puffer eats zoas

shrimpi

shrimpi

Active Member
Hello all.
So I just got a stars/stripe puffer. He is about 3-4". and very 'bold', he has quite the personality.
I just got done acclimating him, put him in the tank, and he stayed a little shy for about 10min Then he started to move around and 'pec' and random things.... like the live rock, my giant mexican turbo, and plants, then he took a giant bite out of one of my ZOAS. I almost threw up.
I put a large peice of shrimp on the tip of my target feeder and he took a bite, but promptly spit it out.
Should I worry about him trying to eat my coral? Is this normal? Why did he spit out the meat? I ordered some garlic guard hoping that will help.
He is in a 44 gal right now, but we are moving within a year and will be doing a SERIOS upgrade. (I thinking a few hundred gal- gonna see what hubby has to say!)
I need some help/suggestions here.
Thanks alot guys.
Jess/Shrimpi
 
coral keeper

coral keeper

Active Member
Hi,
I got a stars and strips puffer too! Hes in a fish only tank but i think hes gana eat all your corals because in the wild puffers eat stony corals. And i gess he will eat softys to.
 
coral keeper

coral keeper

Active Member
Puffers will eat all inverts, he ate all my inverts in a weak! i had 30 hermits, 30 snails, 5-10 crabs, shrimp, and mussle. They LOVE to eat. My puffer begs for fod at the top of the tank all the time!
I still feed him live hermits, live snails, live crabs, and live shrimp to keep his beak trimmed. My puffer is 3 inshes long to!
My puffer really enjoys eating live earth worms.
They are really great fish with a ton of personality.
 
stdreb27

stdreb27

Active Member
Yeah this is normal, it must look like a giant buffet to him. I'll bet he is really happy. But if you want to save your corals, you had better move him or return him. Mine has probably eated 40 or 50 snails, and hermits.
I love him, but I don't have any corals or inverts in that tank.
 
coral keeper

coral keeper

Active Member
Iv fed my little puffy 100+ snails so far and he loves them! and i keep on getting hermits and crabs so they can eat up all the extra food on the flore, buy they keep on getting eaten and i keep getting snails so they can clean the walls. and i agree with stdreb27. Hey stdreb27 and Shrimpi send some pics of your stars and strips?
 
stdreb27

stdreb27

Active Member


Sadly these are the only couple I have on my computer. It is a dog face not a stars and stripes. I bought him for 25 bucks amazingly, he was only 2 inches long, now he or she is about 6. Eats like a pig I just fed him 2 oysters and he gobbled up both of them in like a minutes.
 
shrimpi

shrimpi

Active Member
wow Im so sad! He took a big bite out of one of my hermies! He is the cutest thing Ive seen but, GOD I dont think I can handle him eating all my inverts and my coral too. The zoas he has been eating were $90 alone, and I love them. I really wanted to get a 'aggresive' fish, but I dunno, I think he needs to go back to my guy at the store. Im depressed, he looks happy
! But hes making me sad.

There were also dwarf lions at the store, and my hunny liked the puffer b/c of his personality so we got him. He is just adorable. Would I have the same problem with a dwarf lion? Are they known to eat inverts and corals? I mean, they dont have the mouth that a puffer has so they cant do as much damage right?
You never read this stuff on the information pages ! Of course thier diet is 'meaty' but when you get them home, they eat EVERYTHING.
Would I have the same problem with the dwarf lion?
Thanks for the help/honesty guys.
Jess
PS-I have a mandarin (eating prepared foods and very healthy,) and a orange spot goby- hes about 4"- will they be safe? with a lion? Or should I give up on this kind of addition?
 
coral keeper

coral keeper

Active Member
Well how big lion are you going to get? and lions eat ALL kinds of shrimp and i thing they eat crabs to. But the lion will eat ANYTHING that fits in there moths like small fish and small inverts.
 
coral keeper

coral keeper

Active Member
I dont think they will eat corals tho. And lions are VENOMOUS and if it stings you it may lead to death or a TON of pain wich you will have to go to the hospital. So i wouldent get a lion if i were you.
 
shrimpi

shrimpi

Active Member
The lions he has are anywhere from 1.5 inch (cutest thing) to about 3" and they are dwarf so I think the largest ones will get about 6"- but by that time he will be in a larger tank.
do you think a lion about 3-4" can eat my fat 4" mandarin?
 
coral keeper

coral keeper

Active Member
Yes. he will eat ANYTHING that fits in his mouth, so if you get a 1.5 inch 1 he will poison the larger fish that scare him. So dont get a lion, if you want to, youll have to put it in a tank by its self no fish.
 
shrimpi

shrimpi

Active Member
not that I am arguing...
but how come I see peoples tanks with dwarf lions and other non-aggressive fish living together? How do they do it then?
 
stdreb27

stdreb27

Active Member
I dont have much experience with lions, but It would seem to me that lions will eat some smaller fish. But for the most part they would be ok.
 
gruman28

gruman28

New Member
I had a lion in my reef tank for a while. He was on the smaller size. I have shrimp, snails, zoos, coral, etc. He didn't bother any of them. He didn't sting my larger fish. Thats not to say he wont. He did eat like crazy and grew fast. I was told he would eat anything that he could get in his mouth.
Just wanted to share my experience. Use your judgement.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top