Cheers, Neale

 

[jennybugs]

I buy frozen cockles from my LFS that are gamma treated (hence safe to feed) and deforst then lightly crush again before dropping in the tank. They puffers then have to crunch through the crushed shell to get to the meat.

 

[AdAndrews]

just a suggestion, but will freezing any type of food and feeding that help?

 

[myenigmaself]

I'll try to find the cockles, thanks! I'd worry about feeding the fish frozen food as they might get ice burns, but maybe I'm just a worry wort. Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[kniesh]

I may be miles out here but try putting the snails as Neale suggested and maybe add some ocena rock or other kinds of rock to the tank. I read somewhere that Puffers will do it themselves on rock if its available, not 100% sure though