What to Feed Fresh Water Puffer Fish

Two common species of freshwater puffer fish kept as pets are the South American puffer fish, or Colomesus asellus, and the Asian green bottle puffer fish ,or Auriglobus modestus. Freshwater puffer fish cannot be fed regular fish food flakes. Unlike many other species of freshwater fish, puffer fish grow teeth throughout their lives, similar to rodents. The puffer fish needs to eat a primarily hard diet in order to wear down the teeth or the teeth will become overgrown.

  1. Shelled Foods

    • In the wild, puffer fish feed on shellfish such as crabs, snails and mussels. To help wear down teeth and give maximum nutrition, feed your puffer fish whole fresh shellfish like snails, mussels, shrimp, prawns, clams, cockles, crayfish and woodlice. Freshwater puffer fish will eat crabs, but only if the crabs are much smaller than the fish. Feed them shrimp and crab sparingly, as these foods can trigger vitamin B1 deficiency in puffer fish if fed too often.

    Frozen Foods

    • Frozen foods such as bloodworms, krill, ghost shrimp or brine shrimp are more economical but may not wear down the puffer fish̵7;s teeth enough. Puffer fish prefer to eat soft foods, notes Neale Monks, PhD, and so the puffer fish may wait until a chunk of frozen food has softened up in water before eating.

    Live Foods

    • Live foods like bloodworms, ghost shrimp or brine shrimp can be purchased at a pet shop or aquarium supply store. These need to be used immediately or the foods die and rot. If keeping many fish, keep one tank just for housing live foods. Other live foods include earthworms, red wriggler worms, mealworms and feeder crickets and aquatic snails such as the ramshorn snail or the common pond snail.

    Warning

    • Do not hold food between fingertips. Puffer fish become very animated seeing food and can bite. Such large puffer fish as the Fahaka puffer inflict painful bites, easily breaking skin open. They take huge gulps of their food and do not distinguish between food and feeder̵7;s fingers. Use tongs when feeding rather than let the food float on the water. Puffer fish can jump out of a tank during feeding when food is on the water. Never place a bare hand into an aquarium with a puffer fish. Always wear a glove.